Lacrosse Floor

Minor sports is a part of any great community. There are many towns out there, no matter how small that stand behind their passion for sport whether it’s a small soccer club or a thriving minor hockey program. The question is, what makes it great? The answer is; The people. Wallaceburg, Ontario is a small town in Southwestern Ontario. What is one sport that would define Wallaceburg to the rest of the world? Many would answer hockey. Hey small town Canada is where hockey thrives, but things here are a little different. Wallaceburg makes itself stand apart from other centres due to the passion they have for Canada’s first national sport – Lacrosse. In Wallaceburg, when April 1st hits and the ice is gone from the arena, the kids are already hitting the floor getting ready to find glory on the lacrosse floor. You look at the kids that come out to play, starting with the youngest at the age of 3 playing peanut lacrosse, to the oldest and biggest kids at 21. Walk around the stands during practice and you will quickly learn that even the parents are still kids with the passion and enthusiasm as you hear them talk. The people of Wallaceburg get behind every kid in the organization. The arena is full for every game and every team. You stand back and say yeah they have a really good group of parents who are supporting the organization. But there is more to this story. It is the people who don’t have kids or their kids are already grown. It is the coaches who truly love the game and spend their evenings and weekends teaching the sport. In Wallaceburg, the passion for lacrosse is handed down from one generation to the next. With a town of about 12,000, our teams are often discounted and the chance to compete at a high level does not come easy. But in Wallaceburg, being the underdog is what we thrive on. Here is just a quick list of what the kids of Wallaceburg have managed to bring home in just the recent past; 1993 Intermediate Ontario lacrosse champs, 2001 Junior B Lacrosse Founders Cup Champions, 2007 & 2008 Bantam B Ontario lacrosse Champs. The past in Wallaceburg also has a great tradition of winning as well, in 1987 our Bantam B team won the Ontario Championship going undefeated 28 - 0. In the fall of 2010, Wallaceburg Minor Lacrosse experienced a setback the organization never saw coming. A member of the organization was charged with frauding the association out of $70,000 leaving the future of lacrosse in Wallaceburg in limbo. But what did this small town do? They rallied back stronger than ever! Soon families, players and local businesses were busy fundraising, seeking sponsorship, everything from bingos to car washes to sponsorship drives. Due to the hardwork and determination of a community who loves their sport, lacrosse with continue to be a part of Wallaceburg. The accomplishments of these small town kids are quite impressive. You look at larger centers and see , that many of them have facilities to run lacrosse programs year round. We have just one arena with one floor. In Wallaceburg you make due and survive and you work with what you are given. When it comes to practice space we do just that. An ingenious idea to use an old tennis court that had long since been deserted has been turned into a makeshift lacrosse floor for outdoor practices. In the summer months to combat the rising costs of arena floor time we found a floor that does not cost a dime to use. I f wallaceburg is awarded 25,000 dollars this is exactly where it will be spent. To upgrade the tennis courts so that they are no longer a tennis court but an outdoor lacrosse floor that the kids can use. In