Toronto Beaches Junior A Lacrosse team to play home games at Scarborough Centennial Arena in 2023
By JACK SKINNER
The Toronto Beaches Jr A Lacrosse team reported recently that it will be playing its upcoming home games at Scarborough Centennial Arena ahead of the 2023 season’s start in May.
The move east is due to renovation work being done this summer at the team’s regular home of Ted Reeve Arena, said Toronto Beaches in a news release.
The scheduled renovation was supposed to take place last summer, however, the Ted Reeve Arena Board set the work dates for this year instead, said the release. That decision allowed Toronto Beaches to play their 2022 regular season home games in the Ontario Junior Lacrosse League at Ted Reeve Arena, which is located in the community at Main Street and Gerrard Street East.
After cancelling the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and a reduced 2021 season due to the pandemic as well, Toronto Beaches returned to Ted Reeve Arena, (which the team calls The Sand Box), and won nine out of 10 games there during the 2022 Ontario Junior Lacrosse League (OJLL) regular season.
Toronto Beaches were able to play their first 2022 playoff series home games against Peterborough at The Sand Box last July, but then had to relocate to Pickering and Whitby for their remaining playoff series home games.
In their second OJLL playoff series last summer, Toronto Beaches faced off against the Burlington Chiefs in a best-of-five series. Beaches eventually won the series three games to two, securing a spot in the OJLL championship series against the Whitby Wildcats. Whitby won the best-of-three title series in two games straight.
However, the season wasn’t over for the Toronto Beaches as they were one of four teams that qualified for the national junior lacrosse championship tournament, the Minto Cup, which was held in Brampton in August.
Last year marked Toronto Beaches first ever appearance in the Minto Cup. The tournament was a success for the Beaches as they made the semifinals, but lost to the Edmonton Miners to finally end their 2022 season.
In the news release, Toronto Beaches head coach Reilly O’Connor commented on the relocation to Centennial Arena in Scarborough for this season’s home games.
“We are excited to have a permanent home for the summer of 2023. Centennial Arena will allow us to remain in the Beaches community where we are looking forward to playing in front of all our fans and future Beaches Junior A players.”
Located on Ellesmere Road just west of Markham Road, Scarborough Centennial Arena has a long history with junior lacrosse. The arena was well-known for being the home of the Junior B Scarborough Saints, who went undefeated in 1985 on their way to capturing their first Founder Cup title. The 1992 Saints squad also had an undefeated regular season going 20-0 and only lost two games that whole summer, before continuing their journey to the Junior B national championships.
Following the record-breaking season of 2022 that culminated with the club’s first appearance in the Minto Cup, Toronto Beaches Junior A Lacrosse team are looking forward to the start of the 2023 season.
Below is the Toronto Beaches schedule for this season:
The Toronto Beaches Jr A Lacrosse Team 2023 Schedule
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. Catherine 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. Catherine 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 https://www.facebook.com/BeachesJrA/
