The St. Catharines Athletics are a Junior "A" box lacrosse team from St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. The Athletics play in the OLA Junior A Lacrosse League. Since 2022 the organization has also operated a Junior "B" franchise of the same name that plays in the OJBLL.
History
The St. Catharines Athletics Jr.A squad has played in various arenas and under many different names in their history. They also had many years in which the team was defunct. However, the organization has been running successfully without danger of defunction since 1982. In 2021 the Athletics organization acquired the St. Catharines Spartans franchise of the OJBLL. They were renamed to the Athletics as well and now serve as a direct affiliate to the Junior "A" squad.
St. Catharines Athletics 1877-1953, 1958-1961, 1982 to Present St. Catharines Teepees 1954 St. Catharines Norsemen 1955-1956 St. Catharines Supertests 1964 - 1966 St. Catharines Lakesides 1967 - 1971 St. Catharines Legionaires 1972 - 1977
Minto Cup championships
During their history, the team has won six Minto Cup championships (1947, 1950, 1990, 1991, 2001, 2003.)
1947 defeated the Vancouver Jr. Burrards 3 games to 1 - played @ Haig Bowl in St. Catharines, Ontario. 1950 defeated the Vancouver Jr. Burradrs 3 games to 0 - played in Vancouver, British Columbia and the Winnipeg All-Stars 2 games to 0 - played in Winnipeg, Manitoba. 1990 defeated the Richmond Outlaws 2 games to 1 - played @ Queen's Park Arena in New Westminster, B.C. 1991 defeated the Victoria Eagles 4 games to 1 - played @ Garden City Arena in St. Catharines, Ontario 2001 defeated the Burnaby Jr. A Lakers 4 games to 2 - played @ Garden City Arena in St. Catharines, Ontario 2003 defeated the Burnaby Jr. A Lakers 2 games to 1 - played @ Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex in Waterloo, Ontario
NLL players
Many St. Catharines lacrosse players who played for the Athletics have gone on to successfully play in the National Lacrosse League, such as:
Ian Llord - Buffalo Bandits Sean Greenhalgh - Buffalo Bandits Billy Dee Smith - Buffalo Bandits Mark Steenhuis - Buffalo Bandits Matt Skinner- Toronto Rock Steve Priolo - Buffalo Bandits Corey Quinn - Buffalo Bandits Geoff McNulty - Calgary Roughnecks Joel McCready - Rochester Knighthawks Ian Rubel - Rochester Knighthawks Steve Toll - Rochester Knighthawks (all time leader in assists (356) and points (608)) Matt Vinc - Buffalo Bandits Pat McCready - Rochester Knighthawks Thomas Hajek - Philadelphia Wings Craig Conn - Washington Stealth Jon Sullivan - Minnesota Swarm Brad Favero - Minnesota Swarm Corey Small - Toronto Rock Randy Mearns - retired. Tyson Bell - Calgary Roughnecks Latrell Harris - Toronto Rock Jeff Wittig - Colorado Mammoth Holden Garlent - Saskatchewan Rush Alex Pace - Philadelphia Wings Thomas Whitty - Rochester Knighthawks Nick Damude - Panther City Lacrosse Ari Steenhuis - San Diego Seals
There is also a notable number of players outside of St. Catharines who have gone on to successful careers after playing for the Athletics. Players included are:
Mike Accursi - Rochester Knighthawks (two seasons) Luke Wiles - Washington Stealth (one season) Athan Iannucci - Philadelphia Wings (one season) Mike Hominuck - Toronto Rock Rory Glaves - Edmonton Rush Frank Resetarits - Buffalo Bandits Joe Resetarits - Buffalo Bandits Brett Bucktooth - Buffalo Bandits (one season) Darris Kilgour - Buffalo Bandits (Retired from playing, now head coach of the Bandits) Cam Bomberry - retired Tyson Leies - retired. Brian Lemon - Baltimore Thunder, Detroit Turbos (Current National Lacrosse League Vice President of Operations)
Recently drafted players (2020) include:
