2024 BELC AGM

The Brampton Excelsiors Lacrosse Club’s 2024 Annual General Meeting will be held on Monday October 21 at 7:00 pm. Those wishing to attend may do so in person or online through Zoom. The meeting will be at Flower City Community Campus (8850 McLaughlin Rd S #1, Brampton) Building D, Room 2. The link to attend online is at the end of this post.

No suggested amendments to the Governing Documents have been submitted for consideration this year. Nominations are currently open for new Life Members and Directors. Any BELC member in good standing is not only entitled, but encouraged to submit nominations. For more information on submitting nominations, members can contact club Secretary Matt Bowman (bigmouth_billy_bass@hotmail.com). Quorum for this meeting shall be considered ten BELC members in good standing who are not members of the Board of Directors.

This meeting is open to anyone wishing to attend, including the public, however only BELC members in good standing may vote or make a motion. To our members; remember that this is your opportunity to have a direct say in the club’s direction. It’s the chance to not only elect directors to sit on the Board, but to speak directly with the Board and have your voice heard. All members able to attend, be it online or in person, are strongly encouraged to.

We look forward to seeing you there.

ZOOM:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85744916777?pwd=reJBQJiaRR8W1jPubDTIlTUaSaRaIN.1
PASSWORD: AGM24

In Memory of Dean McLeod

A celebration of Life in memory of Dean McLeod will On Saturday, December 2nd. Dean passed away on October 3rd after a hard battle with cancer, leaving behind a legacy to lacrosse unlike any other. The memorial will be held at Spot One Grill, 289 Rutherford Road S from 12:00 – 5:00, speeches will begin at 1:00. Food and drinks will be available.

Dean’s family has asked that everyone come dressed casual and with their fondest memories of him. Donations in Dean’s honour can be made to Brain Cancer Canada. 100% of donations go to supporting the cause and Dean’s name is registered there.

2023 AGM

Meeting
The BELC will be hosting the 2023 AGM on Monday, October 30th at 7:00 pm. The meeting will be held at the Flower City Community Campus (8850 McLaughlin Rd. S) building D, Room 3*. A Zoom link is also included below for those who cannot attend in person. This meeting is open to the general public who may wish to attend, but please note that only BELC membership will be allowed to vote and bring forth motions.

Any member wishing to have an item added to the agenda for consideration by the membership may submit a motion in writing to the President no less than ten (10) days prior to the meeting.

*Please note that this meeting room is in the basement of the building. Please keep this in mind when deciding to attend online or in person.

Elections and Voting

Nominations are also now open for new Directors. Those wishing to nominate for a position as a Director may do so by filling out the Director Nomination Form, which can be found here. Nominations may be made up until the time of voting at the AGM (including nominations from the floor). Please submit the nomination forms to the Secretary or President.

A proposal for new Life Members will be presented by the Nomination Committee, and no proposals for amendments to the Governing Documents have been received.

Each member of the BELC in good standing is entitled to one vote. For those unable to attend either in person or virtually, a proxy may be sent with another voting member. Notice of proxy must be submitted to the President or Secretary no less than two hours prior to the scheduled start of the meeting.

Please check back on this post from time to time. Any changes or updates will be made as they may come up. We look forward to seeing everyone on the 30th!
ZOOM LINK: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83305430104

Major Excelsiors Return

Brampton fans are finally getting to see the Major Excelsiors return to the floor this summer. It has been three long years since the team played, and the last season they did is one most fans want to forget about. Following the COVID shut down, it was announced the team would be moving to Owen Sound when they returned to play. A struggle ensued for ownership of the historic team due to its alleged sale in 2018. Finally an agreement was reached which saw the Excelsiors returned to the BELC and an expansion team added in Owen Sound. Despite this, the team chose to step back form the 2022 season in order to work out the final details with new expansion without impeding the league’s season.

With those details finalized, fans and the BELC Board of Directors alike are excited for the Major Excelsiors to return to the floor. “Our members gave us a directive to field a Major team in 2022. It was a hard decision to step back from that, but it was the right one to ensure the season was able to continue without damage to our league or our sport.” said BELC President Glenn McClelland. “The membership placed their trust in our new Board to make the right call, they were very understanding and accepting of this. We have every intention to prove that trust was well placed, we will not let the mistakes of the past be repeated.”

While the 153 year old Excelsiors’ legacy is safe, it is not going to be an easy path back to their championship days. “It’s no secret this team has been chipped away at and broken down over the past 10 years.” Explains Majors’ GM and Head Coach Dan Teat. “We’ve had All-Star players and first overall picks sold off year after year and now we’ve had to divide our remaining roster with Owen Sound.” Teat refers to part of the deal which returned the Major Excelsiors to the BELC’s control and saw the expansion in Owen Sound. “This is a complete rebuild in every sense, we didn’t even have a bank account to get us going.”

