New junior lacrosse league plans to up player eligibility to age 22
St. Catharines Athletics have not yet decided whether to join Six Nations and Burlington in loop
A perennial provincial powerhouse is leading the charge in establishing a junior indoor lacrosse league that would increase the maximum age of eligibility to 22.
Besides raising the age by one year, Tewaaraton Lacrosse League — “Tewaaraton” is the Mohawk word for lacrosse — would play by rules used by the National Lacrosse League, a professional league.
A league that hopes to play a June to August schedule was introduced Jan. 25 when the Six Nations Arrows announced they are leaving the Ontario Lacrosse Association’s junior A ranks. Since then, a second team, the newly established Burlington Black Hawks, have joined the fledgling league.
Six Nations, winners of five Minto Cup Canadian championships since 1992, the last in 2017, so far is the only junior A team jumping to the new league. Both the St. Catharines Athletics and Peterborough Lakers have yet to decide whether to come out from under the Canada Lacrosse Association umbrella to competing in the under-22 league.
“We listened to what they’re looking to do as a new league, but, at this point, it is too early for us to make any type of decision like that as an organization,” Athletics general manager Jeff Chcoski said.
Lakers president Tim Barrie said, while he would never say never, at this point his team is not interested in leaving the OLA and losing the chance to compete for the Minto Cup.
“I don’t really see the benefit. They say it would make their kids better prepared for the NLL, but I remember in my playing days we jumped between leagues that had vastly different rules and you adapted fairly quickly,” he told the Peterborough Examiner.
After COVID-19 cancelled the Ontario Junior A Lacrosse League season and the Minto Cup tournament, which had been scheduled to take place at Meridian Centre in St. Catharines, nine of the 11 teams voted to raise the maximum age. However, the resolution wasn’t supported at the Ontario Lacrosse Association (OLA) annual meeting.
Peterborough was the lone team opposing the age change.
“All you’re really going to do is displace a bunch of 16-year-olds if you have 22-year-olds in your league,” Barrie said. “You’re encouraging 16-year-olds to drop out because they won’t have a place to play.”
OLA president Jim Bomhof said he had heard rumours but the first he learned of the new league was in media reports. “They have yet to come to the OLA saying they’re leaving the OLA,” he said. “I’m disappointed, but they’ll do what they feel they need to do.”