Pictou, N.S., minor lacrosse team finds home arena

The Pictou County Snipers minor lacrosse program in Nova Scotia has found a home arena after a successful meeting with the Ivor MacDonald Memorial Arena on Friday.

A statement released on Saturday says in part, “thanks to a very positive meeting with them (the Ivor MacDonald Memorial Arena) on March 29, 2024 they are now the home of not only out league program, but also the Junior B Generals as well.”

According to the statement, the last winter lacrosse session will now be held on Sunday.

This comes after the minor lacrosse program posted a statement to social media last week announcing there wouldn't be a season because they have no arena for practice and play.

“It is with immense sadness that we announce that Pictou County Lacrosse will not be able to offer its Spring/Summer League this 2024 season,” said the statement. “The organization has worked extremely hard to secure a venue in one of the five arenas local to Pictou County but unfortunately, they were not successful in their endeavours.”

Since the statement was published, Snipers president Craig Fukes says community support has helped stir up some possible solutions.

“At the time that was put out we actually had nobody willing to house us,” said Fukes.

But Fukes says they are now in scheduling talks with two different arenas, including the Hector Arena in Pictou and the Ivor MacDonald Memorial Arena in Thorburn.

“We have two rinks that are willing to work with us,” said Fukes. “With the public outcry, it helped put some pressure on people and we are now looking at a couple of options.”

Formed in 2011, the Snipers have seen a rise in popularity of the sport, says Fukes. Almost 70 players have already registered for the upcoming season and if they can find an arena, it’s likely they’ll surpass 100 players registered.

For this tight-knit lacrosse community, having to fold would be devastating for the next generation of lacrosse players, says Connor Hattie, a former Sniper and member of the U-17 Nova Scotia Lacrosse team.

“The snipers are like a big family for everyone and hearing that a lot of the younger kids wouldn't have a place to play this spring is very disappointing,” said Hattie. “The sport just continues to grow it would be a shame if they couldn’t get on the floor.”

Box lacrosse is played indoors and in arenas and floor time can be hard to find, according to Donna Goguen, executive director of Lacrosse Nova Scotia.

The Snipers aren’t the only lacrosse program in the province that have faced similar challenges.

“We’ve always had struggles accessing rinks for floor time because a lot of the time ice stays in rinks year round,” says Goguen. “We never seem to have quite enough facility access to easily schedule all of our games.”

The sport has grown here in Nova Scotia, says Goguen, in part due to the excitement around the Halifax Thunderbirds, a professional franchise that plays in the National Lacrosse League.

As more youths pick up lacrosse sticks, more facilities will be needed to match the growth but losing a program like the Snipers would impact the entire sport across province.

“We can not afford to go backwards,” says Goguen. “Our sport is growing outside of HRM (Halifax) as quickly as it’s growing inside HRM and so any club that we lose has a significant impact on the sport in the province.”

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