Toronto Rock lacrosse stars bring the game to Glenview Public School

When a storm caused the gymnasium roof to collapse at Burlington’s Glenview Public School this summer, teachers have had to get creative when it comes to gym class.

This week, members of the Toronto Rock lacrosse team have been invited to teach the students about one of Canada’s national sports.

Dan Dawson is a lacrosse legend. He retired in June after 21 seasons, after scoring 551 goals, and 954 assists, making him the second leading scorer in the National Lacrosse League.

“My dad, we were a hockey family. A lot of these NHL players played lacrosse, so I tried it and I wasn’t good at hockey and I followed my lacrosse dream as a backup, and man, what a dream it was,” Dawson said.

READ MORE: Roof of Burlington public school gym partially collapses

Dawson, and current Toronto Rock star Challen Rogers are at Glenview Public School to teach the students about lacrosse.

“It’s massive, we’re trying to grow our game. You have to start in the grass roots. You ask these kids if anyone has played, only two or three hands go up, enjoying them playing lacrosse is the biggest thing for us,” Rogers said.

“Kids not having a gym for a year and a half is a tough break. When I was a kid the only reason I went to school was for recess, lunch and P.E….it’s great that we can be here.”

Burlington is one of the biggest lacrosse communities in the country.

Eight-year-old Oliver Downey has been playing for years.

“It’s a team sport, it’s competitive and it’s fun,” Downey said.

Lacrosse incorporates skills from several different sports and it’s significantly cheaper than hockey to play.

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“Lacrosse is a big hands-on sport, transferable to golf, hockey, baseball, very similar gameplay to basketball, getting a little bit of everything,” Rogers said.

“It brings everyone together, boy. girl, universal language, that’s what it’s all about today.”

These Rock “stars” are doing a total of four full days at the school.

The gym likely won’t be rebuilt until January 2025 at the earliest.