Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association

Last updated
Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association
Current season, competition or edition:
Lacrosse current event.svg 2022 CUFLA season
CUFLA logo.jpg
Sport Lacrosse
Founded1985
PresidentDavid Fenicky (2014- present)
No. of teams14
Country Canada
Most recent
champion(s)
Western Mustangs (2023)
Official website cufla.ca

The Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association (CUFLA) is an association of men's field lacrosse teams connected with several universities in Ontario and Quebec. Teams compete in the fall with league playoffs typically in early November.

Contents

History

Founded in 1985, the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association, or the "CUFLA," was originally known as the Ontario University Field Lacrosse Association (OUFLA) and, as the name suggests, was entirely Ontario-based. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, OUFLA expanded to include more teams across Ontario.

Having grown to 10 teams in 2002, OUFLA changed its name to the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association to reflect the additions of McGill University and Bishop's University, both located in Quebec.

The league expanded to 12 teams in 2007 with the additions of Trent (Peterborough) and Laurentian (Sudbury) universities. With these additions the league split into two divisions (east and west) based on geographic location of member schools.

Concordia University in Montreal became the 13th member, the third in Quebec, in 2012.

As it celebrates its 30th year in 2014, the CUFLA has expanded again to 15 teams with the addition of Nipissing University and the University of Ottawa. [1] This ongoing growth bodes well for the continued expansion of men's field lacrosse at various universities across Canada.

Concordia University left after the 2015 season, leaving the league with 14 teams.

Teams

Guelph goalie in 2014. Guelph Gryphons field goalie 2014.jpg
Guelph goalie in 2014.
Western player in 2014. Western Mustangs field player 2014.jpg
Western player in 2014.
SchoolLocationHead Coach
Bishop's Gaiters Lennoxville, Quebec Drew Pollock
Brock Badgers St. Catharines, Ontario Tim Luey
Carleton Ravens Ottawa, Ontario Jeremy Strong
Guelph Gryphons Guelph, Ontario Sam Kosakowski
Laurentian Voyageurs Sudbury, Ontario George Sheppard
McGill Redbirds Montreal, Quebec Nicolas Soubry
McMaster Marauders Hamilton, Ontario Jason Tallevi
Nipissing Lakers North Bay, Ontario Jason Rudge
Ottawa Gee-Gees Ottawa, Ontario Callum Crawford
Queen's Golden Gaels Kingston, Ontario Don Tough
Toronto Varsity Blues Toronto, Ontario Jon Moore
Trent Excalibur Peterborough, Ontario Geoff McKinley
Western Mustangs London, Ontario Jacob Hickey
Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks Waterloo, Ontario Clancy Almas

Former

Champions

The Baggataway Cup is the Canadian university field lacrosse championship, awarded annually to the winner of the post-season tournament by the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association. The Baggataway Cup tournament is typically held the second weekend in November, and is hosted by one of the member schools.

Guelph Defender in 2014. Guelph Gryphons longstick 2014.jpg
Guelph Defender in 2014.
YearChampionFinalistScore
1985Western Mustangs
1986Brock Badgers
1987McMaster Marauders
1988Western Mustangs
1989Brock Badgers
1990Brock Badgers
1991Brock Badgers
1992Brock Badgers
1993Brock Badgers
1994Brock Badgers
1995Guelph Gryphons
1996Brock BadgersGuelph Gryphons
1997Brock BadgersGuelph Gryphons
1998Brock BadgersGuelph Gryphons8-6
1999Brock BadgersWestern Mustangs
2000Guelph GryphonsBrock Badgers13-11
2001Western MustangsBrock Badgers12-10 [2]
2002Brock BadgersBishop's Gaiters9-8, 3OT
2003Brock BadgersBishop's Gaiters10-5
2004Brock BadgersBishop's Gaiters10-9
2005Brock BadgersGuelph Gryphons14-7
2006Brock BadgersBishop's Gaiters11-8
2007Brock BadgersGuelph Gryphons13-10
2008Guelph GryphonsMcGill Redmen14-9
2009Brock BadgersMcMaster Marauders12-11 [3]
2010McMaster MaraudersBrock Badgers11-10 [4]
2011Bishop's GaitersBrock Badgers11-6 [5]
2012McGill RedmenWestern Mustangs7-6, 2OT [6]
2013Guelph GryphonsMcGill Redmen14-11 [7]
2014Guelph GryphonsMcGill Redmen15-12
2015McGill RedmenWestern Mustangs15-11 [8]
2016Western MustangsTrent Excalibur11-7
2017Western MustangsBrock Badgers16-14, 2OT
2018Western MustangsBrock Badgers9-8, 2OT
2019Western MustangsTrent Excalibur8-5
2021Brock BadgersGuelph Gryphons10-9, OT
2022Trent ExcaliburBrock Badgers12-3
Western goalie Zach Grace (2014). Western Mustangs field goalie 2014.jpg
Western goalie Zach Grace (2014).
TeamChampionshipsMost recent
Brock University192021
Western University82023
University of Guelph52014
McGill University22015
McMaster University22010
Bishop's University12011
Trent University12022

Executive

Guelph player in 2014. Guelph Gryphons field player 2014.jpg
Guelph player in 2014.