Laine Hruska - 13th Overall (Georgia) Owen Friesen - 48th Overall (Halifax) John Kit - 74th Overall (Philadelphia) Sam LeClair - 86th Overall (Colorado)
Season-by-season results
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against Season GP W L T GF GA PTS Placing Playoffs1961 22 11 11 0 200 255 22 4th OLA-A Lost semi-final1962 0 - - - - - - Folded1963 24 12 12 0 261 272 24 4th OLA-A Lost semi-final1964 24 14 10 0 322 274 28 3rd OLA-A Lost semi-final1965 20 9 11 0 270 257 18 5th OLA-A Lost quarter-final1966 24 11 13 0 326 315 22 4th OLA-A Lost quarter-final1967 24 6 18 0 240 350 12 8th OLA-A Lost semi-final1968 24 9 14 1 277 325 19 5th OLA-A Lost quarter-final1969 24 7 17 0 301 376 14 7th OLA-A Lost quarter-final1970 28 11 16 1 357 400 23 7th OLA-A Lost semi-final1971 30 5 25 0 341 463 10 7th OLA-A Lost quarter-final1972 28 11 17 0 346 442 22 6th OLA-A Lost quarter-final1973 28 9 19 0 369 457 18 6th OLA-A Lost semi-final1974 28 6 22 0 338 448 12 8th OLA-A Lost semi-final1975 28 11 17 0 331 389 22 7th OLA-A DNQ1976 26 9 16 1 310 392 19 4th OLA-A West Lost quarter-final1977 22 3 19 0 237 364 6 11th OLA-A DNQ 1982 20 8 9 3 236 289 19 5th OLA-A Lost quarter-final1983 24 12 11 1 272 290 25 5th OLA-A Lost Tier II Final1984 24 13 10 1 327 288 27 3rd OLA-A Lost semi-final1985 24 17 7 0 405 284 34 3rd OLA-A Lost semi-final1986 20 12 8 0 258 210 24 2nd OLA-A Lost final1987 25 18 7 0 299 227 36 2nd OLA-A Lost final1988 24 17 6 1 388 235 35 2nd OLA-A Lost semi-final1989 24 19 5 0 346 195 38 2nd OLA-A Lost final1990 20 19 1 0 419 154 38 1st OLA-AWon League, won Minto Cup1991 20 15 5 0 261 163 30 1st OLA-AWon League, won Minto Cup1992 20 16 4 0 301 179 32 1st OLA-ALost final1993 22 21 1 0 391 184 42 1st OLA-ALost final1994 26 20 6 0 395 258 40 2nd OLA-A West Lost semi-final1995 20 15 5 0 279 190 30 3rd OLA-A Lost final1996 20 14 5 1 248 192 29 3rd OLA-A Lost semi-final1997 18 10 8 0 182 198 20 5th OLA-A Lost quarter-final1998 22 15 6 1 288 177 31 5th OLA-A Lost final1999 20 13 7 0 186 150 26 4th OLA-A Lost semi-final2000 20 11 9 0 178 174 22 5th OLA-A Lost final2001 20 14 5 1 200 144 29 2nd OLA-A Won League, won Minto Cup2002 20 20 0 0 223 118 40 1st OLA-AWon League2003 20 17 2 1 192 121 35 1st OLA-AWon League, won Minto Cup2004 20 12 8 0 193 158 24 5th OLA-A Lost quarter-final2005 22 6 16 0 188 198 12 9th OLA-A DNQ2006 22 14 6 2 186 159 30 3rd OLA-A Lost quarter-final2007 18 10 8 0 138 111 20 6th OLA-A Lost quarter-final2008 22 15 5 2 204 130 32 3rd OLA-A Lost semi-final2009 22 14 8 0 248 198 28 5th OLA-A Lost quarter-final2010 22 16 6 0 267 183 32 4th OLA-A Lost quarter-final2011 22 12 9 1 228 195 25 6th OLA-A Lost quarter-final2012 20 5 14 1 177 249 11 8th OLA-A Lost quarter-final2013 20 3 17 0 113 209 6 10th OLA-A DNQ2014 20 8 12 0 175 192 16 8th OLA-A Lost quarter-final2015 20 4 16 0 150 223 8 11th OLA-A DNQ2016 20 6 13 1 154 209 13 8th OLA-A Lost quarter-final2017 20 8 12 0 162 166 16 9th OLA-A DNQ2018 20 13 7 0 181 144 26 3rd OLA-A Lost semi-final2019 20 15 5 0 188 107 30 3rd OLA-A Lost semi-final2020 Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic2021 8 6 2 0 66 43 12 1st of 6 West2nd of 11 OJLL Won semi-final, 7-6 (Mountaineers)Won Iroquois Trophy, 14-13 (Excelsiors)20222010100185200206th OJLLLost quarter-final, 3-0 (Warriors)2023208120148184167th OJLLLost quarter-final, 3-0 (Blaze)20242010100165153205th OJLLWon quarter-final, 3-1 (Blaze) Lost semi-final, 3-0 (Northmen)2025201280172160226th OJLLLost quarter-final, 3-2 (Warriors)2026181530193161301st of 6 in West 1st of 12 in OJLLWon quarter-final, 4-1 (Blaze) Won semi-final, 4-1 (Northmen)
Won Iroquois Trophy, 4-2 (Warriors)
References
External links Athletics Webpage The Bible of Lacrosse Unofficial OLA Page Gardell's History of the Athletics