Lacrosse, which returns to the Olympics in 2028 at Los Angeles, continues to sprout in its many forms. That is increasingly evident on the female side of the sport with the Island’s first girls’ youth field lacrosse tournament — the Van Isle Cup — announced for Nov. 1-3 at Harewood Centennial Park in Nanaimo.
In another sign of growth, Claremont Secondary has now joined Royal Bay Secondary in offering an academy program for girls’ lacrosse.
“It’s a lot more accessible than it used to be for girls,” said Brittani Chiasson, the Royal Bay girls’ academy coach, who came out of the U.S. lacrosse hotbed of Baltimore, to play goal in NAIA at St. Andrews University in North Carolina.
“There’s also a lot more coverage of women’s lacrosse with young girls being able to see NCAA games [on cable networks]. There’s also a women’s pro league now and the Olympics in 2028 are going to be a big factor for our sport. This is an exciting time for a lot of us.”
Dawn Ranns was raised in the vicinity of another U.S. lacrosse hotbed — Syracuse in New York state — and has brought her love of the sport with her as vice-president, and head coach for female teams, in the Juan de Fuca Whalers Youth Lacrosse Association.
“More and more girls are signing up as lacrosse is getting more visibility, which has been limited in the past,” said Ranns, who played NCAA Div. 2 at Limestone University in South Carolina.
“The tournament next month in Nanaimo is going to be a milestone event for girls’ lacrosse on the Island. And, long term, the build-up over the next four years and the Olympic exposure in 2028 is going to be really important in a number of ways, including pushing for lacrosse to become a B.C. school sport.”
So too, Ranns added, in pressuring local community parks and recreation departments, and school boards, to put in women’s field-lacrosse lines on turf fields, which differ from the lines used in men’s field lacrosse and soccer: “There are no female lacrosse lines on turf fields on the Island except for the new fields in Nanaimo [the Sherry Fields, which opened in April at Harewood Park].”
It’s a brave new world of not only advocating for new lines, but pushing boundaries.
