North Okanagan Reapers exposing the region to high-level lacrosse

Photo: North Okanagan Repears

North Okanagan Reapers sit second in the Thompson-Okanagan Junior Lacrosse league

The North Okanagan Reapers Lacrosse team joined the Thompson-Okanagan Junior Lacrosse League in 2023 and now, just two years later, the team is in contention to take home a championship.

The Reapers are a merged team between the Armstrong Shamrocks and Vernon Tigers, with its home arena at the Sunbelt Sports Centre in Armstrong. Most of the players came out of the North Okanagan Minor Association.

Before the merge, players would get dispersed between the various teams based on school boundaries and both the Tigers and Shamrocks suspended operations due to dwindling player numbers.

“When we were only getting 10 and 12 kids to our games or showing up for practices, it was hard to compete at that level,” said North Okanagan Reapers governor Chris Scabar.

With the merging, the North Okanagan Reapers now have 28 players to get them through the long season.

“The sport is so gruelling that we lose kids to concussion, penalties, sickness. You need to have a roster like that to compete,” said Scaber.

Scaber and the organization will have to cut the team down to 25 players by the end of July before playoffs.

“We're having an opportunity now in the season to play a lot of the younger kids and the kids that aren't going to be able to play in the playoffs,” said Scaber.

The Reapers current record is 3-2 and they sit second in the league behind the Kamloops Venom.

The Reaper's next games will be a pair of exhibition matches against the West Kootenay Timberwolves at the Sunbelt Sports Centre on May 3 at 7 p.m. and May 4 at 3:15 p.m.