Canada Games to make announcement regarding lacrosse’s future after conclusion of ongoing Games in PEI
Reece DiCicco, Jacob Keller and Kayden Kublinskas (Photo: OLA)
In recent weeks, we’ve heard from politicians and various governing bodies regarding the return of lacrosse to the Canada Games starting in 2025, when the country’s largest amateur multi-sport event will be hosted in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.
The Canada Games, however, have not confirmed anything publicly as of yet.
The last official lacrosse-related word from the Canada Games came on October 15, 2022, a few days after they published a list of sports that had been selected for the 2025 summer event. After making its long-awaited return to the Games this past summer (more in the tweet above), lacrosse was nixed, again.
Lacrosse Twitter went wild, unsatisfied with the apparent lack of support for Canada’s National Summer Sport.
The October 15 statement from Canada Games, in part, explains:
Lacrosse was added to the 2022 Games as a pilot program with a vision to increase Indigenous participation in the Games, thanks to leadership from the Six Nations of the Grand River, together with the CGC, 2022 Host Society, and Canadian Lacrosse Association. The addition of this sport was made possible with additional funding support.
The pilot project is currently being formally evaluated against core objectives by Canada Games stakeholders. This evaluation is taking place independent of the standard sport selection process. Following this review, recommendations will be considered for future Canada Games, including 2025.
So, why was lacrosse, which hadn’t taken part in the games since 1985 prior to last summer’s pilot-project entry, not included?
“Our reality is that there's a greater number of sports and disciplines that apply for selection for each Canada Games than we actually have participant quota to follow," CEO of the Canada Games Council Kelly-Ann Paul told the CBC last year.
The 2023 Winter Canada Games are currently taking place in Prince Edward Island. Of the 20 sports athletes are competing in, female-only ringette is included, which surely must have far fewer athletes taking part across the country, right?
Last year’s Canada Games were held in Ontario’s Niagara region, a province where lacrosse registration numbers are far larger than anywhere else in the country. Location also plays a part in sport’s inclusion, Paul telling the CBC in the same report, “The one province that didn't send a team (to Niagara) was Newfoundland and Labrador.
“The next games after that are in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory and the territories didn't send a team either, so we do have to look at what meaningful inclusion looks like in those jurisdictions too.”
Low Canada-wide participation numbers, the host & location, plus funding (“…the new federal Minister for Science and Sport Kirsty Duncan announced it would add another $1.7 million in funding for the inclusion of lacrosse in the (2022) Games…”) seem to be the most obvious reasons why lacrosse was left off of 2025’s list, but…
The Ontario Lacrosse Association recently sent a letter to Ontario’s Minister of Tourism, Culture & Sport, Neil Lumsden, referencing lacrosse’s National Summer Sport status within the National Sports Act of Canada. The OLA letter (in full above) argues:
It has already conferred that respect toward ice hockey, the National Winter Sport of Canada. Why not lacrosse, the National Summer Sport, with its acknowledged Indigenous, historical and cultural link to the foundation of our country? How can a Canada Games brand be broadly recognized and valued across the country when it continually excludes one of two National Sports established by an Act of Parliament? Why, when CGC originally convened deliberations on sport selection, would national sports as recognized by the National Sports Act of Canada not be included by default? Respecting the National Summer Sport status that lacrosse has earned is one of the strongest cases lacrosse can make.
On February 18, 2023, Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Sport Canada, tweeted, “Lacrosse, our national summer sport, will be part of the 2025 Canada Games and all future games starting in 2029.
“This is another step towards reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples. We can't wait to see the teams form and inspire us.”
The unexpected yet seemingly official announcement caught many by surprise, including those behind the scenes in Canada’s lacrosse community The Lax Mag has learned.
Soon after, Milton-based Liberal MP, Olympic gold medalist and former Canada Games participant, Adam van Koeverden, shared on social media, “Today at the Sport and Physical Activity first Minister’s meeting we affirmed that Canada’s National summer sport, the Creator’s Game - Lacrosse - will be on the program for the Canada Games in 2025 and beyond. It was the most popular event at the Niagara Games!”
While Lacrosse Canada and other provincial governing bodies liked, shared, and celebrated the sport’s inclusion, the Canada Games did not do the same.
The Lax Mag reached out to Canada Games Communications & Digital Media Senior Advisor, Courtney Pollock, who confirmed, “The CGC will make an announcement about the future of lacrosse at the Canada Games after the conclusion of the 2023 Games.”
The 2023 PEI Winter Canada Games started on the exact same day St-Onge sent her surprising tweet, and will conclude on March 5.
In the days leading up to PEI 2023, as van Koeverden mentioned, “The federal, provincial and territorial (FPT) ministers of sport, physical activity and recreation concluded a two-day conference focused on advancing governments' collective priorities for sport in Canada.” (Newswire.ca)
Several pressing topics were discussed, including lacrosse’s status at the Canada Games.
In a release provided by the Conference of Federal-Provincial-Territorial Ministers Responsible for Sport, Physical Activity and Recreation, an Indigenous Sport Participation subsection stated:
Ministers acknowledged that lacrosse, the national summer sport of Canada, would be added to the official Canada Games program, starting with the 2025 edition hosted in Newfoundland and Labrador. Ministers directed officials to create an implementation plan using the sport of lacrosse as one of the tools for increasing Indigenous participation at the Canada Games. These initiatives are progress towards Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada Call to Action Number 90.
Prior to the start of the FPT conference, ministers met with Aboriginal Sport Circle to discuss shared priorities to increase Indigenous participation in sport, physical activity and recreation and initiatives to date toward TRC Call to Action Number 88, while also sharing stories about the impact of sport and physical activity in Indigenous communities.
While they did share St-Onge’s tweet, the last announcement or article on Lacrosse Canada’s website regarding the Canada Games was an August post entitled “Ontario and British Columbia Victorious in Box Lacrosse’s Long-Anticipated Return to the Canada Summer Games”. Clearly, a lot has happened since.
Right now, box lacrosse certainly seems to be back – forever in fact – at the Canada Games, but it will feel far more real when the Games themselves formally confirm what so many others have said on their behalf.