Sometime in 2001, the late Russ Farnel rekindled the notion
lacrosse should be revived in Greater Sudbury. A long-time
local resident who was certainly most well-known for his work
with the Sudbury Nickel Capitals and Great North Midget League,
Farnel had been in town long enough to recall the days when the
sport was last played at a minor league level in the 1970s.
By the summer of 2002, his vision had taken hold, albeit with
very small steps of progress and plenty of potholes along the
way. With only a few hundred registrants initially, the league
plugged forward with divisions that contained a wider
age-spread than most would have preferred and on-going issues
trying to obtain consistent venues to be used.
In the summer of 2004, the Greater Sudbury Lacrosse Association
(GSLA) was dealt a blow few could have foreseen with the sudden
and far-too-early passing of the energetic Farnel earlier that
winter. Thankfully, the torch which shone so brightly in his
hands was passed to an equally special leader as former
National team lacrosse star John Grant Sr. stepped in to
provide some guidance to the group.
Forward movement was evident - the league grew from 26 teams to
30, with almost 400 youths now playing. OLA (Ontario Lacrosse
Association) affiliation and the first Sudbury-based rep teams
to travel to Provincials in thirty years were clear signs of a
light at the end of the tunnel.
But challenges remained. "We have special rules in place that
are not used elsewhere to allow us to slowly introduce the game
in the Sudbury area", noted Grant at the time. Over the past
four years, the introduction of lacrosse has gained a very
solid foothold.
By the summer of 2006, the GSLA was preparing to welcome rep
teams from elsewhere in the province to compete against local
talent for the first time in 20 years. Last summer, the event
was christened as the Nickel City Shootout when just under
twenty teams from around the province gathered at the
McClelland Arena for the first annual full-scale tournament.
Already, talk this year is of more teams attracted to the North
for the competition. The local rep lacrosse contingent, the
Sudbury Rockhounds as they are known, act as tournament
ambassadors of sorts, spreading the word with every out-of-town
opponent they face.
As the GSLA hits approximately the midway point of their sixth
season since Farnel, Grant and countless others helped to bring
the sport back to life in the Nickel Basin, there is a
wonderful sense of stability that surrounds the group.
Registrations have moved up another level, with slightly more
than 500 youngsters now taking to the floors of the Carmichael,
Coniston and Garson arenas. A total of 36 teams are competing
at the house league level, with age groupings ranging from the
very young (Paperweight Division) to the club's elder statesmen
(Midget/Intermediate Division).
Interestingly enough, some of the springboard effects are among
the most telling signs of the sport's increasing popularity. A
star with the Rochester Knighthawks of the National Lacrosse
League, John Grant Jr. returns to Sudbury every summer to offer
a week-long lacrosse camp, much to the delight of the several
dozen kids who attend.
Local players are looking outside the city limits to expand
their exposure to the sport, attending field lacrosse camps
south of the border, with a pair of Sudbury products (Owen
Bennett and Joey Carrey) invited last fall to join the
Huntsville Jr "B" team. Still, there are challenges that
remain.
While the lacrosse lads and lasses have become mainstays at the
three local arenas noted earlier, the fact is league organizers
would prefer to have at least one more central location to
better accommodate families of players located West of Sudbury,
acknowledging the difficulty that people traveling from Walden,
Chelmsford, Dowling and Levack might have in reaching early
evening game times.
And while league registration indeed surpasses the 500 plateau,
the fact is there remains a large transient turnover within the
GSLA that sees the organization welcome roughly 100 or so
complete newcomers to the sport while losing almost the same
number on an annual basis.
The feeling around the rinks is lacrosse is heading in the
right direction and it appears quite prevalent. While no
organization will please everyone, the GSLA remains committed
to the concept of allowing for a very gradual movement from
beginning of season practices to partial games, providing a
greater learning curve for those picking up the game for the
first time.
This past weekend, five Rockhound teams traveled to Innisfil to
compete in the Wolfpack Shootout. It certainly won't be the
last the rest of Ontario will see of the progress being made by
the Sudbury lacrosse crew. And somewhere, somehow, Russ Farnel
has to be smiling about it.
Randy Pascal is the voice of Persona 10 Sports and founder of SudburySports.com