The operations of CUFLA are handled by an executive that reports regularly to the team presidents, typically at annual general meetings. Currently, the executive is composed of a commissioner, 2 assistant commissioners, a treasurer, a director of communications, a high school liaison and a referee-in-chief. [9]

Player eligibility

Only current students registered at their respective universities with a full course load are deemed eligible to play in CUFLA competitions. Players who have played professional field lacrosse (such as Major League Lacrosse) are prohibited from playing in CUFLA.

However, players who play professional box lacrosse (such as the National Lacrosse League) are eligible to play. Throughout the years, the league has seen many current and former NLL players scattered throughout various teams.

Alumni

Many current and former players have met with a great deal of success representing their countries or playing professional lacrosse in the National Lacrosse League and Major League Lacrosse.

PlayerAlma MaterNational Lacrosse LeagueMajor League LacrosseInternational Competition
Kevin Brownell University of Western Ontario Buffalo Bandits NoneNone
Pat Campbell Brock University Calgary Roughnecks, Edmonton Rush, Toronto Rock NoneNone
Mike Carnegie University of Western Ontario Calgary Roughnecks None Team Canada
Angus Dineley University of Toronto New York Titans/Orlando Titans, Philadelphia Wings None Team Canada
Colin Doyle Wilfrid Laurier University Ontario Raiders/Toronto Rock, San Jose Stealth Toronto Nationals Team Canada
Andrew Dowdell University of Western Ontario Calgary Roughnecks None Team Nederland
Jesse Gamble University of Western Ontario Toronto Rock None Team Canada
Bill Greer University of Western Ontario Toronto Rock, Edmonton Rush, Rochester Knighthawks, New York Saints, Arizona Sting, Columbus Landsharks None Team Canada
Greg Harnett Bishop's University Calgary Roughnecks NoneNone
Jon Harnett University of Guelph Boston Blazers NoneNone
Tom Hawke University of Guelph Rochester Knighthawks NoneNone
Steve Hoar University of Toronto Toronto Rock Toronto Nationals Team Canada
Rowan Kelly University of Western Ontario Colorado Mammoth NoneNone
Carter Livingstone University of Toronto Boston Blazers, Chicago Shamrox, Rochester Knighthawks NoneNone
Randy Mearns University of Western Ontario Rochester Knighthawks, Buffalo Bandits None Team Canada
Jamie McKeracher University of Western Ontario Anaheim NoneNone
Ken Millin Brock University Toronto Rock, Rochester Knighthawks NoneNone
Ryan Phillips University of Western Ontario Rochester Knighthawks NoneNone
Creighton Reid University of Toronto (Practice Squad) Toronto Rock, Colorado Mammoth NoneNone
Reid Reinholdt University of Western Ontario Toronto Rock NoneNone
Matt Spanger University of Western Ontario New England Black Wolves NoneNone
Chris Standish University of Western Ontario Washington Power NoneNone
Scott Stapleford University of Western Ontario Colorado Mammoth, Toronto Rock, Portland LumberjacksNoneTeam USA
Mike Temple University of Western Ontario Rochester Knighthawks NoneNone
Scott Tinning University of Western Ontario Edmonton Rush NoneNone
Sean Thomson University of Guelph Philadelphia Wings, Minnesota Swarm NoneNone
Jay Thorimbert University of Guelph Buffalo Bandits, Boston Blazers, Minnesota Swarm NoneNone
Doug Utting University of Western Ontario Rochester Knighthawks NoneTeam Israel
Josh Wasson Trent University Chicago Shamrox, Toronto Rock NoneNone
Shawn Williams Brock University Toronto Rock, Rochester Knighthawks, Edmonton Rush, Buffalo Bandits None Team Canada
Casey Zaph University of Toronto Rochester Knighthawks NoneNone
Latrell Harris Brock University Toronto Rock None Team Canada

