The WMSL is excited to announce that the Kingston Cannons and Peterborough Lakers will join the league for the 2024 season.
TORONTO, ON, FEBRUARY 19, 2024 – The Women’s Major Series Lacrosse (WMSL) league is excited to announce that the Kingston Cannons and Peterborough Lakers will join the league for the 2024 season.
After experiencing the thrill of playing for other cities and teams the last few years, 2023 London Thrashers player Victoria Clark of Peterborough and 2023 Whitby Rush goalie Katie Smith of Kingston, decided they’d like to see Women’s Box Lacrosse in their hometowns. Coming out of a very successful 2023 season and with the desire to grow into the East, the league felt it was time to continue to expand and approved both Peterborough’s and Kingston’s applications.
Victoria Clark & Chelsea Campbell will serve as Co-President’s of the new Lakers team. The team will be based in Peterborough and will use Kinsmen Civic Centre, Healthy Planet Arena and Lakefield-Smith Community Centre as their home arenas.
The Peterborough name is a blast from the past for those familiar with WMSL history as this is actually the 2nd time around for Peterborough who competed in the early days of our league from 2009-2014. Peterborough is a strong mecca of box lacrosse in Minor and on the Men’s side and the team hope to emulate the same named 18-time Mann Cup Champions team from the Major Series Lacrosse (MSL) and become WMSL champions in short order.
The Kingston Cannons on the other hand, are paving the way as the first ever competitive senior box lacrosse team, men’s or women’s, in the city. The team will have strong connections with Kingston Krossfire Minor program as the team is expected to be led by many current and former Kingston Krossfire players and coaches, many of which have been provincial and/or national champions. Katie Smith will serve as President and Paul Johnston and Jeff Wills will serve as Coaches. The team will be based in Kingston and will use Kingston Memorial Center, Invista Center, W.J. Henderson Recreation Center and Cataraqui Area as their home arenas.
“Here we grow again by adding two new teams, Peterborough Lakers and Kingston Cannons, to what is already probably the largest senior women’s box lacrosse league in the world. Having these new eastern Ontario based teams will provide more opportunities for young women in that part of our province to continue to play a game they love. On behalf of Women’s Major Series Lacrosse welcome to the league.” said John Dalgliesh, WMSL Commissioner.
Interested in playing for the new teams? Unlike OLA Minor Lacrosse, WMSL players are not bound by municipality rules. Therefore, any player not currently protected by or rostered to a WMSL team regardless of where they reside in the province is welcome to try-out for the new Peterborough or Kingston teams. And don’t forget about our other teams in case they are more your style: the Akwesasne Outlaws, Arthur Aces, Grand River Attack, Hamilton Bengals, London Thrashers, Mimico Mountaineers, Mississauga Badgers, Niagara Turtle Islanders, Toronto Stars and Whitby Rush.
The 2024 WMSL regular season is set to kick off in May/June and culminate with Championships in mid-August. Schedules are currently being finalized. The league is planning to continue its unique model of holding League Days on weekends in a round-robin format as well as invitational tournaments.
Teams interested in joining the league for the 2025 season can submit an application to WMSL Commissioner John Dalgliesh by October 31, 2024.
For the most up to date information on the WMSL, visit womensmajorseries.ca or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.