Stadium Journey's 2025 Ontario Junior Lacrosse League Arena Rankings
- Dave Cottenie
- 19 hours ago
- 9 min read
The Ontario Junior Lacrosse League, or OJLL, is the top junior lacrosse league in Ontario, and some would argue, Canada. The “Junior A” league acts as a feeder system for NCAA lacrosse programs and the professional National Lacrosse League. Filling the void left by the absence of hockey in Ontario in the summer months, the OJLL offers some of the most affordable experiences anywhere and provides fans with an up close and personal look at indoor lacrosse. The 2025 OJLL season saw the Orangeville Northmen complete the regular season with the best record in the league with 16 wins in 20 games. Lucas Littlejohn of the Whitby Warriors lead the league with 118 points, while Justin Tavares of the Mimico Mountaineers tallied 52 goals for tops in the league. Sakaronhiotane Thompson of the Six Nations Arrows had the best goals against average in the league at 6.76 goals per game. In a hard fought series, the Orangeville Northmen defeated the Whitby Warriors in six games to claim their 11th Iroquois Cup and earn a berth in the Minto Cup, being held in St. Catharines, Ontario.
In 2025, Stadium Journey published the review for the Peterborough Jr. Lakers, which completed the OJLL reviews. The OJLL rankings at Stadium Journey are based on the FANFARE metric used on the website, where writers assess the lacrosse experience based on the categories of Food, Atmosphere, Neighbourhood, Fans, Access, Return on Investment and any extras that the writers experienced. The stakes are high, with an average grading of 3.11 being earned out of a possible perfect 5.0.
This list is an opinion, and may not be in agreement for all. Please let Stadium Journey know your opinions on our various Social Media outlets. How is your list different from ours? What do we have right? What do we have wrong?
Without further ado, Stadium Journey is proud to present the 2025 Rankings of the Ontario Junior Lacrosse League Experiences.
Dave Cottenie - The Mimico Lacrosse Club was established in 1890. The name “Mimico” translates from Ojibwa to “Home of the Wild Pigeon.” Lacrosse was so significant in Mimico that they built the Drummond Street Bowl in 1931, an outdoor, box lacrosse facility, which would eventually become the Mimico Arena. Mimico competed in lacrosse at various levels over more than a century and continues today. The lacrosse achievements would culminate in Mann Cup Championships in 1932 and 1942 as Senior Lacrosse National Champions and Minto Cup Championships in 1938 and 1951 as Junior National Champions. The Lakeshore Maple Leafs, which would be folded into the Mimico Mountaineers program, claim a 1970 Minto Cup also. Mimico even boasts the legendary Conn Smythe as part of their history as a resident and lacrosse player. In 1978, Junior lacrosse would cease to exist in Mimico, only to be resurrected as a Junior B program in 1993. The Mountaineers would move up to the current Ontario Junior Lacrosse League, a Junior A league, in 2013, and is still going strong today.
Dave Cottenie - South of Brantford, through the farmland of Southern Ontario, lives one of many hearts of lacrosse. Six Nations Indian Reserve No. 40, more commonly known as Six Nations contains the town of Ohsweken and is just north of Hagersville. At the southern corner stands an inconspicuous, warehouse-looking building that houses the hopes and dreams of countless Indigenous children. The Iroquois Lacrosse Arena was built in 2004 by lacrosse legends Curt Styres and Delby Powless and is a lacrosse-only facility, one of the only ones built in Canada specifically for lacrosse. Several lacrosse teams call Iroquois Lacrosse Arena home and possibly the most popular is the Six Nations Arrows of the Junior A, Ontario Junior Lacrosse League. The Arrows have been around since 1974 and began as a Junior C team. Originally known as the Six Nations Braves, the Arrows moniker was adopted in 1979. The Arrows would bring home the Iroquois Cup as Ontario Champions nine times and ultimate prize, the Minto Cup as National Champions in 1992, 2007, 2014, 2015, and 2017. The list players who have gone from the Arrows to the National Lacrosse League is a who’s who of lacrosse royalty including Cody Jamieson, Doug Jamieson, Craig Point, Shawn Evans, Cam Bomberry, Johnny Powless, Delby Powless, Randy Staats, Leo Stouros, Brett Bucktooth and Warren Hill.
