The Niagara Thunderhawks hosted its annual minor lacrosse tournament last weekend, and all four NOTL teams made it to the finals, but only one took home the gold.
From May 23 to 25, 23 teams played at Centennial Sports Park in Virgil — the same community where Mike Jones played, coached and volunteered for over 40 years.
His son, Eryn Jones, coaches the Halton Hills Bulldogs and returned to the tournament last weekend. He said each game is played in Mike’s spirit and honours his father’s commitment to the sport.
Eryn’s son played for Halton Hills in the tournament, making the weekend especially meaningful for Eryn.
“It’s pretty full-circle for me, having my son play in it … myself coaching it. (Mike) would have loved it so much,” he said.
Mary Sticca, a member of the Ontario Lacrosse Association board of directors, met Mike in high school and said his dedication to the sport never wavered.
Sticca said his work played a significant role in the lacrosse community’s ongoing place in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
“Mike grew up playing lacrosse here and he played through when he was on the junior B team,” Sticca said. “After he finished playing … he and a group of other people bought the junior B team and kept it in Niagara-on-the-Lake.”
Before Mike helped buy the junior B team, it was at risk of moving out of NOTL, which inspired him to step up to keep lacrosse in town. In 2003, he helped the team officially become the Niagara Thunderhawks.
But Mike’s dedication to empowering community sports didn’t stop there.
Sticca said he worked with the provincial group of junior B teams to carry his love for the sport beyond the borders of NOTL.
Last weekend’s tournament was hosted in the Meridian Credit Union Arena, the same venue where Mike led the NOTL Juvenile team to victory at the All Ontario ‘C’ Championship in 1973.
Despite these accomplishments, Sticca and Eryn Jones agree that Mike wouldn’t have cared about publicity or praise.
“He probably would’ve thought, ‘I don’t care about my name being out there. Just do the right thing for the kids,'” Sticca said.
“He didn’t do things for recognition and did a lot of things behind the scenes,” Eryn said. “He did believe in showing up for the community.”
“My dad loved lacrosse and he believed it was more than just a sport for kids. It taught character, perseverance, teamwork.”
Those feelings of teamwork were present throughout the tournament, said volunteer Allison Cwiertniewski.
She called the tournament a “true community event” and said she was happy to see so many returning families and more local teams this year.
After the final games on Sunday, the following teams came out victorious:
The Lincoln Redcoats beat the NOTL Thunderhawks 10-1 in the U9 division.
The Owen Sound North Stars beat the NOTL Thunderhawks 6-5 in the U11 division.
The NOTL Thunderhawks beat the St. Catharines Athletics 10-4 in the U13 division.
And the Gloucester Griffins beat the NOTL Thunderhawks 8-3 in the U15 division.
Jay Thorimbert, the coach for the Thunderhawks U13 team, said the boys were excited about their victory because it’s “always great to win your home tournament.”
This group of players also won when they were in the U11 division — the first year of many of which the tournament will be held in Mike Jones’ name.