A large part of the new BELC Board’s vision is building a strong sense of community and local support. McClelland details how they plan to go about this. “Community support is the absolute foundation of our club, we don’t have private owners with deep pockets. It’s the fans who come out to games, the local businesses who sponsor us, the Brampton Minor Lacrosse system and the volunteers who give their time – that’s who keeps this club going. All this support cannot be one way though. We owe it to our community to return that in every way we can.” In the past, the BELC has been criticized for their lack of community engagement. “We’re changing that. The membership is now more engaged than they have been in a very long time, this year we inducted 40 new Life Members to make up for a drought of recognition over the last decade. We are working very closely with the BMLA not to just promote us, or them, but to promote Brampton lacrosse as a whole, and we are reaching out to other community organizations we can support and help promote.”

On the floor, Teat has been taking a similar community-oriented approach to building this team. “Brampton has a lot of home grown talented players who love the game and who love the team. That’s who we want to build this franchise around.” He explains a unique feature of the Brampton Excelsiors in the MSL. “We’re the only team where players can start their careers in peanut and be part of the same team, the same uniform right up through Junior and Major. These kids get to grow up watching the pros wear the same jersey they do each game. Finally getting to this level, getting to now be the role models that the next generation looks up to is an incredible feeling.”

That Excelsiors’ pride will be at the centre of the team as they work to earn their place back at the top of the league. “When we divided the roster, those were the guys we prioritized, our hometown heroes. They are the core we’re going to structure this team’s future around.”

But Teat emphasized again that this is an uphill battle. “The team is very young, a lot of these guys are only a year or two out of Junior. Unfortunately we still have some strong players unable to participate because of PLL commitments, and we had a few guys get offers to spend a summer living and playing on the West Coast. They will leave some noticeable gaps, but we can’t ask these young men to forego these amazing opportunities they have. We will be relying on our veteran players to fill in some of these gaps, and to help our young guys develop over the season”

Dan knows first hand the challenges the team is facing in the immediate future, it’s not the first time the Excelsiors have had to rebuild from the ground up. “I was part of that group in the 90’s when the team got dismantled. We lost a lot of really good, really experienced players. Us young guys had to step up a lot. It took time, but eventually we ended up back at the top of the league. We’re going to do that again.”

The BELC Board is confident that despite these challenges, things are on the right track and the future of the Majors looks bright. “We have the right people in place. When a hole becomes apparent we have someone stepping in to help without hesitation. Everyone on the Board is passionate and driven. We’re asking the community and our membership to put their trust in us during this rough rebuilding time so that we have the resources and fan base to keep this momentum going.” Explains Glenn. ‘We’re using the same fight and grit which got the team back in Brampton to now get the team back on top.”

The Major Excelsiors return to the floor on May 25th at 8:00 pm when they host the Six Nations Chiefs at historic Brampton Memorial Arena! Kids wearing an Excelsiors jersey get in free with an adult. You can find the team’s full schedule here. For more information, including how to purchase your season’s pass, check out the majors on Facebook and Twitter.

2023 Golf Tournament

Jeff Teat Hugh Ward memorial golf tournament

With summer lacrosse once again underway, it also means that it’s almost time for the annual Jeff Teat/Hugh Ward Memorial Golf Tournament! Formally held as two separate tournaments, the events were amalgamated last year to act as a single, unified fundraiser for the entire BELC while still honouring the contributions and legacy of two great Excelsiors.

This year’s tournament will be held on Saturday July 8th at Glenn Eagle Golf Club. Lunch will be served at 12:15, before the rounds get underway with a shotgun start at 1:30. Following the tournament, awards will be presented and the silent auction will be open until the day wraps up. A special feature of this year’s silent auction will be a Border City Reivers jersey, numbered 8 in honour of John McCauley (one of the BELC’s only two retired numbers). Proceeds from this jersey will be sent over to support Border City Lacrosse, our sister club based in Brampton England. We will also once again be featuring the lacrosse toss, where you can win a prize for getting a ball near the hole with a lacrosse stick. Don’t get too confident though, many players found out last year that a golf ball doesn’t quite fly the same as a lacrosse ball!

Registration is $150 per golfer and is open now until June 30th. You can register here. Hole sponsorships are also available from $100/hole, or you can help support the BELC by making a donation to the silent auction. For more information on registration, to make an auction donation, or to sponsor a hole scan the QR code. You can also contact Keivan Campbell (keivancampbell20@gmail.com) or Kelley Pereira (kap-123@outlook.com) for more information.

