End of the road

Sirens look for new head coach as Lambiris era comes to a close

In the fallout of LFL Canada’s cancelled season, a decision was made to relieve Chris Lambiris of his head duties as head coach of the Saskatoon Sirens. Unfortunately, the downward spiral for Lambiris began after an announcement was made about condensing the 2013 regular season to half the originally scheduled games.

As a direct rebuttal to the league’s announcement, Lambiris and other members of the Sirens had expressed their frustrations through social media. In a shocking turn of events, an announcement followed that the season would be boycotted by Saskatoon.

The thought of the Sirens boycotting the season was nothing short of outrageous. With the announcements made through social media, it only aggravated the problem. In addition, many of the players on the Sirens supported the boycott.

As many of these players were new to the franchise, why would they want to walk away from an opportunity to become local celebrities and sports heroes? The only outcome from this boycott was that the franchise was made to look like a spoiled child.

By taking such grievances publicly, it only served to undermine the  league and the other teams. While the decision to condense the season was a difficult one for LFL Canada, was it really worth starting a public dispute over such a decision? Could one have imagined what would have happened had an NHL team made such an announcement during the outcome of last seasons’ lockout?

While LFL Canada had concerns over the product on the field possibly being less than LFL caliber football, a decision was also reached to have several LFL US stars join every franchise. Despite the condensed schedule, the advantage for many of the rookies throughout the league to be mentored by US stars such as Anne Erler, Nikki Johnson and Angela Rypien would have been beneficial to their young careers.

In making the cavalier move to plan and walk-out on the season, it only served as a step backward for the entire league. Although there were concerns over player preparation, a condensed season was better than no season. Quite possibly, the existing talent may be so disillusioned over what occurred that they may choose to not suit up in 2014. Should that happen, there could be a significant shortage of talent.

Once again, the ones that truly lose are the fans. For the rest of the Sirens franchise, this entire chapter has served to derail the momentum they had built in their inaugural season. While fans can only hope that the 2014 season shall provide the high quality of LFL football that they are accustomed to, the additional task of rebuilding the fan base and earning the trust of the fans becomes just as important for the Sirens as trying to win a championship.