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 Long hot nights are made easier by loud boisterous, capacity crowds. Players feed off the energy provided by the fans in a way that only a player can describe. Knowing that your fans are behind you and will be with you through every goal, every hit and every win is positive reinforcement that no matter what happens, the crowd is behind them.  But what do you get when you cross a Jr Championship starved organization and one of the top teams in the country?   Jammed packed arenas!  Unfortunately in Victoria, it’s an empty arena!  This is the story of two generations.

 When I was growing up in Victoria I was blessed with being able to watch some of the greatest lacrosse players ever to play the game; Tom Marachek and Paul and Gary Gait.  Now as fortunate as I was, there was no way that I was going to miss a game at the old Archie Browning Arena; not a chance.  Given any opportunity, I would arrive at the games early to watch warm ups, catch every ball that I could and made sure that all my favourites signed them. There was no place I’d rather be! In 1988, the Esquimalt Legion won the Minto Cup selling out every game from the start of the season to the last game. Talk about being hooked!

 Fast forward 10 years. The now Jr. Shamrocks are about to engage in what will turn out to be one of the longest running rivalries in lacrosse.  Playing in the BCJLA finals for the first time since the early 90’s, the team was the talk of the town and had a legitimate shot at advancing to the National Finals. Being apart of that team was something I hadn’t experienced in lacrosse before and it was an amazing feeling as a player.  Once again, it was standing room only inside Archie Browning, and the atmosphere was surreal. Walking out of the dressing room to see waves of people cheering us on was extra inspiration to battle harder to win the games. Hell, we would take over a hundred or so fans to the away games! A heart breaking game 7 loss started a long, long, LONG losing streak versus the Burnaby Jr. Lakers in the Western finals for the Shamrocks.

 So now here we are, the 2008 BC Jr. A Finals. Guess who’s in the Finals? I guess this article would have been pointless if it wasn’t the Lakers and ‘Rocks eh?! Once again these two hated rivals will battle it out for a shot to go the big dance in Calgary. Although Victoria was pegged as a possible Minto Cup contender, the Jr. Lakers took a bit of a longer route and some people had even written them off. But when you’ve won 12 straight BC titles, something is bred into your inner core that drives you to succeed.  Here’s the problem. Nobody is watching and if you ask me I have absolutely no idea why not. The calibre of play is as high as it has ever been. If you haven’t seen Cory Conway or Alex Gajic play lacrosse, you are missing out. These two players are the future of the game! Is it lack of marketing? No matter the excuse, fans -  you’re asses should be in the seats. I’m not sure the attendance numbers out east or even in Alberta, but I’m guessing there isn’t much difference. 

 When I played for the Anaheim Storm of the NLL, we barely got 3000 fans to a game and let me tell you that there is no worse feeling than busting your balls for 60 minutes inside an empty arena! How do u think these kids feel? They are just a couple victories away from winning their first Western Championship in TWENTY YEARS and nobody seems to want to support them!

 Game two of the finals goes this Saturday in Burnaby with the third game back in Victoria Sunday afternoon. Who wouldn’t want to see the next Marachek, Gait, John Travares, Dallas Eliuk or Jim Veltman. All acoss the country the best young lacrosse players are battling it out for the right to call themselves Canada’s best!  Playing inside a full arena with rafter lifting noise levels would be a great way to celebrate!

 With only having 3 years to win the Minto Cup, this title is more elusive than the Mann Cup in the Senior ranks.  Luckily for my childhood heroes, they were able to capture the title in front of their home fans with not an empty seat in the house. My memories are vivid with the thoughts of Victory laps and hanging over the edge of the glass waiting for a touch of one of their hands. I’m sure when this years Jr Shamrocks take to the floor this Sunday, a raucous crowd of 2700 fans would add to the memories of being the first team to dethrone the long time champs.

 So why is this a story of two generations?  It’s obviously not that easy of an answer, because I honestly have no idea! The game has only gotten better, the players are bigger stronger and faster and the competition is just as intense. The Sr. Rocks are filling Bear Mountain every game and have done so since its opening. So why are the Jr. Rocks any different? Are people that busy on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon that they can’t take their lacrosse playing kids to a lacrosse game? This is what dreams and back yard games are made of.  How are kids supposed to grow and say they ‘want to be the next Cayle Ratcliff‘ if they never get a chance to see him play? 

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