The Okotoks Raiders will continue to have a strong Calgary Roughnecks feel to them.
In the past, Roughnecks assistant coach Bruce Codd has acted as the bench boss for the leading franchise of the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League, with other Rigger personnel as assistant coaches.
The upcoming season will see Roughnecks captain Andrew McBride will act as the head coach, while forward Dane Dobbie has been named an offensive coordinator.
“I’m excited for the challenge it’ll be new running the show and taking that responsibility to be the best team in Canada and winning the Minto Cup,” said McBride.
The Raiders have represented the RMLL in two of the last three years at the Minto Cup, producing a number of NLL draft picks including Roughnecks practice squad players Barclay Hickey, Brett Baron and Jake Hayes.
McBride had been involved with the Raiders for the last few seasons, acting as the assistant coach before taking the full reigns a few weeks ago.
“I’ve been very fortunate to work with Brucey and Dave and I’ve learned a lot about communicating with kids,” he said. “I don’t think I would have taken the job if I didn’t have good people around me in Dane Dobbie and (assistant coach) Jesse Fehr.”
McBride will also take on the assistant general manager title for the Raiders.
“I’m really excited about the role,” McBride said. “In this league with the midget draft coming up, you can really get out and pound the pavement and find some good guys.
“Myself, by playing out in BC, we are tapped into that. With Dane and his family in Ont., we have all of our bases covered. I’ll definitely be looking to improve the club moving forward and I think there are opportunities if you get out there and look, you just have to put the time in.”
Dobbie spent last season as an assistant coach with the Coquitlam Jr. A Adanacs, along with Roughnecks defender Jon Harnett and scout Neil Dodridge.
“It’s going to be awesome,” he said. “There are some good guys there. I got asked by Andrew McBride and Fehr to do it. I’m going to be living here and I’m looking forward to the opportunity.”