Media coverage

Media coverage of CUFLA has grown in recent years, with local and student newspapers devoting several articles to CUFLA's game results. Several lacrosse websites (Lacrosse All Stars, Inside Lacrosse, The Lacrosse News,Lacrosse Bucket , etc.) and magazines have taken notice and included CUFLA in their ongoing coverage of the world of lacrosse.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lacrosse</span> Team sport

Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively modified by European colonists, reducing the violence, to create its current collegiate and professional form.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Box lacrosse</span> Indoor version of lacrosse

Box lacrosse, also known as boxla, box, or indoor lacrosse, is an indoor version of lacrosse played mostly in North America. The game originated in the 1930s in Canada, where it is more popular than field lacrosse. Lacrosse is Canada's official national summer sport. Box lacrosse is played between two teams of five players and one goalie each, and is traditionally played on an ice hockey rink once the ice has been removed or covered. The playing area is called a box, in contrast to the open playing field of field lacrosse. The object of the game is to use a lacrosse stick to catch, carry, and pass the ball in an effort to score by shooting a solid rubber lacrosse ball into the opponent's goal. The highest level of box lacrosse is the National Lacrosse League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Concordia Stingers</span> Athletic teams representing Concordia University

The Concordia Stingers are the athletic teams that represent Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They compete with other schools in Canadian Interuniversity Sport, and more specifically in Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec. The Stingers were established in 1974 when Sir George Williams University and Loyola College merged to form Concordia University and replaced the preceding Sir George Williams Georgians and Loyola Warriors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guelph Gryphons</span> Athletic teams of the University of Guelph, Canada

The Guelph Gryphons are the athletic teams that represent the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. The university's varsity teams compete in the Ontario University Athletics conference of the U Sports (OUA's), and, where applicable, in the west division. The university teams are often referred to as the Gryphs, which is short for the school's mascot, Gryph, the gryphon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Field lacrosse</span> Full contact outdoor mens team sport

Field lacrosse is a full contact outdoor sport played with two opposing teams of ten players each. The sport originated among Native Americans, and the modern rules of field lacrosse were initially codified by Canadian William George Beers in 1867. Field lacrosse is one of three major versions of lacrosse played internationally. The rules of men's lacrosse differ significantly from women's field lacrosse. The two are often considered to be different sports with a common root. An outdoor six-a-side version, lacrosse sixes, was established in 2021 and features six players per team, reduced field size, and shorter duration to be conducive for daily tournament play. Another version, indoor box lacrosse, is also played under different rules.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montreal AAA</span> Amateur athletic association

Montreal Amateur Athletic Association is Canada's oldest athletic association, located in Montreal, Quebec. It was renamed as the Club Sportif MAA or just MAA in 1999 after a brush with bankruptcy, but is still widely known as the MAAA. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the MAA was one of the most important sporting institutions in Canada, and North America, with affiliated teams winning ice hockey's Stanley Cup and Canadian football's Grey Cup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brock Badgers</span>

The Brock Badgers are the athletics teams that represent Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario. To date, the Badgers have won 47 National Championships and 94 Ontario Championships, and are members of the OUA, U Sports, CUFLA, CURC, OIWFA and OUBHL.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sports in Canada</span> Overview of sports within Canada

Sports in Canada consist of a wide variety of games. The roots of organized sports in Canada date back to the 1770s, culminating in the development and popularization of the major professional games of ice hockey, lacrosse, basketball, baseball, soccer, football and cricket. Canada's official national sports are ice hockey and lacrosse. Golf, baseball, tennis, skiing, ringette, badminton, cricket, volleyball, cycling, swimming, bowling, rugby union, canoeing, curling, squash, and the study of martial arts are widely enjoyed at the youth and amateur levels. Great achievements in Canadian sports are recognized by Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, while the Lou Marsh Trophy is awarded annually to Canada's top athlete by a panel of journalists. There are numerous other Sports Halls of Fame in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ontario University Athletics</span> Governing body for university sport in Ontario

Ontario University Athletics is a regional membership association for Canadian universities which assists in co-ordinating competition between their university level athletic programs and providing contact information, schedules, results, and releases about those programs and events to the public and the media. This is similar to what would be called a college athletic conference in the United States. OUA, which covers Ontario, is one of four such bodies that are members of the country's governing body for university athletics, U Sports. The other three regional associations coordinating university-level sports in Canada are Atlantic University Sport (AUS), the Canada West Universities Athletic Association (CW), and Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ontario Junior B Lacrosse League</span> Lacrosse league in Canada

