Canadian Lacrosse Association   – OTTAWA, ON (August 18, 2016) – The 73rd edition of the modern Minto Cup kicks off on August 20, with the best-of-five championship series taking place from August 25-29. This year’s Canadian Junior ‘A’ lacrosse national championship will be played at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C., which last hosted this event in 2014.

 

Four of the best Junior A lacrosse teams in the country will compete for this historic trophy, which was first awarded in 1901 and was officially designated as the Junior ‘A’ lacrosse championship of Canada in 1937.

 

As the host province, the British Columbia Junior ‘A’ Lacrosse League (BCJALL) receives two births in the tournament, which will be filled by their league finalists, while the Ontario Jr. ‘A’ Lacrosse League (OJALL) and Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League (RMLL) will each be sending their league champions.

 

“The BC Junior A Lacrosse League is very excited to host the 2016 Minto Cup at the Langley Events Centre in the Township of Langley,” said BCJALL President and Commissioner Karl Christiansen. “Having the four premier Junior A lacrosse teams in the country all together to battle for this championship is outstanding.”

 

A new winner will be crowned this year because the two-time defending champion Six Nations Arrows failed to qualify after a surprising sweep in the OJALL finals at the hands of the Orangeville Northmen. The Northmen have had some success on the national stage of late, winning the cup in 2012, 2009 and 2008.

 

One of their challengers will be the BCJALL’s Coquitlam Adanacs, who are no strangers to the Minto Cup having been runner up in four of the past five years after winning it all in 2010. Their win in 2010 over Orangeville was also the last time a team from outside of Ontario captured the trophy. It’s a rivalry that fans on both sides are surely excited for.

 

The Delta Islanders, the BCJALL’s other entry, will look to built upon a historic season in which they won the league championship and earned a spot in the Minto Cup for the first time in franchise history. They did so by upsetting the Adanacs in the finals and ending their streak of seven straight titles.

 

The winner of the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League (RMLL), the Calgary Mountaineers, will look to hold their own against the powerhouse teams from Ontario and British Columbia. The Mountaineers last appeared in the tournament in 2014, falling to the Adanacs 3-1 in a best-of-five western Canadian semi-final series.

 

“Both B.C. representatives, the Delta Islanders and Coquitlam Adanacs, have had excellent seasons and are very hungry to bring the Minto Cup back to B.C., however we know that the Calgary Mountaineers and Orangeville Northmen stand in the way,” added Christiansen.

 

The Minto Cup features some of the best junior aged lacrosse players in Canada, many of whom will go on to have successful professional careers in the National Lacrosse League (NLL).

 

A select few may also get the opportunity to represent Canada on the international stage, something that Coquitlam’s Thomas Semple and Orangeville’s Jeffrey Henrick have both had the chance to do already. They were part of the silver medal winning squad that competed at the 2016 FIL U19 Men’s Lacrosse World Championship this past June.

 

Lacrosse fans from across the country will be able to watch these future superstars compete live thanks to pay-per-view webcast brought to you by TFSE TV.

 

The organizing committee and local lacrosse community are also quite excited for the upcoming event.

 

“We are excited once again to host the top Junior ‘A’ box lacrosse athletes from Canada as they battle for this prestigious championship,” said Darcy Rhodes, High Performance Sport and Academy Supervisor at the Langley Events Centre. “We would like to wish all of the athletes, coaches and team personnel the best of luck in their quest to be the top team in Canada.”

 

Visit www.bcjall.com/minto-cup for more details, including tournament schedule and player statistics.

 

 

About the Canadian Lacrosse Association   –          

Founded in 1867, the Canadian Lacrosse Association (CLA) is the governing body responsible for all aspects of lacrosse in Canada. Our organization is comprised of 10 Member Associations representing nearly 80,000 individual participants, including coaches, officials, and athletes of all ages and abilities. The CLA’s mission is to honour the sport of lacrosse and its unique nation-building heritage, by engaging our members, leading our partners, and providing opportunities for all Canadians to participate. We strive to accomplish this while adhering to our core values of health, excellence, accountability, respect and teamwork. The CLA oversees the delivery of numerous national championships and the participation of Team Canada at all international events sanctioned by the Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL). The CLA is proud to be affiliated with partners that share the same vision and values, including our corporate partners – New Balance Athletics, Warrior Sports, Westjet, and Baron Rings – as well as our funding partners the Government of Canada, the Coaching Association of Canada, and the Canadian Lacrosse Foundation. For more information on Canadian Lacrosse Association and the sport of lacrosse, visit our website at www.lacrosse.ca and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

 

– 30 –

 

For more information, please contact:
 

Alain Brouillette

Communications and Marketing Coordinator
Canadian Lacrosse Association
Phone: 613-260-2028 ext. 302
Email: alain@lacrosse.ca