By Joe Fee
Quinte Minor Lacrosse Association is busy preparing for their much-anticipated return to play beginning August 10th at Thurlow Fields in Belleville.
After a couple false starts in the past year and a half, players are now registering, and divisions are filling up.
The 2021 season will look a little different than the club’s inaugural season in 2019. With ongoing restrictions and ice going into arenas, the club is moving all play outdoors, which will be a new and exciting way for young players to discover the sport.
Lacrosse is a sport that can be played both indoors and outdoors, with varying rules for each style.
Indoor lacrosse (or box lacrosse) has been the most common style in Canada since it’s inception around 100 years ago to make use of hockey arenas during the spring and summer. Box lacrosse is quickly gaining popularity all over North America with some calling it a more fast-paced, up-close, and exciting version of the sport.
Currently, the National Lacrosse League exists as the major North American professional lacrosse league with teams in Canada and the United States.
Field lacrosse, played outdoors, has been the style of play most common in the United States, being part of NCAA competition for about 50 years and steadily gaining popularity at colleges across the country. The Premier Lacrosse League debuted in 2019 as the major North American field lacrosse league. Field lacrosse is also gaining popularity at Canadian universities, with the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association holding championships in late fall each year.
Traditionally, lacrosse has been a game played by indigenous tribesin North America for hundreds of years. Many of the game’s top players have indigenous roots, and there is a long tradition of the sport
with the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte and its current minor organization Tyendinaga Thunderbirds.
The mission of Quinte Minor Lacrosse is to provide our local youth with the opportunity to play Canada’s National Summer Sport recreationally as a great way to stay active, meet new friends, and have fun, while also offering the opportunity for players to develop to a higher level of play with ambitions of playing at a college and professional level.
The club also aims to introduce the cultural aspects of the sport, including its indigenous heritage. The 2021 QMLA recreational season will run Tuesdays and Thursdays for seven weeks beginning August 10th and culminating with the league finals on September 25th. Players can expect some skill development and minimum of five games. Teams will be small to allow players to get the most out of their field time with games played in a 3v3 or 4v4 format.
Into the fall and over the winter, the QMLA will also be busy preparing their 2022 program which will include lots of opportunity for players to develop their skills and engage in game play. The standard spring recreational box lacrosse league is expected to return, along with more opportunities to play the sport including a competitive box lacrosse program, as well as recreational and competitive field lacrosse programs throughout the year.
In the past, Quinte Minor Lacrosse has offered a winter skills program with professional players and coaches, which it intends to continue in the upcoming season.
The Quinte Minor Lacrosse Association attracts players from the entire Quinte region. The goal is to provide players with the opportunity to play in their local community on a team that participates in the Quinte Recreational Lacrosse League. Players from Belleville, Stirling, Quinte West, Prince Edward County and all other communities in and around the region are invited to check out Quinte Bayhawks Lacrosse and see what all the excitement is about!
Information on Quinte Bayhawks Lacrosse can be found on their website http://quintelacrosse.com or you can contact them at quintelacrosse@gmail.com.