Minto Cup kicks off in St. Catharines before full week of lacrosse games

The 2025 Minto Cup is taking place in St. Catharines starting Saturday afternoon.

It’s the national championships for the Ontario Junior A Lacrosse League. Teams from all over Canada will be battling it out inside the Meridian Centre.

“I’m looking forward to what our team is going to bring to St. Catharines. I’m looking forward to the loud fans that we got here. And I’ve really been looking forward to this since I’ve first started picking up a stick,” said St. Catharines Athletics player Keaton Zavitz.

Young Canadian athletes will soon be competing for the 2025 Minto Cup as the Meridian Centre in downtown St. Catharines hosts the games. Friday was the official kick off.

“This is the national championship for junior A lacrosse in Canada. It is the highest level of amateur lacrosse in the country. We have got three provinces represented, B.C., Alberta and Ontario – and they will, over the course of the next week, challenge for the Minto Cup, which is a historic trophy that’s been around since the early 1900s,” said Paul Coates, Minto Cup Committee chairman.

Lacrosse is an ancient sport that has been passed down through generations connecting cultures.

It dates back centuries, with Indigenous people being credited for playing the game’s first version. It’s Canada’s official national summertime sport.

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Most of Friday’s players say it’s a family tradition.

“My brother’s played, my cousins played and my grandpa played, so it ended up in my hands and it kept me involved. And I just love the game. It’s truly a medicine game, it truly heals everything,” said Zavitz.

“Well, one of my teammates … his dad actually put me on to the sport. And I just love the physicality and the fast pace of the game,” said Okotoks Raiders player Carson Mann.

“Most kids play hockey in the winter and then they get thrown into box lacrosse from age four or five. So it’s kind of something that everyone growing up around you was getting into and that’s probably one of the main reasons I got into it,” said Okotoks Raiders player Ty Banks.

The city of St. Catharines says they are happy to host the championship games.

“Economically it helps us as far as helping fill our hotels, and just bringing people to St. Catharines, to Niagara, to see what we have here. We have a beautiful facility, as you can see. We are very proud of it. And any time we can invite people from all over Canada, it’s a win for us,” said Deputy Mayor of St. Catharines Bill Phillips.

The games start tomorrow afternoon at the Meridian Centre.

Tickets can be purchased on the Minto Cup website.

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