Owen Sound to miss another MSL season, now due to lack of momentum in community
Owen Sound Northmen vs. Oakville Rock, TRAC, 2021 (Photo: Ryan McCullough)
On the same day the 2022 Mann Cup champion Peterborough Lakers celebrated last year’s four-peat performance with a team ring event on Sunday afternoon, Major Series Lacrosse announced that the Owen Sound North Stars would not be competing in 2023.
The North Stars, who sat out the 2022 season while embroiled in a heated battle over the Excelsiors name, brand, and player rights with an Ontario Lacrosse Association-approved Brampton Excelsiors club, communicated the following in a statement distributed on the league’s social media:
After much thought and consideration, the Owen Sound North Stars MSL club will take a hiatus this season.
With all the hurdles and stops and starts we have endured over the past 18 months, the momentum we were attempting to build in our community has suffered. Together with our current owner, we plan to execute an appropriate business plan that will allow the club to flourish and grow in Owen Sound and the entire Grey/Bruce community.
We would like to thank the MSL and OLA board for giving us this opportunity and we look forward to returning to play in 2024.
On December 29, 2022, the league confirmed that both Owen Sound & Brampton would be participating in this year’s season after the two sides came, “…to an agreement with respect to the player pool.” Almost two months to the day, Owen Sound, who did participate in last month’s MSL Entry Draft, has opted otherwise.
In January, the MSL’s Oakville Rock confirmed that they would also be sitting out a second-straight year. Unlike the North Stars, the Rock forfeited their picks in the 2023 draft, but were, “…able to protect their four eligible Junior A graduates.”
Currently, MSL has five active clubs: the Brampton Excelsiors, Brooklin Lacrosse Club, Cobourg Kodiaks, Peterborough Lakers and Six Nations Chiefs. During the league’s shortened 2021 season held at the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre, the Lakers did not field a team. Earlier that same year, the Chiefs issued a statement that the 2021 season might be their last due to a lack of fan support and concerns regarding the stability & direction of the league.
“I’m excited for our players,” said former MSL Commissioner Doug Luey back in March of 2021 when the league announced the Excelsiors would be moving to Owen Sound, a relocation attempt that received approval from the incorrect OLA board at the time. “Owen Sound is a sports hotbed. The Ontario Series Lacrosse (Senior B Owen Sound North Stars) draw very well. It will be great for our players to have an engaged crowd to play in front of.”
The MSL North Stars, who do not appear to have a team website or any social media accounts, were expected to play their home dates at the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre, the same facility the city’s Senior & Junior B teams play out of. The Senior B club, known more precisely as the Owen Sound Bug Juice North Stars, are owned by Joe Norton, who also owns the inactive MSL club and Michigan-based children’s drink brand, Bug Juice. The Senior B North Stars last tweeted anything in June of last year, while the website in team’s Twitter bio (ossrbnorthstars.com) sends followers to a domain that seemingly no longer exists.
“There is a loyal lacrosse fan base in Owen Sound along with a strong sponsorship base,” Norton said leading up to 2022’s MSL season. “In addition, the community has a large and supportive minor lacrosse program and supportive local media. We believe in the MSL and the success that will be experienced in Owen Sound”.
Over the last 18 months, all communication from the Senior A North Stars has come directly from the league. The quote in yesterday’s MSL statement was attributed to both North Stars General Manager Steve McCarthy and league Commissioner Lynn Withers.
On January 31, 2023, The Lax Mag learned that Norton, as he did last summer, was threatening the OLA, MSL and Brampton Excelsiors over the use of the Excelsiors name & brand, both of which he continues to claim ownership of through his purchase of the Senior A team in April of 2018. Due to various concerns regarding the legality of that sale, the OLA Board of Directors has never approved or recognized transfer of ownership to Norton.
Also included in yesterday’s MSL announcement, the league stated, “Not the news we were hoping to share with the lacrosse world. We can’t wait to see the North Stars next season.
“Despite this tough news we have some exciting things developing. And we can’t wait to share it with you.”