Like the 1960s song, the Victoria Shamrocks have had Friday on their minds.
But for the first time in their history, the Shamrocks have brought Sundays into their Western Lacrosse Association home mix.
The traditional night for Shamrocks home games used to be Wednesday at the old Memorial Arena from the 1950s through the early 2000s. Friday, however, has been the tradition since the team has played at The Q Centre in Colwood.
But this year, three Sunday evening games, starting at 6 p.m., were in the offing as the Shamrocks unveiled their 2018 schedule. It will be Victoria鈥檚 69th season in the WLA.
Two of those three Sunday games will come early. The Shamrocks鈥� home opener is Friday, May 25, against the Burnaby Lakers. That will be followed by back-to-back Sunday home games June 3 and June 10 against the defending league-champion New Westminster Salmonbellies and Nanaimo Timbermen, respectively.
鈥淭here were a number of factors behind the move,鈥� said Shamrocks GM Chris Welch.
鈥淥ne is that schedule makers are always looking for breathing room in terms of arena conflicts and the like, and most WLA teams now have alternate nights. We have worked hard to make Friday as Lacrosse Night in Victoria and to make it an event. But we noticed we鈥檝e had good crowds in playoff games that were played on Sundays. So we鈥檙e confident this is going to be a good fit.鈥�
Maple Ridge is at The Q Centre on June 15 followed by the return of the Island derby against the Timbermen on June 29, both on Friday evenings.
July鈥檚 Friday home dates are the 6, 20 and 27 against the Langley Thunder, Maple Ridge Burrards and Coquitlam Adanacs, respectively. The home regular season concludes with a Sunday nighter against the Salmonbellies on July 29.
Meanwhile, the WLA draft will be held tonight, with the Shamrocks selecting fourth overall in the first round.
鈥淭here are four obvious blue chippers and we are in position to get one of them,鈥� said Welch.
The four big catches of the 2018 draft are thought to be Drew Belgrave and Connor Robinson, both of whom were called up last season by the Salmonbellies and were part of New Westminster鈥檚 run to the Mann Cup national championship series, and Cole Pickup and Danny Smith of the Victoria Junior Shamrocks.