Dave Cottenie - The deep history of lacrosse in Ontario stretches into the Niagara Region with the St. Catharines Athletics. Playing at the “Junior A” level in the Ontario Junior Lacrosse League, the Athletics were founded as a lacrosse organization in 1877. and played under different monikers over time. They have been known as the Athletics intermittently throughout and in the latest iteration which began in 1982. The Athletics have enjoyed tremendous success earning six Minto Cups as Junior A lacrosse National Champions. The Athletics have also earned the Iroquois Trophy as Ontario Champions 10 times. With the Niagara Region hosting the Canada Games in 2022, the Athletics took advantage of a significant investment in the community and found a new home at Canada Games Park.
Dave Cottenie - East of Downtown Toronto, the historic neighbourhood of The Beaches can be found. In the Beaches community, lacrosse has a deep and storied history. It is possible that the Toronto Beaches Lacrosse Club dates back to one of the first field lacrosse games in Toronto in 1867. The formal history of the club dates back to 1915. The Beaches played a Junior B box lacrosse circuit from 1979 to 1983. The modern Toronto Beaches joined the Junior A loop in 1991, folded in 1997 and restarted in 1998. The home for the Toronto Beaches is definitely a community experience in The Beaches. The Ted Reeve Community Arena is a hub for the community. Built in 1954, Ted Reeve Arena has a long, illustrious hockey history. It is named in honour of Ted Reeve, who lived his entire life in The Beaches. Ted Reeve served in World War I and won two Grey Cups as a football player, and a Mann Cup as a lacrosse player. He also won three Yates Cups at Queen’s University as a coach. He is a member of the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame and was well established as a writer.
Dave Cottenie - Orangeville is essentially a lacrosse town. Orangeville offers among the most in-depth lacrosse programs in Ontario and fields three teams at the junior level with the Orangeville Northmen of the OJLL at the top of the chain. Those who play Junior A lacrosse for the Northmen hope to translate their success on the floor to opportunities in the NCAA or the professional National Lacrosse League. Orangeville Northmen alumni include Pat Coyle, Josh and Phil Sanderson, Brodie Merrill, Mike Poulin, and current General Manager Nick Rose. All have or are currently playing in the NLL. Home for the Northmen is the Tony Rose Memorial Sports Centre. Named after the father of GM and Toronto Rock goaltender Nick Rose, the Tony Rose offers seating for 1,050 in the main arena and a classic lacrosse environment. Tony Rose was a member of the Northmen in the eighties and was a member of Senior B championship teams. He was a promoter of local lacrosse and died in a car accident in 1990.
Dave Cottenie - It is a little known fact that Peterborough is a hotbed of lacrosse. The Senior ‘A’ Peterborough Lakers are both wildly popular and have been wildly successful. Peterborough also puts a Junior C team on the floor. However, the focus of this review is the Peterborough Jr Lakers that play in the Junior A level, Ontario Junior Lacrosse League. Founded in 1950, the Lakers have found themselves under a vast number of monikers, most of them sponsor driven, including the Filter Queens, Pat’s, Pete’s, UEWs, Hastings Legionnaires, Petes, Tee-Pees, Gray-Munros, Century 21, James Gang, Maulers, Traders, Javelins and finally in 1999, the Lakers. Earning a staggering 12 Minto Cups as junior lacrosse National Champions, the Lakers have also been wildly successful. The home for the Jr Lakers is the Peterborough Memorial Centre. It is most known as a hockey rink and the home of the Peterborough Petes in the winter, but in the summer months it is home for lacrosse, both at the Senior A and Junior A levels. The PMC opened its doors in 1956 and is one of the most unique venues. It gives the Jr Lakers a bit of a boost as they are the only team in the OJLL that plays in such a large, professional-type venue.
