City to host world junior showcase
The torch — in this case, a lacrosse stick — is being passed from Six Nations to Saskatoon.
For the first time ever, the IIJL World Junior Lacrosse Championship will be held outside of traditional Haudenosaunee territory when the 2018 tournament is held this summer, from Aug. 8-12 at SaskTel Centre.
“It’s fantastic,” says Randy Trobak, the event’s co-chair and Team Canada’s assistant regional general manager. “It’s the next step for our minor lacrosse. It’s the next step for the growth of lacrosse in Saskatchewan.”
The tournament will feature the world’s top box lacrosse players in the 20-and-under age group. For the first time, Canada will be represented by one team instead of regional squads.
There will also be an Iroquois team and one U.S.A. team participating in a four-day competition.
“For us and the Iroquois, this will be the first time that there’s one representative for each,” says Chris Fox, co-chair of the 2018 IIJL World Junior Lacrosse Championship and executive director and general manager for Team Canada.
“Essentially, these should be our strongest teams that we’ve assembled. It will be neck-and-neck.
“You can’t count out the U.S., either. They’re playing more and more box lacrosse with the growth of the NLL (National Lacrosse League). There’s more and more players and more and more groups teaching proper box lacrosse in the U.S., and those guys are great athletes, too.”
Four years ago, Fox bounced the idea off Trobak to hold an international junior tournament. The first year featured three Iroquois squads, four teams from Canada, plus Israel, Germany, and Scandinavia. The 2016 event featured four Iroquois teams, three Canadian outfits, Ireland, Czech Republic and the U.S.A.
“It’s really important for us to get some players out there, getting them a chance to be seen,” said Trobak, the head coach of the Rocky Mountain Junior A Lacrosse League’s Saskatchewan Swat squad. “It’s moving the game forward, where we need to go.
“It was really important for the kids to see and actually play a tournament like this. Playing against Germany, Israel, Team U.S.A. and teams like that, there was nothing more exciting for those kids. They proved they could step up to the best level, something we were looking for, especially being in the centre of the country where you’re not quite seen as the top of the lacrosse family.”
Canada’s first of four regional tryouts was held over the weekend in Saskatoon. The next three will be held in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia.
“The Canadian team will be really competitive,” said Trobak. “Even when we had the country divided up, they were still the top of the top teams.
“The Canadian West team, which had nine Saskatchewan Swat players on it, won the first year in 2015.
“... In 2016, we ended up losing (the semifinal) to the Iroquois Nation and they’re an incredible team. The majority of those guys are actually in the NLL right now, or are going to be playing in the NLL.”
Ticket packages go on sale April 3 at the SaskTel Centre box office.