A’s want overagers to get extra year
Team wants to give players born in 1999 opportunity to compete for 2021 Minto Cup
Now that the Minto Cup junior A championships are off the clock at least until the summer of 2021, the St. Catharines Athletics want the Canadian Lacrosse Association to turn back the clock.
While the team is assured of having an automatic berth as hosts of the Minto Cup next year, as would have been the case this year, general manager Jeff Chcoski finds little solace in that.
He said, unless the CLA makes some rule changes, players currently in their final year of eligibility will miss out on a chance to complete their junior careers competing for a national title.
“They’ve already awarded the Minto Cup back to St. Catharines for next year, which is great. But, by the same token, we’re fighting to get our ’99s (players born in 1999) back, which would mean our 20year-olds would be able to play an overage year,” he said in an interview Thursday.
“On any given night, there are 12 20-year-olds on my roster so for us to able to really build this thing without them would be tough.”
How receptive the sport’s national governing body would be to extending eligibility for another year isn’t known at this point.
All but two clubs in the 11-team Ontario Lacrosse Association, including St. Catharines, back the change. Junior A leagues in Alberta and British Columbia would also have to be on board, as would the CLA.
“At this point, it’s a tough call. The problem is if we can get Ontario to agree on it, but if B.C. doesn’t and Alberta doesn’t and the CLA doesn’t, it doesn’t matter,” Chcoski said.
“At the end of the day, the CLA will make the decision, but we’re going to put as much input (into it) as we can,” he added. “Our goal at this point is to make sure the ’99s have a chance to compete in the Minto Cup next summer.”
Cancellation of the Minto Cup championships was officially announced Thursday, as were the under-16 boys and girls indoor championships, which had also been scheduled for Aug. 15-22 in St. Catharines. The Minto Cup would have been played at Meridian Centre, with Seymour-Hannah Sports and Entertainment the venue for the other two tournaments.
Lacrosse championships, including the Mann Cup senior national finals, aren’t the only casualties of COVID-19 so far this year. Both the Major Series Lacrosse and Western Lacrosse Association senior leagues have pulled the plug on the regular season, and junior A has just followed suit.
“That will be announced in the next couple of days, but I was in a board of governors
meeting on Tuesday and, to a team, we’ve decided to shut down this season,” Chcoski said.
“Ultimately, as Paul Coates, our president, said, as soon as the national championship was called off, we didn’t feel it necessary to play a season this year without the chance to play for a national championship.”
Trying to squeeze in a semblance of a regular season would have been problematic, given how the virus is affecting regions in Ontario differently.
“Niagara might be ready to go a little quicker, but you have Mimico, Brampton, Toronto Beaches. Those facilities in Toronto aren’t even close to being ready to open,” Chcoski said. “You had to look at the league as a whole to be able to make that decision.”
All national championships that would have been played under the CLA umbrella this summer have been cancelled. Association president Shawn Williams said host teams will have the opportunity to host the events when they return next year.
“The health and safety of our players and everyone in the lacrosse community are our top priorities,” he said. “The CLA will be preparing for the 2021 national championship season, and we look forward to having our lacrosse family back together once again.”
Among the trophies that won’t be awarded this year is the Founders’ Cup, given annually to the Canadian junior B champion.
Junior B lacrosse teams in Ontario are scheduled to learn the fate of the regular season in an online meeting Wednesday. Three junior B clubs play in the region: the Niagara Thunderhawks, based in Niagara-onthe-Lake, St. Catharines Spartans and Welland Generals.
For the 2021 Canada Games Host Society, cancellation of the Minto Cup has a silver lining. A national championship with the A’s as the host team would coincide with lacrosse returning to the Canada Summer Games after a 36-year absence.
“Although we are disappointed that the under-16 national box lacrosse championships and the 2020 Minto Cup were cancelled, we fully support the decision made by the Canadian Lacrosse Association,” host society chair Doug Hamilton said.
Indoor lacrosse at the Niagara 2021 Canada Summer Games is expected to be played at Canada Games Park, a state-of-the-art sport and recreation complex that will be built on the Brock University campus.
If May was the amuse-bouche of the sports menu, June looks set to provide an honest-togoodness appetizer. And, while the main courses may be some way off, there should be plenty for hungry fans to take in.
All right, it’s time to quickly drop that metaphor and get to the sports.
Horse Racing
The first jewel of the Triple Crown will be run June 20, but it won’t be the Kentucky Derby. Instead the Belmont Stakes, normally run third in the sequence, will kick things off.
But the race won’t look the same as in years past. No fans will pack Belmont’s sweeping grandstands. And, with threeyear-old horses having had limited options to race, organizers have decided that asking them to go the Belmont’s famed gruelling 1 1 ⁄ miles was too much
2 this year. Instead, they will race at a mere 1 1 ⁄ miles, making the
8 Belmont the shortest, instead of the longest, Triple Crown race.
Whoever wins the Belmont will have to wait some time to complete the Triple Crown. The Kentucky Derby is set for September and the Preakness for October.
Golf
The PGA Tour is planning to return in Fort Worth, Texas, on June 11, at an event that was postponed from its original May date. Tournaments will continue weekly, and the majors will start up with the PGA Championship in August.
A hunger for golf is definitely there: The exhibition match last week involving Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning drew the largest-ever golf ratings on a cable channel.
The LPGA and the European tours are to follow in July.
Soccer
We’ve had German soccer for a few weeks now, and the other big European leagues are returning to action, as well: Spain on June 11, England on June 17 and Italy on June 20.
Alone among the biggest leagues, France has decided to truncate its season and start with a new one in August.
England will also resume its FA Cup competition at the quarterfinal stage June 27.
Stateside, the National Women’s Soccer League will play its season as a 30-day mini-tournament that will begin on June 27.
Major League Soccer has not set a date for games to begin but could return in June, as well.
Auto Racing
IndyCar is readying to join NASCAR in returning to racing. Its first race will be held June 6 at Texas Motor Speedway. A fuller schedule will then begin in July.
The Indianapolis 500 is now scheduled for August.
The international Formula One circuit is being more cautious and won’t return until July, at the earliest.
Three teams sports
The above sports are all well and good but, to many North American fans, sports probably won’t start to feel normal until baseball, basketball and hockey return.
That isn’t expected to happen in June, though.
The furthest along is the National Hockey League, which announced plans for a 24-team playoff.
The National Basketball Association, Women’s NBA and especially Major League Baseball all have many more issues to resolve.
But, by June 19, Japanese baseball will join the already running South Korea and Taiwan leagues.