Dave Cottenie - Under the ownership of Jamie Dawick, in 2012, the Toronto Rock opened a training centre for the team to house its offices and provide space for the Rock to practice. Going beyond the practicality of providing for the team, the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre, in the nearby city of Oakville has become a hub for lacrosse activity in the area. With two indoor box lacrosse fields and an outdoor turf field, the TRAC has become a centre for lacrosse at all levels. The Toronto Rock Athletic Centre is the home for the Oakville Buzz of the Ontario Junior Lacrosse League. The top junior lacrosse league is viewed as one of the top providers of lacrosse talent to the professional National Lacrosse League. The Buzz moved up to the OJLL, which is Junior A level, from Junior B in 2019, after winning a Junior B, Founders Cup National Championship in 2006. Taking advantage of one of the top lacrosse facilities in the province, the Buzz provides a good lacrosse experience for Ontario fans.
Dave Cottenie - One of the lacrosse hotbeds in Canada can be found in Whitby, Ontario. Colloquially known as the ‘Town’ of Whitby, with a population of over 135,000 and located along Highway 401, Whitby lives in the shadow of the giant metropolis of Toronto to the west and the automotive hub of Oshawa to the east. Organized lacrosse dates back to the sixties and Whitby currently fields teams at the Junior A (OJLL), Junior C and Senior A (MSL) levels. The Junior A Whitby Warriors were established in 1968 as the Whitby B&R Transporters at the Junior B level. In 1975, they advanced to the Junior A level as the Whitby Consolidated Builders and were renamed the Whitby Warriors in 1984. The Warriors boast the third most Minto Cup Championships as Junior A lacrosse National Champions with eight and ten Iroquois Trophy Championships as Ontario Champions. Some of the Warrior alumni include NLL players Mark Matthews, Chris Corbeil, Zach Greer, Dan Ladoceur and Gavin Prout. Former NHL players Gary Roberts and Joe Nieuwendyk also suited up for the Warriors.
Dave Cottenie - The Excelsiors have enjoyed some success earning the Iroquois Trophy as league champions eight times, and the Minto Cup as the National Champions four times. The Excelsiors played as the Brampton ABCs from 1962 to 1967, the Bramalea Excelsiors from 1968 to 1976, and returned to the Brampton Excelsiors from 1977 to the present. Home for the Excelsiors is the Brampton Memorial Arena. Built in 1950, the Memorial Arena has been retired as a hockey arena and serves the various levels of the Excelsiors as their home base. It has been converted to a true lacrosse venue and is definitely from a time gone by. It was named in honour of the soldiers of World War II who paid the ultimate sacrifice. Due to the age and importance of the arena, it is in the process of attaining a Heritage Designation.
Dave Cottenie - The Kitchener-Waterloo Braves were founded in 1967 in the junior hockey hotbed of Kitchener. The KW rebrand would take place in 2020 as teams across the sport would trend away from Indigenous names. Box Lacrosse legends such as Colin Doyle, Dhane Smith, Aaron Wilson, Ryan Benesch and Steve “Chugger” Dietrich all played under the Braves moniker and cut their teeth in Kitchener-Waterloo. Home for the KW Lacrosse Club is the Kinsmen Arena. Part of the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium, the Kinsmen Arena offers a more intimate atmosphere with a modest capacity of just over 1,600 with some standing room availability. Although The Aud itself opened in 1950, the Kinsmen Arena is much newer and opened some time in the late eighties.
Dave Cottenie - Lacrosse fans should not sleep on Burlington as they have a strong connection to the sport. The city with a population of 187,000 has been home to the Burlington Chiefs since 1976. In 2023, amid the move away from Indigenous-based names, Burlington Minor Lacrosse changed their team names, Junior A included, to the Burlington Blaze. Home for the Blaze is the Central Recreation Centre, commonly referred to as Central Arena. Built in 1968, Central Arena is nicknamed The Oven, which seems to be an apt home for a team referred to as the Blaze. Alumni for the Blaze and Chiefs include Andrew Kew, Brent Noseworthy, Ryan Smith, and Ed Comeau.
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