Thunder Bay - The U15 Thunder Bay Ice Lacrosse team is preparing to compete in the 2025 Ontario Lacrosse Festival, a 10-day provincial tournament held in Whitby, Ont., from Aug. 1 to Aug. 10.
“It feels really good to be asked to play on the team. It’s a privilege to go to a tournament this big,” said Broke Spring, who joined the team this season. “I’m not a goal scorer, but I am a goal-stopper. I love to back-check.” She got involved after her dad’s coworkers encouraged her and her siblings to try the sport.
The annual event is one of the largest youth lacrosse festivals in the country, bringing together teams from across Ontario for high-level competition.
This year’s Ice team is made up of 11 athletes from Thunder Bay, two from Nipigon, and three from the Sault Ste. Marie area. With such a wide regional roster, coordination and commitment have been key to their success.
Team manager Carolyn Simerson explained, “We have 17 players in total, and all 17 are headed to Provincials. Our team includes a mix of boys and girls, three female players, which is awesome and really exciting for us.”
Players from outside Thunder Bay have shown impressive dedication. Mason MaGee, one of the athletes from Nipigon, regularly makes the hour-long drive. “I come up for the practices, which are once every two weeks. It’s not that bad. I also practice at home and do wall ball,” he said.
Athletes from Sault Ste. Marie train remotely, with guidance from Thunder Bay’s coaching staff.
“We met them virtually at first,” said Simerson. “They have their own house league, and we sent those training plans, notes, and practice ideas. When we finally met for exhibition games, it was great to see how quickly the team bonded and came together on the floor.”
To qualify for the festival, teams must play a minimum number of games throughout the season. For Thunder Bay, that meant hitting the road. “We played in a tournament in June with four games and added two more exhibition games,” Simerson said.
“Because we don’t have local teams nearby, we have to travel to meet the game minimum. We could have participated in more tournaments, but that was enough to get us to the Festival.”
The U15 Ice team is guaranteed to play a minimum of four games at the festival, with the possibility of advancing further depending on results.
“This is such a great experience, not just for the kids from Thunder Bay, but also for the ones from Sault Ste. Marie and Nipigon, who don’t always get to play in competitive, interleague settings,” Simerson added. “It’s phenomenal to give them this kind of exposure and to see how far they've come.”
