Manitoba hosting lacrosse showcase

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This article was published 14/03/2024 (887 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba will host a Canadian women’s lacrosse event for the first time in 35 years this summer.

The national U19 women’s field lacrosse championship will be held at Waverley Soccer Complex from Aug. 2-5. The tournament was last held in the Manitoba capital at Assiniboine Park in 1989.

At least eight provincial representatives from across the country will vie for the Jenny Kyle Cup. The teams could include the renowned Haudenosaunee national women’s team, comprised of Iroquoian players from Ontario and New York.

A national U15 women’s lacrosse tournament will run at the same time.

The Manitoba Lacrosse Association’s successful bid to host the event is another milestone for a local women’s lacrosse scene that has seen a meteoric rise in the last couple of years.

“We’re super excited,” said Ashley Cvetkovic, committee chair for the provincial organization. “I think it’s really great for the sport here in Manitoba and for all the girls that are playing. I think this is a huge opportunity to showcase what we’re doing here and to try to get more girls playing.”

Tryouts for Team Manitoba begin in May. Last year, the province sent a women’s field team to the national tournament for the first time in 30 years and debuted two squads at the Canadian box lacrosse championship.

“It was a great experience and we just looked at that and thought this is a great way to build our program and to really advertise the sport in Manitoba,” Cvetkovic said. “The girls had a great experience there and so we thought, ‘Why not bring that back here and do it on our home turf and keep building?’”

Female participation in lacrosse has increased considerably in recent years.

In 2019, the Manitoba Lacrosse Association registered 26 female players across the entire province. It anticipates more than 400 registrants this year.

The growth has been apparent, said Kaelan Pilon, spokesperson for Lacrosse Canada. It’s a major reason the federal organization will bring its national championship to Manitoba for the first time in decades.

“Manitoba is one of those up and coming (provinces), where the last couple of years they’ve really made a push at all of our national championship to be way more competitive, more players going to schools, playing pro, things like that, and we thought it was a great opportunity to get lacrosse out there — especially the women’s game,” Pilon said.

“Ten years ago, Manitoba sometimes didn’t even have a team competing and now they’re one of our more consistent competitors in all competitions across the country. Their junior leagues have risen, their minor association have all had an uptick in registrations, so it’s just really come a long way.”

The momentum will continue to roll this year, Cvetkovic said. The women’s high school lacrosse league will expand in the fall with upward of 12 schools expected to be in action after beginning with three teams just two years ago.

A new all-girls box lacrosse league is accepting registration and will begin in April. The league, which is hoped to consist of four teams in its inaugural season, will travel to Neepawa, Carberry and Brandon for select practices and games to grow the game beyond Winnipeg.

It’s also the second year for The Herd, a grassroots development program for women up to 19 years old, which will continue after gaining significant traction as last summer wore on.

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca

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