The Ontario Junior B Lacrosse League is pleased to have awarded the opportunity to host the 2016 Founder’s Cup Junior B National Championship to the Orangeville Junior B Northmen Lacrosse Club.

The Junior B Council selected the Orangeville bid to host the tournament on March 7th at the Ontario Lacrosse Association’s Semi-Annual General Meeting.

Ryan Dowdall, General Manager of the Northmen, presented a very strong bid to council, which included a large amount of local support for the organization and tournament from the Orangeville area.

Orangeville has committed to hosting the 2016 Founder’s Cup tournament at the Alder Street Recreation Complex.

The group organizing the bid for the 2016 Founder’s Cup from Orangeville began planning their proposal back in August of last year. The presentation to the Junior B Council outlined numerous details for facilities and accommodations at the tournament, as well as detailed information regarding support from a number of groups in the Orangeville area who have committed to assisting the organizing committee in some form.

“We are ecstatic that our committee’s hard work and efforts paid off” explained Ryan Dowdall. “We have been working diligently since September to cover all of our bases. We knew that being a small town would make it more difficult to secure the bid due to the fact that accommodation options are limited.”

The tournament will consist of six to nine teams from across Canada, representing the various Junior B provincial champions and association all-star teams. The Orangeville Northmen will earn an automatic berth in the tournament as host.

“As a group and as an organization, we felt that the Orangeville Northmen deserved the chance to host this national championship and we look forward to putting on a first rate event. We hope that players, coaches, and fans of lacrosse will talk about the 2016 Founders Cup in Orangeville for years after the event takes place” says Mr. Dowdall.

This will be the first time the Junior B National Championship will be held in Orangeville. The Northmen will look to build on their recent success in the Ontario Junior B Lacrosse League’s Western Conference leading up to the tournament in 2016. The Northmen have finished runner-up to the Six Nations Rebels in the Western Conference in both 2013 and 2014, and look to be one of the teams to beat in the West once again this year.