Lacrosse tournament to be held in Vernon, user group asked to move

“These associations are run by volunteers, sometimes things fall through the cracks, and I think this did. They were so excited that they got it, that they forgot to ask us to use the facility, and we came up with a solution and I think it’s a good solution,” Quiring explained.

“We’re all about youth sports. The fact it’s a taxpayer-funded facility and a group of taxpayers want to use it, I think it’s a great idea and I think it’s great for the community.”

Councillor Kari Gares supported the motion, telling council she had been in contact with NOMLA and they said they weren’t actually planning to put forward a bid for the provincials, but instead were asked by the B.C. Lacrosse Association to host because of the success of the last tournament held in Vernon, adding the president of NOMLA did not expect to get approval so quickly and expected to have time to put in a formal request ahead of time.

“Exactly why we built the facility in the first place was the ability to host a multitude of different events and programing,” Gares said.

“i recognize the challenges with this because of the timing, and I think it’s important for us to understand and recognize that, for the anchor tenant in there, that this may be a challenge, but the good news is that we still have another facility that would allow them the opportunity to have their training camps.”

Gares added the tournament could have economic benefits, as up to 30 teams could be participating in the provincial championships.

“If we look at the calculation that is typically used when we’re dealing with sports tournaments, it’s about $250,000 per 10 teams in direct economic spinoff,” Gares stated.

“If we’re looking at approximately 30 teams, that’s [$750,000] that is coming directly into our community that will support our community, our hotels, our businesses. Plus, from a tourism perspective, it’s actually giving us an opportunity to showcase everything else we have in hopes that those individuals will come back and do their vacationing here.”

The motion to move the user group to PV Arena would mean having the ice laid in the rink in mid to late June at the cost of $20,000. It could then stay in use after the tournament is done though and be used by other user groups ahead of its regular opening date in September.

It was noted by city staff that the contracts with the user groups said ice space would be provided, and while it did not specify what rink would be available, the group did request use of Kal Tire Place North.

Quiring noted the alternative in the staff report did not include where the $20,000 to put the ice in at PV Arena would come from, and amended his motion to provide that money through the unexpended fund.

Mayor Victor Cumming stated he was in support of youth sports, but was also “uncomfortable” both with going to user groups after they had already booked space and moving them elsewhere, and with supporting bids after the fact. He said he was not in favour of holding the tournament in 2024 but would support a bid to host in 2025.

The matter was put to a vote and the motion to host the tournament in July 2024 passed, with Cumming being the sole vote against.

City staff will be informing the user group that it will need to move its operations to PV Arena during the time of the tournament.

by Liam Verster

Lacrosse tournament to be held in Vernon, user group asked to move

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