It’s post-mortem time on the 2008 Junior A season in Rama and, frankly, this is not the way I envisioned the autopsy would unfold.

What was a regular season of frustration for the Rama Hammond Kings Junior A Lacrosse Club ended recently, with a 12-5 loss to Burlington.

The club’s 6-15-1 record left them eighth in the 10-team league, eliminated from post-season action once again.

With Doug Noganosh back for his second season as head coach with the club, the hope in 2008 was that the majority of returning players would be one year older and more experienced at the Junior A level.

But, in conversations with Noganosh during training camp and into the regular season, the sense was the team was not deep enough offensively.

To produce wins, everyone would have to step up and the goaltending tandem of Derrick Gordon and Brandon Noble would need to be superb game after game. That’s a tall order.

Having watched the amount of time Noganosh, assistant coaches Mike Gover and Jason Wiles, and Kings GM Ralph Gordon dedicate to the game, the poor season is clearly not the result of a lack of effort on their part.

I have to wonder if the team is finally paying the price for the decision to move away from the Junior B level.

There is no doubt the Rama Kings can be competitive on some nights, but I wonder if the long-term survival of the club is best served by staying at the Junior A level.

But with Barrie now firmly implanted at the Junior B level, I doubt Rama would be permitted back into the Kings former home.

A number of factors figured into the mix. I’ve never been convinced either the Rama Kings or the Jim Wilson Couchiching Terriers Hockey Club ever made the right decision by moving into the ‘A’ loop.

Time and time again, I have heard the Terriers coaches and management talk about how difficult it is to be competitive against the likes of Newmarket, Stouffville and Aurora.

Collingwood has faced the same difficulties as Couchiching in climbing the division ladder and I wonder how many times the Blues executive has contemplated a league switch.

That’s if one was possible.

You can only bang your head against the wall so many times before one of two things happens.

Either the pain gets so unbearable you stop. Or you ask yourself if more pain is worth it.

A Minto Cup or Royal Bank Cup victory is a nice thing to dream about, but you have to ask yourself how realistic is it.

When something stops being enjoyable, maybe a change of direction is needed.