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.
The Minto Cup is awarded annually to the champion junior men's box lacrosse team of Canada. The 2023 competition is in Edmonton, Alberta, from August 20-27.
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.
The World Lacrosse Box Championships (WLBC), formerly known as the World Indoor Lacrosse Championship (WILC), is an international box lacrosse tournament sponsored by World Lacrosse that is held every four years. Since the first tournament in 2003, Canada has won all five gold medals and is undefeated in all games. Canada hosted the first two tournaments in 2003 and 2007, the Czech Republic hosted in 2011, the Onondaga Nation, south of Syracuse, New York, hosted in 2015. The 2019 WILC was held in Langley, British Columbia, Canada.
The World Lacrosse Men's Championship, formerly World Lacrosse Championship, is the international men's field lacrosse championship organized by World Lacrosse that occurs every four years.
Delby Powless, is a Mohawk lacrosse player from the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation near Brantford, Ontario. He was born in Six Nations, Ontario, and is the grandnephew of Ross Powless and cousin of Gaylord Powless, both of whom are in the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame. He has played for the Buffalo Bandits of the National Lacrosse League and the Hamilton Nationals of Major League Lacrosse. In 2003, Powless received the Tom Longboat Award as the top male Aboriginal athlete.
The Ontario Junior Lacrosse League (OJLL) is considered the most competitive Junior A men's box lacrosse league in the world and the number one source for talent for the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The OJLL is sanctioned by the Ontario Lacrosse Association. It is an 11 team league wherein the top 8 go to the playoffs and battle it out for top spot in Ontario. The Ontario Champion is annually awarded the Iroquois Trophy and moves on to compete against teams from Alberta and British Columbia for the Minto Cup - the Junior A National Box Lacrosse Championship of Canada. Ontario has captured the Minto Cup fifty-six times since 1937. Since the first NLL draft in 1996, sixteen OJLL alumni have been selected first overall.
The Green Gaels are a Junior "B" box lacrosse team based in Clarington, Ontario, Canada, that plays out of the Garnet B. Rickard Recreation Complex in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada. The Gaels play in the OLA Junior B Lacrosse League.
The Mimico Mountaineers or Mimico Lacrosse Club is a Jr. A box lacrosse association in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Mountaineers operate junior-age and younger teams. Their home arena is Mimico Arena in the Mimico neighbourhood of Toronto. Beginning in 2015, their primary junior team will be a member of the Ontario Junior A Lacrosse League. From 1993 until 2014, the Mountaineers were members of the Ontario Junior B Lacrosse League.
The Six Nations Rebels are a Canadian Junior "B" box lacrosse team from Hagersville, Ontario on the Six Nations of the Grand River Reserve. The Rebels play in the OLA Junior B Lacrosse League. The Rebels hold the record for most Junior B national championships in Founders Cup history with seven.
Shawn Evans is a Canadian professional lacrosse player who plays for the Vancouver Warriors in the National Lacrosse League, and the Connecticut Hammerheads of Major League Lacrosse. Evans' brothers, Scott and Stephen have also played in the NLL. Evans is one of two lacrosse player in history to win the Minto Cup, the Mann Cup, and the NLL Champion's Cup all within 12 months of each other. He is also only one of three lacrosse players in history to win 2 Minto Cups back to back with 2 different Junior teams.
The Langley Events Centre is a 322,312-square-foot (29,943.8 m2) multipurpose facility in the Township of Langley, British Columbia, Canada. The LEC debuted in April 2009, hosting the 2009 BC Gymnastics Championships. It boasts an arena bowl with a 5,276 capacity for sports, including 24 individual suites. The LEC also showcases a triple Gymnasium with a capacity of 2,200 spectators under its centre court configuration. The venue's second building houses the Field House, a dry floor arena, as well as a double gymnasium with a capacity of 1,000 spectators. Other highlights of the facility include a Banquet Hall with an 800-person capacity, an indoor walking track, meeting rooms, and the Willoughby Community Centre, while includes a fitness facility, outdoor playground and various grass and turf fields. The LEC is home to the Langley Gymnastics Foundation, a non-profit organization offering gymnastics programming for recreational and competitive athletes.
Sid Smith is an Iroquois lacrosse player who plays for the Rochester Knighthawks of the National Lacrosse League.
The Canada national indoor lacrosse team represents Canada in international tournaments of indoor lacrosse. It is the best national box lacrosse team in the world, having won all five World Indoor Lacrosse Championships, starting with the 2003 ILF World Indoor Lacrosse Championship held in Canada. Team Canada has never lost a game in the tournament. Their biggest rivals are the Iroquois Nationals, who have finished in second place in all four tournaments.
The 2015 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship (WILC) was the fourth international box lacrosse championship organized by the Federation of International Lacrosse every four years. The 2015 WILC was hosted by the Onondaga Nation in the United States, south of Syracuse, New York, and took place between September 18 and 27. Canada defeated the host Iroquois Nationals 12–8 in the gold medal game, the same finals match-up featured in the first three indoor championships. Since the WILC started in 2003, Team Canada is undefeated with an overall record of 23–0.
The First Nations Junior B Lacrosse League is a box lacrosse league sanctioned by the First Nations Lacrosse Association. The league was formed in 2014 with the restructuring of the Canadian Lacrosse Association. Four teams competed in the inaugural season.
First Nations Lacrosse Association is the governing body of lacrosse for First Nations within Canada and Native American tribes within the United States.
The Haudenosaunee Nationals Indoor Lacrosse Team, known as the Haudenosaunee Nationals, represents the Iroquois Confederacy in international box lacrosse competitions. They are currently ranked second in the world by World Lacrosse and have won Silver medals in all five World Indoor Lacrosse Championships. The team is organized by the First Nations Lacrosse Association.
The Arena Lacrosse League (ALL) is a senior men's semi-professional box lacrosse league based in Canada. The league consists of teams in Ontario and British Columbia. Teams play a 14-game regular season schedule before league playoffs conclude with the ALL Cup.
The IIJL World Junior Lacrosse Championship (WJLC) is an annual independent international box lacrosse championship for players aged 20 and under.
