Skip to content

Lacrosse takes a shot

Salmonbellies want district to consider running a lacrosse academy at NWSS
lacrosse
Playing with heart: New Westminster under-12 girls field lacrosse players take on the Coquitlam Adanacs in a January match-up. The Salmonbellies organization says having a lacrosse academy at New Westminster Secondary School would benefits both male and female lacrosse players in the city.

The Salmonbellies organization is taking a shot at helping the school district develop a specialized lacrosse academy at New Westminster Secondary School.
The school board recently passed a policy that would make it easier for sports and arts programs to score academies that would be part of students' curriculum at the high school.
"In New Westminster, with the oldest lacrosse franchise in the world, it just makes so much sense that frankly I'd be shocked and I'd be disappointed if New Westminster did not proceed with a lacrosse academy at the new high school," said Ross Guthrie, equipment manager for the New Westminster Minor Lacrosse Association.
The organization plans to present its proposal to the school trustees on March 3, Minor Salmonbellies president Darren Flintoff told the Record.
Lacrosse would be an ideal fit at the high school, not just because of the city's lengthy history with the game (126 years), but because it is a sport that both girls and boys are active in, Flintoff said.
"We think more so than football or hockey it has advantages for our female athletes who have already been getting scholarships," he said, "so let's encourage that even more so."
Minor lacrosse has started reaching out to the school community by providing lacrosse sticks to all of the elementary schools so they could teach lacrosse.
In terms of how the program will be rolled out, Flintoff said it's still early days, though at this point he believes the program would be open to all interested students, and there would be no tryouts, though there would be some charges involved.
"Lacrosse is the fastest growing sport in North America," noted Guthrie.
The island transplant said he never even saw a lacrosse stick until he made the move to New West, which has the highest per capita rate of lacrosse players in the region. His New West neighbours told him to get his kids involved in the sport.
The game is entrenched in the city's culture, Guthrie said. Having the academy, which would be an addition to the extra-curricular program the high school currently has because it would be part of their school curriculum, will make local players even more competitive.
It's getting to the point, he said, where cities need academies to even be a competitive force in the game. He cited the success of Claremont Secondary School in Victoria, which has a lacrosse program.
New Westminster's superintendent John Gaiptman made the move to the city from Victoria, where he was superintendent. He is supportive of the concept of academies, saying they bolster students' desire to attend school, which improves performance overall.
He also said if the district does introduce any academies at the high school, they would have to be initiated by a grassroots movement from the community.
Looks like minor lacrosse is taking the ball and running with it.