The end of the season is here. The OLA minor Provincials wrapped up this weekend in Oakville, ON with the Final Six weekend. This tournament consisted of the top six teams in the Peewee, Bantam and Midget ‘A’ divisions. Each team played each other once, for a total of five games. The top two teams were then placed in the Gold medal game and the third and fourth teams played…
The National Championships concluded this past weekend, after a week of exciting and action-packed lacrosse. Each province who sent a team represented their provinces very well and all teams played the game the right way. The Peewee and Midget gold medal games were between Team Ontario and Team Iroquois, and both games were wild finals, with the Midget game being decided in overtime. There was a crew of 12…
This year, Ontario has the honour of hosting both the Peewee and Midget Lacrosse Championships of Canada. This is a week-long event where each Province sends a team made up of the best players and coaches from the Province. This should be the most exciting lacrosse of the year and looks like it is going to be a great week. For an event like this there is a special…
We are entering the most exciting part of the lacrosse season as we have a number of important events approaching. Zone Championships are taking place throughout this week across Ontario, which makes for some intense league games throughout the week. These are set up as one game playoffs between the top 2 teams in each division in each zone. I have the opportunity to work two Intermediate games tonight in…
The regular season is beginning to wrap up and Provincial Championships are fast approaching. As the season comes to a conclusion, there are many different ways that the last few games can go before the season ends. There are some teams who play much more disciplined as they do not want to inhibit a suspension that would carry over into the Provincial Championships.
I had the pleasure of refereeing in the annual Super Series tournament in Hamilton last weekend, which was a great tournament and an enjoyable experience overall. I was fortunate enough to be invited to stay for the semi-finals and finals on Sunday and got to work some great games. The Midget final was my most memorable game of the weekend, as Halton Hills defeated Kitchener-Waterloo in a hard fought 6-4…
A referee prepares for a game just like a player in a number of different ways. There are some similarities in pre-game routines and duties for both the players and the referees. It is important for both referees and players to be prepared for the game in order to perform at their top level.
Mark Smith is a referee in the CLA. Each week he looks at the challenges of being a ref.
Each week CLA referee Mark Smith will write a column discussing the world of lacrosse refereeing.