Spots will fill up fast, so make sure you get yourself registered now to guarantee yours! This is sure to be a fun day of golf, lacrosse and celebration of the Brampton Excelsiors. We look forward to seeing you there!

Jr. A Excelsiors Look to Improve for 2023

2022 was not the year anyone hoped for the Jr. A Brampton Excelsiors. After two years off from COVID, and news that the much anticipated return of the Major Excelsiors would have to wait another year, eyes turned to the Brampton junior clubs. Both teams missed the playoffs, with the A’s particularly struggling in a very talented league. However, the season was not without its highlights and plenty of positive takeaways.

“We came into the season with only seven veterans, and of those seven, only four had played a regular season Jr. A game before.” said Head Coach Paddy O’Toole. “That means we played every game with 16 players who had never played Jr. A before.” This was a significant set back for the team in a league where many future NLL stars prove themselves. “It was a steep learning curve as the skill and speed of a Jr. A game is different.”

O’Toole will be returning this year for his second season heading up the bench, with his assistant coaches Dylan Evans and Michael Burke coming back as well. These coaches came away from 2022 looking at the silver linings. “We had some tough ones early,” Paddy explained. “but as the season went along you could see the players’ talent and lacrosse I.Q. start to kick in and our on floor play improved dramatically.” The bench boss has confidence in his team for the upcoming season. “Now with 16 players returning we look to build on that late season success and hit the ground running in 2023.”

Behind the scenes, General Manager Chris Lowe has been busy solidifying the Jr. A Excelsiors for 2023 and beyond. “Last year was a total rebuild with 18 players graduating from the COVID shutdown.”

Lowe took over as GM in 2022 following the replacement of the BELC’s Board of Directors. “We had no draft picks for the next three years, so we had to make smart moves to rebuild those picks while developing our young players and knowing our pipeline from minor coming in the next few years.”

Stepping into a situation like that can be a daunting task, but Chris has made sure to surround himself with strong people who will support him. “We have a very committed, quality staff that is very engaged and communicates well to establish where we need to improve and work towards the end goal.” He is full of confidence in the direction the team is heading. “Our future is bright and we will continue instilling the Excelsiors’ culture as we continue in 2023.”

The Jr. A Excelsiors open the 2023 season on May 20th, with two games on the road before their home opener on May 26th. Join us at Memorial arena to cheer the team on as they host the visiting Whitby Warriors, game time 8:00 pm. Kids accompanied by an adult and wearing an Excelsiors’ jersey will be admitted free . The team’s full schedule can be found on our Jr. A team page.

Jr. B Excelsiors Start 2023 Season on May 1st

After a season of ups and downs with an exciting finish, the Jr. B Brampton Excelsiors are ready to get a start to their 2023 season on May 1st. Though a series of injuries plagued the team throughout the 2022 season, causing them to miss the playoffs, they got a second shot as hosts of the Founder’s Cup. With an automatic birth in the tournament, the team made good use of the break in between to both recover, and practice. This paid off when they managed to capture fourth place in Canada after some incredible games. Even against the dominating Nepean Knights the boys stayed in the game and showed the potential they had.

This season will see a new coaching staff take over but many of the same players return. General Manager Brent McCauley announced in December that Excelsiors alum Brock Boyle would be taking over after previous Head Coach Todd Wilfong stepped down.

Brock Boyle brampton excelsiors jr. b
Brock Boyle, new Jr. B Head Coach

“My main area of focus is to get this young group to be the most athletic team in the league, and win games based on grit, resilience, and determination” said Boyle. “I want to show these young men what it takes to play at the highest level at all ends of the floor.”

And Brock would know. After a successful Jr. A career, Boyle has played at nearly every level of lacrosse including several years in both the NLL and MSL, most recently coming off an exciting season with the ALL’s Brampton Express. His experience and attitude are sure to be seen in the play of his team this season. “We will play fast, with purpose, and develop along the way. There will be no passengers, and every effort we put forward will be a collective one.”

Joining Brock on he bench this year is a plethora of coaching experience, including Clayton Bergie, himself a former bench boss of the team, Justin Huggins, and John Derochie. Off the bench, McCauley has been focusing on young, talented players who will grow and develop over the coming years.

“The 2023 Jr. B Excelsiors are going to be a very young team.” McCauley said. He also expressed confidence in his new coaches and the approach they’re taking. “With our new coaching staff in place, we have a different vision going forward. There is a new culture brewing with the Jr. B’s. A culture that will be based on hard work.”

While no one knows exactly what any given sports season will have store, fans can be assured that the 2023 Jr. B Excelsiors’ season will be and exciting one, building on last year’s success. Boyle’s goal for the group is clear: “We don’t believe in excuses or short cuts. I believe this group has what it takes to make the playoffs this year.”

