WHEN Victoria’s Fire and Ice squads stepped out last this month at the under 15 National Lacrosse Tournament in Adelaide, fellow competitors could have been forgiven for thinking the two teams came solely from the Altona and Footscray Lacrosse Clubs.

Filling 17 of the 32 spots available, the two clubs made up more than half of Victoria’s contingent as they battled it out against the cream of Australia’s crop.

In uncharacteristic fashion, Victoria Ice finished third in the six-day competition, Victoria Fire coming in fifth.

The squads sported a whole new – and much younger – lineup this year with the majority of players from last year’s teams too old to compete.

At 11 and 12 years old respectively, Footscray’s Rebecca Lane and Altona’s Kaitlin Hughes and Shana Kukucka faced stiff competition from lacrosse opponents three years their senior, a factor that Footscray fundraiser Kay Lane says explains why neither side made the grand final.

“They’re a young side this year and Western Australia and South Australia have got older sides so we weren’t expecting them to take it out but judging by the way the young ones have played we’re going to be stronger again next year,” she said.

Despite the youth component, Footscray’s Gabrielle Dyson, Katelyn O’Callaghan, Rebecca Lane, Danielle Mollison and Ruth Kelly were all honoured with most valued player awards over the course of the week, while Altona’s Melissa Gruevska and Nicole Mastrullo were also named.

Day four of competition was the battle of the Victorians in a match that saw Altona and Footscray team-mates pitted against each other in a finals decider between Fire and Ice.

In what Altona President Mark Lewer described as “Ice’s best game of the tournament” the side over-ran their fellow Victorians 9-8 to make it into the final four.

There was no post-match animosity between the two sides, who gathered together and saluted the game with three cheers.

“It was played in good spirit – they were very competitive, of course, but overall it was played very well,” Lewer said.

“The girls got together at the end of the game to do their cheers as one big group rather than two separate sides. When you’re interstate you do tend to stick together and support each other.”

Lane agrees. “It was interesting to watch – I couldn’t barrack for either,” she said.

“Once they get on the field it’s a little bit more competitive, but off the field the two teams were the best of mates.”