The Ontario Junior B Lacrosse League (OJBLL) is a box lacrosse league sanctioned by the Ontario Lacrosse Association in Canada. The league features twenty-five teams in Ontario, one in Quebec, and one in the Akwesasne that annually play a 20-game schedule and four rounds of playoffs for the J. A. MacDonald Trophy. After the conclusion of the playoffs, a league champion represents the OJBLL at the Founders Cup National Junior B Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ontario Series Lacrosse</span>

Ontario Series Lacrosse, known as the OLA Senior B Lacrosse League from 1999-2019, is a Senior box lacrosse league based out of Ontario, Canada sanctioned by the Ontario Lacrosse Association. Many of the players in the league play or have played in the National Lacrosse League. OSL winners earn a chance at the national championship—the Presidents Cup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Major Series Lacrosse</span>

Major Series Lacrosse (MSL) is a Senior A box lacrosse league based in Ontario, Canada sanctioned by the Ontario Lacrosse Association. Most of the star players in the league play or have played in the National Lacrosse League. Each year, the playoff teams battle for the right to compete against the Western Lacrosse Association champion for the Mann Cup every September. The championship is hosted alternately between Ontario and British Columbia every year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McGill Redbirds and Martlets</span> Varsity teams at McGill University, Canada

The McGill Redbirds and McGill Martlets are the varsity athletic teams that represent McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William George Beers</span>

William George Beers was a Canadian dentist who founded Canada's first dental journal and served as the founding dean of the Dental College of the Province of Quebec. In addition, he is referred to as the "father of modern lacrosse" for his work establishing the first set of playing rules for the game.

Jay Thorimbert is a professional Canadian lacrosse player, currently a member of the New York Riptide of the National Lacrosse League and the Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks of Major Series Lacrosse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Basketball League of Canada</span> Professional basketball league in Canada

The National Basketball League of Canada was a Canadian professional men's minor league basketball organization. The NBL Canada was founded in 2011, when three existing Premier Basketball League teams joined with four new franchises for the league's inaugural season. The league changed in size multiple times and had four active teams in its final season, all in Ontario, but historically the NBLC had several located in the Atlantic provinces. The league's season typically ran from November to April of the following year. The final league champions were the London Lightning, who defeated the Windsor Express 3–2 in the 2023 NBL Finals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">League1 Ontario</span> Semi-pro soccer league in Ontario, Canada

League1 Ontario (L1ON) is a semi-professional men's soccer league in Ontario, Canada. The league is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Ontario Soccer Association.

The 2017 U Sports football season began on August 25 with the St. Francis Xavier X-Men visiting the Saint Mary's Huskies in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and the Montreal Carabins visiting the Concordia Stingers in Montreal, Quebec. The season concluded on November 25 with the 53rd Vanier Cup championship at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ontario. This season saw the first conference shift since 2001 with the Bishop's Gaiters moving from the Quebec Student Sport Federation to the Atlantic University Sport conference. 27 university teams in Canada participated in the newly re-branded U Sports football, the highest level of amateur Canadian football. The Western Mustangs defeated the Laval Rouge et Or, 39-17, to win their first Vanier Cup since 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">League1 Ontario (women)</span> Semi-pro soccer league in Ontario, Canada

League1 Ontario is a semi-professional women's soccer league in Ontario, Canada. The league is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Ontario Soccer Association as a pro-am league in the Canadian soccer league system. League1 Ontario part of League1 Canada, the national third tier with regional divisions, with L1O equivalents in Alberta, British Columbia, and Quebec.

The 2022 Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association season was the 37th in the history of the CUFLA. The regular season took place from September 7 through October 23. The first round of playoffs were held on the weekend of October 28–30, and the league championship, the Baggataway Cup, was held at Trent University on the weekend of November 4–7.

References

  1. "Gees lacrosse goes competitive". The Fulcrum. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  2. "Mustangs rejoice: "We're the best in da league"". UWO Gazette. 6 November 2001.
  3. "Brock University wins Baggataway Cup with help from Durham players". DurhamRegion.com. 12 November 2009.
  4. "McMaster Marauders beat Brock Badgers 11-10". Inside Lacrosse. 7 November 2010.
  5. "Bishop's wins CUFLA Baggataway Cup". Inside Lacrosse. 7 November 2011.
  6. "Sharples leads McGill past Western to win men's university field lacrosse title". The Hamilton Spectator. 4 November 2012.
  7. "Guelph Gryphons win Baggataway Cup, Canada's university men's lacrosse title". Times Colonist. 3 November 2013. Archived from the original on 2014-09-13.
  8. "Redmen take Baggataway Cup championship". The Sherbrooke Record. 8 November 2015.
  9. "Executive". Canadian University Field Lacrosse. Retrieved 2022-10-27.