Ten of the past 12 Minto Cup national Junior A lacrosse championships have been won by Ontario teams, with only the titles by the Coquitlam Adanacs in 2010 and 2016 interrupting that run.
British Columbia figured something needed to be done, so it has streamlined the entire junior-age process.
Gone is the old Intermediate A classification, which has morphed into the new Junior B Tier I and Junior B Tier II brackets. Junior A remains the top class.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a great idea and we look at it now as a streamlined five-year program in sa国际传媒,鈥� said Rod Wood, president of the Victoria Shamrocks junior organization.
鈥渟a国际传媒 has not been competitive at the junior level for several years [other than Coquitlam]. The idea is to strengthen our programs at the junior level.鈥�
The key is in eliminating Intermediate A, to which most of sa国际传媒鈥檚 top talent went from ages 16-18. sa国际传媒 is the only province that had the Intermediate A classification.
Meanwhile, the sa国际传媒 Junior A Lacrosse League season opens today, with the Shamrocks away in Port Coquitlam playing the Saints. The Junior Shamrocks were 12-9 last season, but must replace the graduated standouts Cole Pickup and Danny Smith, who were both drafted by the Senior A Shamrocks of the Western Lacrosse Association. Look for a new face in the Junior Shamrocks crease, as the touted Cameron Dunkerley has been recruited to the Island from Orangeville, Ont.
鈥淲e have 11 fifth-year players, so we have a lot of maturity,鈥� said Junior Shamrocks head coach Terry Dennett.
Chief among them are Junior Shamrocks stars Marshall King and Brad McCulley, who also play NCAA Div. 1 field lacrosse at Drexel and Robert Morris, respectively.
The Junior Shamrocks general manager is Wade Murray. Victoria鈥檚 home opener is next Saturday at the Q Centre against a defending sa国际传媒 champion Adanacs team looking to remain the class of the league.
The Nanaimo Timbermen, hoping to improve on their 2-19 record from a year ago, open 2018 next Saturday at home against a highly regarded Langley Thunder squad that is tipped to give Coquitlam a run this season.
Overall No. 1 draft pick (out of the old Intermediate A) Arthur Miller, from Saanich, is expected to make an impact for the T-Men.
The other franchises in the eight-team sa国际传媒 Junior A League include the Burnaby Lakers, New Westminster Salmonbellies and Delta Islanders.
Tre Leclaire of the Salmonbellies, who is also an NCAA field-lacrosse standout with the Ohio State Buckeyes, is tabbed as a league MVP candidate.
鈥淎 lot of [Junior A] players are still away at school in the NCAA at the start of our season,鈥� Wood said.
Case-in-point are the Junior Shamrocks, who have a whopping nine players still away in the NCAA.
鈥淭hat means we have nine call-ups [from the Shamrocks Junior B Tier I team] for [today鈥檚] opener in Port Coquitlam,鈥� Dennett said.
鈥淏ut these kids have an opportunity and they work hard.鈥�
Which is what this new, streamlined junior lacrosse system is supposed to be all about.
