Return of Brampton Excelsiors backed
The MLS is free to award Owen Sound a new team of its own, an OLA appeal tribune rules
An Ontario Lacrosse Association appeal tribunal has upheld an OLA board of directors decision ordering Major Series Lacrosse to return a team to the Brampton Excelsiors.
The tribunal also ruled the MSL can award a seventh team to Owen Sound and the OLA will work to expedite that for the 2022 season.
The MSL appealed an April 18 directive from the OLA board of directors to return the Excelsiors, sold to Michigan-based businessperson Joe Norton in 2018, to Brampton for 2022. Norton announced his intention to move the team to Owen Sound in 2020, a move originally approved by the MSL and OLA board of governors.
An Excelsiors alumni group, which successfully took over control of the Brampton Excelsiors Lacrosse Club (BELC) and voted out all but one previous board member, appealed the move of the team to Owen Sound and were successful. On Oct. 15, 2021, the OLA rejected the transfer to Owen Sound, according to tribunal findings.
The MSL continued to operate as though the franchise was moving to Owen Sound, including conducting a draft in March that excluded Brampton. The exclusion of Brampton is what led to the April 18 OLA directive that threatened to remove the MSL board of governors and commissioner Doug Luey if not met by April 30. The MSL appealed that directive and a hearing was held last Friday.
The tribunal’s ruling, obtained by the Examiner, casts blame on all parties for not following proper procedures in the sale of the team, including blaming the OLA itself. The tribunal was not satisfied a proper sale and all necessary approvals had been conducted, and sided with the OLA decision to return the team to BELC under the guidance of its new president, Glenn McClelland.
The ruling states, “The Tribunal rules that this matter be returned to the effected parties to facilitate the inclusion of a 7th team in the 2022 season. That team to be awarded to Joe Norton (MELT) to operate in Owen Sound.”
The MSL had already released its 2022 schedule for a six-team league that included Owen Sound but not Brampton. The season is set to start May 23. The Peterborough Century 21 Lakers’ season is supposed to start June 2 when they host the Cobourg Kodiaks at the Memorial Centre.
Luey said Thursday the league has several options to respond to the ruling but had not decided which route to go. Luey said he is awaiting some information he requested from the OLA board of governors before deciding.
“They’ve denied the appeal and now we’re formulating next steps,” said Luey.
Lakers executive Brian Cowie said: “Our preferred outcome would be the way it has been set up already with Owen Sound. The schedule and all the work everyone has done to make sure their season goes forward is based on that. Any change to that would cause some significant changes that are hard to incorporate, especially after being out of lacrosse nearly three years because of the pandemic.”
If there was to be an expansion team, Cowie believes it should be Brampton.
“The side we have always taken is not against having a team in Brampton,” said Cowie.
“We’d like to see them come back. They do have a history of lacrosse there of 150 years, too, and they’ve always been good competitors,” he added.
McClelland said BELC has arena time booked, coaches and players ready to go and they’re awaiting direction.
“We’re excited to field a team and we have a lot of work ahead of us to put this in place,” said McClelland. “We’ve lost everything. We have to get sweaters and all these things again.”
The tribunal also gave MSL teams until May 22 to make good on junior development fees to avoid up to 49 players becoming free agents.