Where will the game of lacrosse go from here?

Part 3 of a 3-part series on 150-year history of the sport

In the last of three articles on the milestones of Peterborough lacrosse over the past 150 years, we look at a second resurgence of the game in the city.

1970s

In 1973, the Lakers, after winning the Mann Cup, disbanded as practically all of their players joined a new professional lacrosse league.

When the ill-fated professional league of 1973-74 disbanded, the former Lakers returned to find the Ontario Lacrosse Association had banned them from playing in the senior A circuit.

It took a threat of a lawsuit and three more years before former pro players could play in the OLA on a Peterborough team.

During this time, the juniors were assembling a contender with local players. In 1971, the Peterborough juniors won the first of five successive Ontario titles, turning four trips, 1972 through 1975, into Minto Cup championships.

In 1978, a Peterborough team returned, as the Red Oaks. Peterborough

won the Mann Cup the first year back and ushered in a resurgence of the game in the city.

1980s

This decade the seniors won two Mann Cups, in 1982 and 1984, but it was the successes of the Peterborough junior team that harbingered the coming of four decades of Peterborough domination in the game.

The juniors, first as the James Gang, then the Maulers, won six Minto Cup titles in the decade. Using essentially Peterborough trained players, they dominated Canadian junior lacrosse. Surprisingly, they have only won one addition Minto Cup since, in 2006.

1990s

This was the only decade since the 1950s when both the Peterborough juniors and seniors joined the OLA A leagues that the city did not garner one Canadian lacrosse title.

The one area of growth in the game locally was in high school field lacrosse. The majority of schools started with boys teams and later a girls league started. This afforded a number of student athletes to be offered scholarships to American universities and colleges.

2000s

Things started to turn around for the game in Peterborough when the city renovated the Memorial Centre. The biggest change affecting lacrosse was the addition of air conditioning to the then 50-yearold facility. Prior to that, crowds for senior lacrosse had practically disappeared.

With increased crowds, the Lakers were able to bring in some outof-town players to augment the now senior players from those earlier successful junior teams. Starting in 2004, the team won four straight Ontario titles and three Mann Cup championships, in 2004, 2006 and 2007.

With the resurrection of the professional lacrosse league in the winter, the top players were coming close to making a livelihood from the game.

2010s

The success of the game continued to grow in the city. Junior C was added, joining the senior Bs playing in Ennismore. The junior team struggled, but the Lakers dominated the decade again with five Mann Cup victories. Winning in 2017, 2018 and 2019, they were striving for four straight when the league shut down shut down in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19.

With the 150th anniversary of the first lacrosse game coming in 2022, the lacrosse community is anticipating the resumption of games to celebrate the milestone.

The big question is where will the game go from here? The pro winter league is resuming play this month and fans of the game are hoping many of the players that won those three Canadian titles before the COVID break will return and win the city a fourth consecutive title.

Locally, the minor program is strong, as are the high school leagues. Trent University men’s and women’s teams have become a dominant force in Ontario university field lacrosse.