photo by Chad Laforet | lumierephotography.caThe national championship will be played August 17 – 21, 2010 at Burnaby’s Bill Copeland Arena.
“The BCLA is pleased to have been awarded the 2010 Presidents Cup to the Burnaby Burrards of the West Coast Senior Lacrosse League. I wish all of the teams the best of luck,” says BC Lacrosse Association President Sohen Gill.
Burrards General Manager Shawn Joinson says the awarding of the event hosting to a Lower Mainland team is great news for lacrosse fans from across the province. “We’re very excited to have been named as the host venue for the 2010 championships, there is a thriving lacrosse community in British Columbia and we expect to see a great fan turnout.”
The five-day series will feature the top seven teams in the Senior B division from across Canada facing off in a round-robin style tournament.
“The caliber of competition will be superb,” says Joinson. “This is a really fantastic opportunity to see the very best players in the world compete at this level.”
Burnaby Burrards
The Burnaby Burrards is one of the lower mainland’s best-known lacrosse franchises. The roots of the club go back to 1969 when the Senior B team from Vancouver’s Killarney neighbourhood joined the Inter-City Lacrosse League, the predecessor of the West Coast Senior Lacrosse Association.
During the 1980s, Vancouver maintained a strong presence in the league, first with the Vancouver Disco Sports Angels and later the East Vancouver Bluebirds. In 1999, the Vancouver Vipers renamed themselves the Vancouver Burrards – reclaiming the heritage of the Burrards name, which has long been symbolic of lacrosse in Vancouver.Two years ago the Burrards relocated outside Vancouver to the neighbouring suburb of Burnaby, a move that breathed newfound life into the club, now seen as one of the premier organizations in the league.
Lacrosse in Canada —
"Our Country – Our Game"
Lacrosse, which the Native People of North America knew under many different names such as Baggataway or Tewaarathon, played a significant role in the community and religious life of tribes across the continent for untold years. Its origin lost in the antiquity of myth, Lacrosse remains a notable contribution of the Native culture to modern Canadian society. In the 1840s the first games of Lacrosse were played between the townsfolk and the First Nations People, and the game of Lacrosse quickly won the loyalty and interest of the newest North Americans. Lacrosse was named Canada's National Game by Parliament in 1859.
The coming of the 1930s brought innovation once again to the sport. Promoters married the two most popular games in the country, lacrosse and hockey, and created Indoor Lacrosse, also known as Box Lacrosse or Boxla. The game was built upon speed and action and very quickly won massive support within the organization.
Lacrosse was re-confirmed by Parliament as the National (Summer) Sport of Canada in 1994.
