Recreational Sports – The Concordian

What is LUG Sports?

LUG Sports is a recreational sports league that offers sports services to college and university students and alumni in over 30 cities across North America.

It was founded about 10 years ago when two students from Western University and Queen’s University in Ontario wanted to keep playing sports at a competitive level, but not varsity.

Ryan Fitzgerald, LUG Sports’ marketing manager, said LUG likes to “keep the dream alive” for students who still want to play but don’t have the aspirations to play at a D1 level.

As opposed to intramural sports, which are organized by universities or colleges for their students and alumni, LUG Sports allows students and alumni from different universities to play together on the same team. Its focus is more on a city or community level than it is on school.

LUG Sports also has “black out days,” when no games are played: holidays, reading weeks, spring break, and the Super Bowl are a few examples.

LUG mainly offers sports that generally aren’t offered by the city’s universities’ and colleges’ intramural leagues. The sports offered in Montreal are softball, flag football, beach volleyball and hockey.

LUG is available in 28 Canadian cities, including Halifax, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, and Victoria. Seventeen locations are in Ontarian cities.

According to Fitzgerald, LUG Sports was able to expand to so many cities because of how many students were interested and reached out, asking them to come to their school.

The funding comes from registration fees when people join, which cover operating costs, jerseys, and sometimes accessories depending on the sport.

LUG also has many sponsors, some of which are local to specific locations. Red Bull and Harvey’s are some bigger ones, but Bodyarmor SuperDrink is one of LUG’s sponsors in the US, as well as Deek’s Pizza, specific to its North Dakota location.

LUG Sports’ most popular campuses remain Western and Queen’s to this day, the places where it all began.

Anybody can play ball hockey, and it’s making the sport grow across the country

Just imagine playing hockey without needing to learn how to skate. That’s ball hockey.

With the same level of intensity and excitement, ball hockey is a sport made to mirror Canada’s favourite winter pastime. Almost anyone can play, and it’s not just for kids in gym class or on the street, many adults also play.

Sean Guerriero, the vice-president of the Montreal Ball Hockey League (MBHL), said the sport is gaining popularity because it’s simple to play.

‘‘All you need to know is how to run and hold a stick,’’ he said. ‘‘If you like hockey, that’s the only prerequisite.’’

All you need to know is how to run and hold a stick. – Sean Guerriero

Many of the rules in ice and ball hockey are the same, but the games are played differently. In ice hockey, players can easily glide on their skates if they’re tired or a bit lazy. That’s not the case in ball hockey. The pace of the game relies on players keeping their feet moving without the luxury of an icy surface to propel them forward.

‘‘It’s a big workout,’’ Guerriero said. ‘‘If you’re not backchecking on [the play], you’re called out on it.’’

For university students looking to release stress, Guerriero said ball hockey is a fantastic sport. “It’s a great endorphin-releaser because of the toll it takes on your body to run 200 feet,” he said.

A ball hockey player carries the ball along the boards during a game. Photo courtesy of Sean Guerriero.

The biggest rule difference between ice hockey and ball hockey is the floating blue line rule. In ice hockey, the offensive zone ends at the opponent’s blue line. In ball hockey, the offensive zone goes all the way back to the red line, at centre ice. So the attacking team has half the ice to set up and make a play. It leaves a lot more space and creates a type of game that, according to Guerriero, relies on possession.

‘‘You gain the zone, you pass back to the point, you open up space,’’ he said. ‘‘The best players in the world don’t run that much.’’

However, ball hockey players still have the same passion for their sport as those on the ice, and it makes a great alternative for those who cannot play the winter version.

‘‘Across Montreal, hockey is a huge part of our culture, and it’s a great way to enter that culture and participate in it without having to learn how to skate,’’ Guerriero said.

In Montreal, ball hockey participation is growing fast. When Guerriero became VP of the MBHL in 2011, the league used hockey rinks in the summer, and didn’t have winter seasons. But a few months later, the Club West Island built an indoor ball hockey rink, open all year. So the MBHL started playing in the winter. Since then, Guerriero said the number of teams has grown from about 30 to around 120, and the MBHL operates year-round with over 3,000 players.

‘‘It’s caught on as more of a year-round sport than just a summer sport,” Guerriero said.

The MBHL took a major hit when the Club West Island closed in 2016, but they bounced back by moving their rink inside a golf dome in Kirkland. On top of that, Montreal’s first five-on-five ball hockey-specific arena, Le Rinque 2.0, opened in April. For Guerriero, having more places to play and grow the sport brings it closer to his dream.

‘‘Our ultimate goal as a sport is Olympic presence,’’ he said. ‘‘To see Team Canada play ball hockey at the Olympics would be a dream come true.’’

Main Photo courtesy of Sean Guerriero