BCJLL looking at leaving the CLA

The B.C. Junior A Lacrosse League is fed up with the Canadian Lacrosse Association and is making preparations to leave the sport's national governing body.

BCJLL commissioner Ken Wood says their intentions are to only grow the sport of lacrosse nationally, but a number of decisions by the CLA over the past couple of years have made it clear their best choice may be their last resort.

The decisions that have been made affect many facets of the sport at the junior level, including safety, player transfers and encouraging development in the Prairie provinces.

Wood says they are on pace for 2015 to be independent and will take the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League's junior A division in Alberta with them. They also are targeting building the league in Saskatchewan and Manitoba and potentially have a group ready to put a team in Washington.

"Especially over this mask issue and this import issue, it just elevated the anger and disappointment here in B.C. with our governors," said Wood. "When I was communication with them over email, I was getting responses that it was time to pull the plug right now.

"Realistically I see 2015, but there's certainly enough anger in parts of Alberta and all of B.C. that we'll see where it goes."

CLA president Joey Harris did not return phone messages on Thursday. Neither did Nanaimo Timbermen's governor John Nicholson.

One of the major issues the ability for players to transfer among the provinces.

Currently, if a player gets a job in a different province he has to apply for a transfer through the CLA using an Interprovincial Transfer form. If his current team refuses to release him, then they can enter into negotiations for a trade. Often these trades involve the broad-stroke asset "future considerations." This means one of two things, they will have their choice of selected players off the other team's roster at a future date, or usually cash.

The problem is, it is unregulated in the CLA, and teams are able to demand whatever amount they want.

Most famously right now is the case of Ottawa's Mark Matthews, who was selected fifth overall by the Langley Thunder of the Western Lacrosse Association in the 2012 WLA junior draft. Except his senior rights are currently held by the Brooklin Red-men in Major Series Lacrosse. Matthews has requested a trade to Langley as he has found work in the west. Wood says rumours have Brooklin demanding more than $100,000 for his services.

While that is at the senior level, the same rules apply to junior lacrosse and the dollars changing hands is on the rise as well.

The money does not go to the players, but to the teams directly. Considering junior teams are still amateur teams, and many just hope to break even, teams are able to hold players hostage.

"My position is . . . it's unconstitutional. You cannot restrict anybody in Canada for the purposes of working to go from one province to another. It's not allowed," said Wood.

"If a person decides to go to another province to work and live, they have a right to do that under the constitution. It seems to be that under the CLA's transfer policy, we're going to usurp the constitution and go 'no-no-no-no, only if money changes hands.'"

At the recent CLA annual general meetings in Winnipeg, Wood says the CLA refused to address this concern, saying "they weren't in the money business."

This goes to a deeper-rooted issue in lacrosse in Canada, and that's the dispersal of talent.

The vast majority of players are in Ontario. Wood says there are players buried in junior B lacrosse in the East that would be among the top players on many junior A teams in the West.

It used to be that junior A teams in Canada were allowed up to five import players on their roster at a time, adding two a year. Now they are only allowed two total.

When leagues are playing catch up to Ontario, it is beneficial for everyone, that they be able to access these junior B players.

Bringing in better players increases the level of the team, increasing the level of competition, and potentially improving the local players as well. It also gives these players in Ontario a chance to get noticed. It's win-win for everybody.

But, according to Wood, the CLA has balked at this as well, led mainly by Ontario.

"We're at a very serious point in Western Canada here . . . We know for our game to flourish, especially at the junior A level, we have to get our game, as an organizational structure, to where hockey is today in junior hockey," said Wood.

"We're not going to be able to get that . . . by working within the CLA structure and organization."

The current situation is handicapping the development of the sport in other provinces, particularly in Saskatchewan and Manitoba as well with the Iroquois Nation.

Both provinces have lacrosse up to junior B, and Saskatchewan could very well have their own junior A circuit up and running within a couple of years.

But the message they have received has been less than encouraging from the CLA, basically being told "if you put one in place, then we'll help."

However, the appetite does not seem to be there to help them build to the point from within so that they can put these leagues in place. These leagues are essential to helping their minor league's stay alive.

For long-time Saskatchewan box lacrosse sector chairman and CLA committee member Randy Trobak, it is a damning prospect for the future of the sport in the province, where numbers are down, especially in Saskatoon.

Without a junior league to shoot for, players and their parents are turned off by not having a place to play when they are done minor lacrosse.

"We need to do something, and it has to be done soon. We've seen our bubble burst again in lacrosse," he said. "Once again (registration's) on the decline in most of the areas. All we want . . . is to see that we develop an elite league across the country and make it important for the kids to draw to."

He says there are a number of interested groups in starting junior A teams in the province, mostly community based.

"If (the CLA's) not going to do something, somebody has too. We need to grow the game of lacrosse in the country, not just in (Ontario and B.C.)" said Tro-bak, noting they have been running a Saskatoon junior B team in the RMLL since 2008.

"Unless we do that real soon, we're going to be in a lot of trouble, and the smaller provinces, they're not going to exist again in lacrosse."

The other big issue is safety. The now infamous Gait mask that the CLA mandated across all leagues at the start of the season has been met with frustration at every turn, especially at the junior and senior ranks. The older leagues have found the new masks create more injuries than they prevent.

At the CLA AGM Wood put forward a motion that would see all players in all age groups return to using masks that were approved in 2012, until all issues with the new masks were worked out. But, after much deliberation and a number of amendments, the CLA approved the motion for senior players only, and just for this year.

Part of the problem was there were groups voting that have no stake in the junior and senior game. So the BCJLL is still stuck with the new masks and the senior leagues may be forced to make the change back next year as well.

Despite already putting eight months of work into the process, B.C. and the other provinces still have some work ahead of them to go solo. The bigget issue is getting the sponsorship dollars lined up to make the rebel league viable when it comes to transportation. And of course there is the issue of insurance as well, but Wood is confident that the cost would not be prohibitive.

Their first choice is to remain in the CLA and iron out their issues. But if that doesn't happen, they say they could be ready by 2015 to start play as an independent league.

The next time the BCJLL will meet to discuss these issues is at their board of governors meeting in September.

"It has got to the point where we're looking at it and we see no other alternative here because no one seems to want to negotiate properly," said Wood. "No one seems to understand we need to move past regionalism and protectionism to get ourselves in a larger operation that's better for junior A lacrosse."

JAldrich@nanaimodailynews.com 250-729-4243

© Copyright 2013