THINK LACROSSE / FAUT Y PENSER

b y Pierre Filion pierrefilion@bell.net Ah, annual meetings have always amazed me; and I loved then. I have attended 43 Canadian Lacrosse annual meetings in my time with the Québec Lacrosse Fédération. Some were outstandingly interesting and obviously some lacked life and were simply boring. And I have always wondered why delegates come from all over the country to , so often, sit, listen, vote as they are told to vote and rubber stamp whatever is presented to them by an organized Board of Directors. After positive annual meetings the delegate leave totally gung-ho and have a vivid feeling of being part of a developing national association; they take this feeling home, speak positively about the national association and get their provinces to support national projects or decisions. And here we go because WE are the CLA. On the other hand after a lackluster meeting the delegates leave with a feeling that nothing good will ever happen, that the Board of Director s knows it all and i...

  by Pierre Filion pierrefilion@bell.net The question begs to be answered. Obviously. When Lacrosse Canada’s Board of Directors meets the meeting starts with some sort of official declaration and a recognition of the origin of the game. “At this time. I would like to give thanks to the creator for giving this medicine to the lroquois / Haudenousnee (people of the longhouse) for sharing this medicine with the world. Would also like to give thanks to all First Nations. Metis. and Inuit as we all sit in their territories we say thank you. We say thank you Creator for giving us Mother Earth. She then gave us the tree in which our sticks are made from. This is the true roots of the medicine we call Lacrosse today." Nay:weh / thank you. ( From Lacrosse Canada ’ s Board of Directors’ meeting of July 15 th 2026 ) Lacrosse Canada thus recognizes two things here: The creator gave a medicine game to the Iroquois The Creator gave us Mother Earth Sadly, Lacrosse Canada , in this officia...

From St. Catherines Ontario, Bill Lefeuvre was i nducted into the Special Contributor Category of the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2002 . Bill was one of the driving forces behind pursuing funding which led to the building of the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame . Involved in lacrosse since the early 1980s, Mr. Lefeuvre played a critical role which led to the opening of the OLHOF sooner than originally planned. In addition, Bill Lefeuvre was both Coach and General Manager of the Junior “B” Spartan Warriors when they won the 1996 Founders Cup. Furthermore, he served as General Manager of the St. Catharines Athletics of the Ontario Major Series league. His involvement in lacrosse as a builder has seen him travel to China and he has been involved in the game with numerous contributions.

Six Canadian National Lacrosse Championships occur when the most successful teams from across the country compete for national titles. In 2026, championships will be taking place in Halifax, Nova Scotia; Calgary, Alberta;  St. John, New Brunswick; Whitby, Ontario; Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; Edmonton, Alberta; Langley, British Columbia and Six Nations, Ontario. JENNY KYLE CUP – July 27-29 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Named in honour after the late Jenny Kyle, for j2026, this national field championship was held in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Jenny Kyle was a prominent leader in the establishment and growth of women’s field lacrosse, Sadly, she passed in away in February 2021.The Jenny Kyle Cup is the women’s field lacrosse championship which includes many of  the top U19 players. This event continues to be critical in establishing the future of women’s field lacrosse. Teams from the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Saskatchewan competed in the 2026 event. The...

By Pierre Filion pierrefilion@bell.net It’s rather basic but every national sport association has a preoccupation for the development of their sport. They all want more players and they also want those players to play better. They want the Association to perform better. Rather simple to understand but more complex to realize. And to be efficient in both areas. Lacrosse Canada faces those challenges and the best way to appreciate its efforts is to have a look at the 2026-27 budget and see where the Association invests (spends) its money. The money comes from four different sources: Sport Canada contributes 1,265,162$ (30.5% of the budget); sponsors and donations create a revenue of 174,500$ (4.2% of the budget); the members’ contributions through membership fees, national championships, transfers, meetings and clinics shovel in 2,161,314$ (52.1% of the revenues); finally, the National Teams and the Development Program turn in 542,700$ (13% of the budget). Total revenues are of 4,143...

By Pierre Filion pierrefilion@bell.net This is one of the best times of the year for lacrosse; medals are won, teams are honored, players are appreciated and managements are sometimes singled out for the excellence of their governance and wisdom. It’s also a lot of fun to see Alberta’s rise in the quest for medals and become some sort of a leader and mostly an example for other provinces. Sure , a few imports never hurt s (yeah, yeah) but in general terms the game in Alberta has risen and the province is now a recognized legitimate contender for any national championship. Somehow , I like Alberta; I like their business sense, their calm and organization; I saw their quest for inclusion within the Minto Cup some years ago and the Alberta d elegates, often facing a capricious brick wall, never lost their cool and efficiently progressed until they met all the criteria and were included in the Minto Cup competition. They had a ‘’chin up’’ attitude all the way and never complained ab...