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Winnipeg Free Press
17-07-2025
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
Hooker-Ridgen climbing the lacrosse ranks
Since he was four years old, Winston Hooker-Ridgen has had a lacrosse stick in his hands. Going from club teams to representing Team Manitoba and joining national development programs, Hooker-Ridgen has steadily climbed the lacrosse ranks. But this week, his focus is on the Prairie Cup, where he hopes to find gold and redeem last year's finish. The Prairie Cup, now in its second year, is an annual lacrosse tournament for U13-U17 boys and girls from Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan, and is being held Friday through Sunday at the Keystone Centre in Brandon. SUPPLIED Winston Hooker-Ridgen plays for Team Manitoba U17 who are looking to win the Prairie Cup. In his first year playing the Prairie Cup, Hooker-Ridgen was on the Team Manitoba U15 boys squad, where they came second, losing to Alberta in the finals. This year, Hooker-Ridgen is on the U17 team, where they've been practicing together for nine months, prepping for the Canada Summer Games, and hoping to get a Prairie Cup championship on home soil. 'We've had a long opportunity to sort of gel together,' said Hooker-Ridgen. 'I think that's one of our main strengths, is we've been building chemistry for those nine months, and we have an opportunity to do something pretty special.' Fresh off a silver medal at the 2025 Lobster Trap tournament in Halifax at the end of June, Hooker-Ridgen says both he and his teammates have improved a lot since last year's Prairie Cup. 'Probably playing new guys again,' said Hooker-Ridgen on what he's looking forward to for the tournament. 'Playing Saskatchewan, Alberta is going to be tough, but I think our team has what it takes to definitely have a good game with them and hopefully come out on top.' Playing for the Team Manitoba squad is a different experience from how Hooker-Ridgen began his lacrosse journey. In the early stages, there was a lot more regular season play, but at the higher levels, everything builds toward the big tournaments like nationals. 'The first eight or nine years, it was kind of just all club with my buddies and just going out to have fun,' said Hooker-Ridgen. 'And then three years ago, it became Team Manitoba and that was when it started to get a bit more serious.' The U17 player has done it all with Team Manitoba, competing in both field and box lacrosse, from being focused on scoring goals to keeping them out. In box, Hooker-Ridgen plays as a runner on offence, and in field, he was an attacker until last fall, but when his team needed a goalie, he made the switch. 'It wasn't really a crazy big change,' said Hooker-Ridgen. 'Because I'd only been playing field for about a year. But yeah, that's definitely something I enjoy, and I'm pretty glad I made the switch.' Just three months after making the move, he was selected for the Team Canada West U17 Development Team. Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. 'It's even a step up from Team Manitoba,' said Hooker-Ridgen. 'You know, you're playing with guys from B.C., Saskatchewan, Alberta. So it's just a step up in the calibre of lacrosse, so grateful I get to do it.' In August, Hooker-Ridgen and the Team Manitoba U17 boys will head out to St. John's, where they will compete in the Canada Summer Games. And looking forward, Hooker-Ridgen hopes to keep working on his lacrosse game and eventually earn a spot down south to continue playing college lacrosse in the United States. 'I love the lacrosse community, it's super tight-knit,' said Hooker-Ridgen, who says he's seen lacrosse in Manitoba continue to grow. 'Everyone knows everyone, and it's just a good community.'
Winnipeg Free Press
14-07-2025
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
All geared up for the Prairie Cup
Looking to try a new sport and inspired by friends who played, Jaden Loeppky started her lacrosse journey in 2023 at her high school, Dakota Collegiate. Now, just two years later, she'll be off to the Canada Summer Games in August with the Manitoba Girls' U17 team, as her progress parallels the increasing growth of lacrosse across Manitoba. But before that, Loeppky and her U17 squad, along with six other Manitoban teams, will take part in the Prairie Cup — a regional tournament that features teams from Alberta and Saskatchewan, and gives Manitoba the chance to showcase its lacrosse strength at home for the first time. SUPPLIED Jaden Leoppky and her U17 squad, along with six other Manitoban teams, will take part in the second annual Prairie Cup, hosted by the Keystone Centre in Brandon from July 18-20. Created just last year, the Prairie Cup is an annual tournament for U13 to U17 boys and girls that aims to give more competitive play for the smaller provinces. After the inaugural Prairie Cup was hosted in Saskatchewan last year, this year's edition will bring 24 teams and around 500 players to the Keystone Centre in Brandon from July 18-20. 'I'm excited that it's in Manitoba,' said Loeppky. 'Manitoba doesn't have a lot of major tournaments, so I'm excited to play, at, well, not home, but in Manitoba still.' The girls' U13 and U15 teams for Manitoba weren't around when Loeppky started lacrosse. It was only last year that Manitoba fielded the younger teams, reflecting the recent growth of girls participating in the sport. In 2019, there were just 21 girls playing lacrosse in Manitoba, but last year that number had grown to over 400. 'It's been really cool to see,' said Loeppky on the development of women's lacrosse in Manitoba. 'I started when it was still pretty new, like the first women's box lacrosse team was in 2022 at the Canada Summer Games. And so since it's only been really like three of four years since that began, there's just been so much growth.' Since starting out, Loeppky has been a member of the Manitoba U17 team starting in summer 2023, competed in national events like the 2024 Canadian Box Lacrosse Nationals and the 2024 Lacrosse Field Nationals, and officially joined the Canada Games training squad last fall. Shawna Ducharme, director-at-large of Grassroots and Outreach at Manitoba Lacrosse, says the Prairie Cup is a great way to increase exposure of the sport and provide more game experience for young players. 'That's ultimately what it gives us, is that higher-end game play,' said Ducharme. 'Which in Manitoba, in some divisions, we struggle to get more than one team… So, quite often, as an example, our U17 female team will play exhibition games against our U15 boys. So this helps a lot with playing in your own division and giving you exhibition games before you go to Nationals.' Ducharme hopes the Prairie Cup will be beneficial to the Westman area, which has around 200 players, and could inspire more young athletes in and around Brandon to pick up lacrosse. SUPPLIED In 2019, there were just 21 girls playing lacrosse in Manitoba, but last year that number had grown to over 400. 'Honestly, I think that anyone who has a passion for it can do so well, since it's still a developing program,' said Loeppky. 'I think what made me do well in the beginning was just how much I loved it. It was such a fast-paced sport and just creating relationships with my teammates was also something that made me interested in it.' Manitoba Lacrosse also hopes to continue building its women's programming, particularly through the Manitoba Herd Program, which focuses on female development and expanded this year to include both box and field lacrosse. Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. 'It's been really heavy on the development of the box side of female lacrosse,' said Ducharme. 'This program has really helped us get young women, young athletes involved in the sport of lacrosse and playing against females as opposed to playing co-ed.' As a final tune-up before the Canada Games in St. John's, the Prairie Cup offers valuable experience for Manitoba's U17 teams, and Loeppky says strong team bonds — which also helped them earn silver at the 2025 Lobster Trap tournament in Halifax at the end of June — are one of their biggest strengths. 'The fact that since we've been playing for such a short amount of time and everyone's so passionate about it, having to take in all the information of learning a new sport in such a short amount of time, I think it just shows how much everyone just loves lacrosse,' said Loeppky. The Prairie Cup will have all three arenas in the Keystone Centre running at the same time with various games. Action starts at 8:30 a.m. on Friday and will run until 9:00 p.m.
