New Brunswick's only junior lacrosse team losing their local practice space

Jacob Norton wants to see the sport of lacrosse grow in Saint John but says that not having a place for players to consistently practise is hurting both interest in the game and players being able to hone theirskills.

In April, the Saint John Rapids organization sent a letter to the city asking for a regular space where the roughly 60 players, aged17-21, that make up the junior men's and women'steams, can hold their practices.

The teams have been using the Peter Murray Arena, as well as going all the way to theTantramar Regional Civic Centre inSackville. But as of Tuesdaythey will be losing the Peter Murray space since the arena will be putting the ice back onto the floor for hockey.

"Before that, we were using gym spaces, like university gyms. We really had no place to practise," said Norton, who is the head coach of the junior women's team andone of the coaches who signed the letter.

"And that's through the entire province. We were looking in Fredericton, in Saint John, in Moncton, Sackville, even up in Miramichi, and we just couldn't find any place to practise except for gyms."

The teamwill now be travelling to the arena in Hampton, about 40kilometresaway or, when they can't go there, to Sackville, which is 200 kilometresaway for the mostly Saint John-area players.

Saint John Rapids competein the East Coast Junior Lacrosse League, where all of the other teams are based out of Nova Scotia. The leaguewill be holding games until August.

WATCH | Lack of practice space leads to declining interest in sport, coach says:

N.B.s only junior lacrosse team struggles for space to practise

4 months ago

Duration 2:17

The Saint John Rapids sent a letter to the city in April requesting a regular place to practise. Theyve been using the Peter Murray arena but with that arrangement set to end, theyre forced to travel 40 kilometres to Hampton.

Norton says the situation makesit difficult to attractnew players.

"If you have a lack of [practice facilities] and you can only do it in very small areas and only allowed to do random practice times here and there to make sure that everybody gets fit in, they're going to be like, let's just take the easier thing with soccer," he said.

"There's a ton of fields available or, basketball, there's a ton of floor space available."

The letter requested short-term solutions, such as opening the BelyeaArena on Lowell Streetfor two to three nights aweek during the season, being able to use TD Station with help from the city to rent the space, or potentially using an empty warehouse owned by the city.

When asked for comment, the city's spokesperson, Erin White, said in an email"there are no additional updates available to provide at this time. As per previous comments from City staff related to this topic, the City does everything it can to try and book as much time as possible for all organizations looking to use our facilities."

Norton said gyms are far from ideal for box lacrosse players, where the players need boards along the perimeter of the playing area to properly playthe game, distinct from field lacrosse,which is playedin an open field.

He says the lack of a consistent place is resulting in the team struggling to keep up with the other, entirely Nova Scotia-basedteams in the league, which isproblem with New Brunswick set to host the Canada Games in 2029.

"Falling behind in lacrosse is huge right now," he said.

"New Brunswick used to be one of the better teams in Atlantic Canada. Right now we are falling behind in that."

Demi Johnston, 21, the junior women's team captain,saidthe lack of a designated training facility in Saint John is stunting the sports' growth.

"I think a big reason people choose other sports is because it's going to give them the practice and time that they want to dedicate to a sport, and we just don't have it."

Macey Hatfield, 18, saidthe right space is elemental to being able to competewith other teams.

"Having our own facility, where we could practise as well as play games, would be huge because we don't practise in the same facility that we play games in right now, which is obviously different because the size of the arena is much different," Hatfield said.