Toronto Beaches set to open Ontario Junior Lacrosse League season this month

By Jack Skinner

THE TORONTO Beaches Junior A lacrosse team will play its Ontario Junior Lacrosse League (OJLL) season opener in Whitby on Tuesday, May 16.

With the renovation work now taking place at Ted Reeve Arena, the Beaches team has relocated to play its home games at the Scarborough Centennial Arena for the 2023 season.

Reilly O’Connor, head coach of Toronto Beaches commented on the move and the impact it would have on the team and its fans.

“The team is confident that the fans who attended the games last summer at Ted Reeve Arena will travel out to watch them in Scarborough,” he said.

The Beaches will host the Whitby Warriors on Thursday, May 18, at Scarborough Centennial Arena for their first home game of the season. The game begins at 8 p.m.

Scarborough Centennial Arena is located at 1967 Ellesmere Rd., just west of Markham Road.

After their loss to the Edmonton Miners in the Minto Cup (Canadian championship) semifinals last summer, which ended their season, the Toronto Beaches main goal this season is to win the Minto this year and to also help players drafted into the National Lacrosse League (NLL).

According to O’Connor, some of the key players returning for Toronto Beaches this season are Will Johnston, who is the reigning goalie of the year; Jacob Hickey, the team’s captain; Dylan Robinson, who played for the Buffalo Bandits in the NLL; Willem Firth, the reigning OJLL MVP; and Matt Collison.

O’Connor comments said the game night experience for fans attending Toronto Beaches games in Scarborough will be as exciting as it was last season at Ted Reeve Arena.

“We saw great crowds last year that got bigger and bigger, the further we went and the better the team did,” he said.

“The guys feed off that energy as well, so it’s so important. I’m confident the fans will travel as there is a deep passion for the sport in the Beaches and it’s very cool for the Beaches community to interact with the current players on the team.”

Toronto Beaches will play a total of 20 regular season games from late May to early July, followed by the OJLL playoffs in midJuly.

After that, the 2023 Minto Cup will take place in Edmonton, and being there is the goal of the Toronto Beaches team

“We are very excited to get going! We hope to be active in the community by giving back and growing the game in the Beaches community, through coaching and volunteering with the next generation of kids,” said O’Connor.

Here is the full 2023 regular season schedule for the Toronto Beaches Junior A lacrosse team:

May 16 – @ Whitby Warriors

May 18 – Whitby Warriors

May 21- Orangeville Northmen

May 24 – @ Burlington Chiefs

May 25 – Brampton Excelsiors

June 1 – Six Nations Arrows

June 3 – @ Oakville Buzz

June 5 – @ Peterborough Lakers

June 8 – St. Catharines Athletics

June 10 – @ Mimico Mountaineers

June 11 – @ Brampton Excelsiors

June 15 – Kitchener-Waterloo

June 18 – @ Orangeville Northmen

June 20 – Peterborough Lakers

June 22 – Burlington Chiefs

June 28 – @ St. Catharines Athletics

June 30 – @ Kitchener-Waterloo

July 5 – Mimico Mountaineers

July 6 – Oakville Buzz

July 9 – @ Six Nations Arrows

For more info on Toronto Beaches Junior A lacrosse, visit the Facebook page at www. facebook.com/BeachesJrA

LOCAL GIRLS’ high school varsity lacrosse teams are getting their season underway in early May.

Local Toronto District School Board high schools with girls lacrosse teams include Malvern Collegiate; Riverdale Collegiate; East York Collegiate; and Birchmount Park Collegiate.

On the afternoon of Monday, May 1, at Birchmount Stadium, Malvern and Birchmount played.

On Tuesday, May 2, East York Collegiate will host two games. First the Mal- vern girls will face Leaside High School at 2:30 p.m.; followed by East York taking on Riverdale at 3:45 p.m.

On Wednesday, May 3, Birchmount Park will play Humberside Collegiate at RH King Academy in Scarborough at 2:30 p.m.

On Tuesday, May 9, two games will take place at East York Collegiate. In the first game, Malvern will take on Riverdale at 2:30 p.m., followed by Birchmount Park up against East York at 3:45 p.m.

On Wednesday, May 10,

Riverdale will take on RH King Academy at 2:30 p.m. at Leaside High School.

On the morning of Friday, May 12, East York Collegiate hosts a pair of games. The first game sees Riverdale against Birchmount Park at 8 a.m. The second game features East York against Leaside starting at 9:15 a.m.

For the complete TDSB girls high school lacrosse schedule and more info on high school sports, please go to www.tdsb.on.ca/sports

-- Jack Skinner