When general manager Steve Varley opened the doors of Harry Jerome arena last Thursday for the first-ever home game of the North Shore Eagles, a new junior B lacrosse team, he had no idea who or how many would come walking in to check out the action.
Junior B lacrosse is not new to the North Shore. The North Shore Indians - playing their games last year at West Vancouver Arena - played in the West Coast Junior Lacrosse League but they folded after the 2011 season. Varley and an all-new staff, including head coach Mark Chala, filled the void, creating a team with new jerseys, a new name and a new home at Harry Jerome.
On Thursday the Eagles took flight, hosting longtime league staples the Coquitlam Adanacs to open their inaugural season. There to see it all happen was something Varley did not exactly expect: a big, raucous crowd.
"Shocked," said Varley, who estimated it at around 300 people, not bad for a new team that arrived with little fanfare. "I guess Facebook pays off. They're local kids. It was a pretty young crowd but, as one of the coaches said, we gave them everything they came for - exciting game, some rough play, and some great goals, great lacrosse."
The one thing that didn't end up in the team's favour was the scoreboard - the Eagles battled well in their opener but came up short in an 8-4 loss. The game was close throughout but was lost for the Eagles when they gave up four straight goals in one five-minute spell in the second period.
"As a fledgling team we were pleased with the result," said Varley. "We didn't get the two points we wanted but we showed very well against a perennial powerhouse."
The new team has strong connections to the North Shore Minor Lacrosse Association. The local youth league has long used a First Nations-style eagle holding a salmon with a lacrosse ball in the centre as its logo but had never had an official nickname. That changed earlier this year when the minor association adopted North Shore Eagles as the name for all of its teams.
"Now we're all Eagles," said Varley, adding that all of the players on the junior team are from the North Shore and played in the North Shore Minor system.
"After years of working my way, and all of these kids that we're coaching, through the North Shore Minor system and sort of having a disjointed connection with the intermediate B and the junior B programs, we are now working hand-in-hand," said Varley. "We have adopted the Eagles nickname, and so tyke to junior B will be North Shore Eagles lacrosse."
While the jerseys and management staff are all new, there are several players on the team who played for the North Shore Indians junior B last year before that team folded (the traditionsteeped senior B North Shore Indians are still up and running). Varley and his team scrambled together $16,000 in fees, including $450 in registration dues from each player as well as some local sponsorship money, to make sure junior lacrosse would stay on the North Shore.
"I have nothing but credit to give to the former operators," said Varley. "For various reasons they weren't able to continue this year and I and others were asked to step in and start a new team. And so we did."
Though no longer Indians by name, the team still has strong First Nations connections, said Varley.
"We have a really interesting mix of First Nations and non, both coaches and players," he said. "We're not an Indian team or a non-Indian team. And all these kids have been playing together. It's really quite a cool story - lacrosse has been a bridge between the communities for these kids and for us as adults."
The team has home games nearly every Thursday night starting at 8: 30 p.m. until the season ends in mid-July and Varley is hoping that the fan support continues or even grows. Admission is $4 for adults and $2 for youth and seniors. Youth players wearing North Shore Minor Lacrosse jerseys are allowed in free.
"It's a great sport, it really is," said Varley. "I know it's a niche sport, people think it's really rough and violent. It can be a tough sport at the older ages but at the younger ages - there's no contact prior to novice. And then it's really restricted. . . . It's a great sport, I believe, and the interest is growing on the North Shore, especially at the younger levels."
Tomorrow night the Eagles will host their second home game, 8: 30 p.m. at Harry Jerome against the Surrey Rebels. It's North Shore Minor Lacrosse night with any youth player wearing a NSML jersey allowed to bring in two adults for free. That's fitting, said Varley, given where all the players on the team came from.
"All the players are North Shore Minor alumni. They all grew up playing in those same jerseys."
For team updates and a complete schedule search for North Shore Eagles Lacrosse on Facebook.
