The Ontario Lacrosse Association (Ontario Lacrosse) is a not-for-profit sport organization and a member association of the Canadian Lacrosse Association, the national governing body for lacrosse in Canada. The Ontario Lacrosse Association is the largest provincial lacrosse governing body within Canada. The mission of the OLA is to govern, improve, foster, and perpetuate the sport of lacrosse in Ontario. It was established in 1897.
One of the oldest team sports in North America, the origins of lacrosse lie with the Native American people who lived in Ontario, Quebec and western New York. The first written rules were established in 1867, and although formal amateur provincial competition began in 1887, the Ontario Lacrosse Association was not established as the provincial governing body of the sport until ten years later. In the 1930s, the birth of box lacrosse (indoor lacrosse) increased the popularity of the sport among both athletes and observers. Although official competition was impacted by the number of participants available during both World War I and World War II, lacrosse teams have maintained activity on an annual basis since the inception of the Ontario Lacrosse Association.
Ontario Junior Men's Field Lacrosse League (OJMFLL)
Minor
Ontario Minor Field Lacrosse League (OMFLL)
Ontario Women's Field Lacrosse League (OWFL)
Minor box lacrosses
There are 66 minor box lacrosse clubs in the Ontario Lacrosse Association. Minor box clubs are divided into zones for league play and the provincial champion is crowned in 6 divisions every August at the Ontario Lacrosse Festival in Durham Region.[citation needed]
National championships
The champion of four of the OLA's five box leagues compete in national championships:
Lacrosse Canada, formerly the Canadian Lacrosse Association, founded in 1867, is the governing body of lacrosse in Canada. It conducts national junior and senior championship tournaments for men and women in both field and box lacrosse. There are five national teams that compete in World Lacrosse championships on a four-year cycle.
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.
Football Canada is the governing body for gridiron football in Canada headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario. Football Canada focuses primarily its own Canadian form of the sport, and is currently the world's only national governing body for Canadian football.
Sports in Canada consist of a wide variety of games. The roots of organized sports in Canada date back to the 1770s. Canada's official national sports are ice hockey and lacrosse. Other major professional games include curling, basketball, baseball, soccer, and football. Great achievements in Canadian sports are recognized by numerous "Halls of Fame" and museums, such as Canada's Sports Hall of Fame.
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.
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.
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.
Major Series Lacrosse (MSL) is a Senior A box lacrosse league with 7 teams based in Ontario, Canada, sanctioned by the Ontario Lacrosse Association. The league championship team each year goes on to play against the champions of the Western Lacrosse Association for the Mann Cup in September. The championship is hosted alternately between Ontario and British Columbia.
The Gloucester Griffins are a Junior "B" box lacrosse team from Gloucester, Ontario, Canada. The Griffins play in the OLA Junior B Lacrosse League.
The Mimico Junior A Mountaineers are 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 Brampton Excelsiors are a Senior "A" box lacrosse team from Brampton, Ontario, Canada. The Excelsiors play in the Major Series Lacrosse Senior "A" Lacrosse League.
The Six Nations Arrows are Canadian Junior "A" box lacrosse team from Ohsweken, Ontario on the Six Nations of the Grand River Reserve. The Arrows play in the OLA Junior A Lacrosse League.
Brampton Excelsiors may refer to:
The Mississauga Tomahawks are a Junior "B" box lacrosse team from Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The Mississauga Tomahawks play in the OLA Junior B Lacrosse League.
Harry George Woolley was a Canadian player, coach, referee, manager, scout and advocate for the game of lacrosse. He spent 46 years as a builder volunteering in a total of 72 appointments. His career extended to coaching, refereeing and managing lacrosse teams in Francophone & First Nations communities.
The Fédération de crosse du Québec (FCQ) is the governing body of lacrosse in Quebec, Canada. Its purpose is to encourage the development of lacrosse in Québec and to contribute to the sport's growth internationally. The FCQ governs all box, field, and women's field lacrosse in Québec.
Miro "Medo" Martinello is a Canadian former professional box lacrosse player, coach, and ice hockey referee, born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada of Italian descent. He is a member of the Windsor and Essex County Sports Hall of Fame, Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame, and is a recipient of the Canadian Government 125th Anniversary of Confederation Medal "for outstanding Achievements on behalf of Canada".
Modern lacrosse in Canada has been a popular sport since the mid 1800s. Only field lacrosse was played until the 1930s, when box lacrosse was invented. In 1994 Parliament passed the National Sports of Canada Act which declared lacrosse to be "Canada's National Summer Sport", with ice hockey as "Canada's National Winter Sport".
The North American continent is the birthplace of several organized sports, such as basketball, charrería/rodeo, gridiron football, ice hockey, jaripeo/bull riding, lacrosse, ollamaliztl, mixed martial arts (MMA), padel, pickleball, racquetball, ultimate, and volleyball. The modern versions of baseball and softball, skateboarding, snowboarding, stock car racing, and surfing also developed in North America.
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