Come out to the home opener and cheer on our Jr. B’s May 1st at Brampton Memorial Arena as they host the visiting West Durham Ironheads. Game time is 8:00 pm. All BMLA players accompanied by an adult and wearing their Brampton jersey will be admitted to the game free. Check out the full schedule on the Jr. B team page.

BELC Nominations Open

The BELC is proud to have honoured 140 individuals as Life Members, for their contributions to lacrosse in Brampton. These members include players, coachers, referees, volunteers and more. With the last new member being inducted in 2016, the club has recently seen a drought in expansions. That is why we are excited to be open up nominations for a new class of BELC Life Members!

Included within the newly ratified Governing Documents is a new Life Membership system which has strongly relaxed the criteria for Life Membership, and put the decision directly in the hands of the existing Life Members. Any BELC member (this includes GMs, head coaches and Directors) may submit a Life Member nomination, but the Life Members will be the ones who vote in their new peers. As stated in the Governing Documents, the criteria for new Life Members is as follows:

BELC Life Membership consideration will be open to anyone who, through their long-term involvement and dedication to Brampton lacrosse, has brought dignity, honour and respect to the values of the BELC. Long-term involvement will generally be understood to be a ten (10) year commitment.

In January, the Board of Directors approved the 2023 Nomination Committee made up of Dean McLeod, Barry Richardson, and Chaired by Bob Burke, to review all Life Member nominations. Members wishing to submit a nomination for Life Membership may do so be completing a Life Member Nomination Form, and sending it to Bob at bobburke@rogers.com. Nominations will close on February 24th. The date, time and location of the meeting to elect new members will be announced in the near future.

Alongside Life Member Nominations, the BELC is also accepting nominations for the annual BELC Awards. These awards are decided on by the Executive Committee, but any BELC member may submit a nomination by completing the Award Nomination Form and submitting it to BELC Secretary Matt Bowman, or President Glenn McClelland.

Potsy Burrows: Life-Long Excelsior

Potsy Burrows CLHOF Excelsiors

The BELC is saddened to share the news the our oldest living member, George ‘Potsy’ Burrows, has passed away. In his 104 years on our planet, Potsy left an incredible impact on not just Brampton lacrosse, but on the sport all across our nation.

Starting at the age of 8 in 1926, Potsy played lacrosse at all levels in Brampton over the next 21 years (including playing for the minor, Junior and Senior teams at one point, all in the same day). Potsy was a standout goaltender and a staples of the Excelsiors’ uniform for his whole career.

After his first year of Sr. lacrosse, in 1941 George enlisted in the RCAF and served in WWII. But this didn’t stop him playing. Potsy played with the Air Force team in exhibition games arranged to help raise money for the war effort.

When he returned from his service, Burrows, along with Billy Evans and Jim Cleveley (all of whom would later be inducted as BELC Life Members), founded the Lakeshore Minor Lacrosse League. His dedication to the sport and the people involved went so far as driving players to games, and refereeing them free of charge. In fact, though fondly remembered for his goaltending, Potsy spent 20 years with the whistle, an absolutely instrumental role in the game.

Potsy’s other honours include induction to the Brampton Sports Hall of Fame, the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame, and the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame. He’s been recognized by the Toronto Rock, The Royal Canadian Legion, and the Peel District School Board, for whom he volunteered with, speaking about the history of WW2.

A book could be written on everything Potsy Burrows did for lacrosse, for the City of Brampton, and for all those around him, but suffice to say that he will always be missed, remembered for an absolutely amazing life and legacy.

Details on the visitation and funeral can be found here.

In Memory of Bob Savage

Bob Savage Brampton Excelsiors

This past Saturday, the BELC lost lacrosse legend and Life Member Bob Savage at the age of 84.

Starting his lacrosse career in 1946 at the age of 8, Bob went on to play goal for the Jr. A Excelsiors in 1955. Playing until 1959, Bob was one of only six players to be part of all three consecutive Minto Cup teams. After graduating from Junior, Savage joined the Major Excelsiors and was a Mann Cup finalist in 1961.

Bob Savage was honoured as an inaugural Life Member of the BELC in 1989. He has also been inducted into the Brampton Sports Hall of Fame for his performance and dedication not just in lacrosse, but for hockey and baseball too. Savage was also inducted into the BSHoF as a member of the ’57-’59 Jr. A Excelsiors.

Bob had many close friends in the lacrosse community, and even after moving to Stratford remained a dedicated Excelsior at heart. He will be missed by those who knew him, but his legacy will live on with the Brampton Excelsiors, in his own words “Excelsiors Forever!”

Bob’s obituary with details of his celebration of life can be found here.