History
The origins of the WCSLA date back to 1934, when the Inter-City Lacrosse League was founded. Box lacrosse had been adopted by Canada two years prior. This was the league that would go onto to spawn the Western Lacrosse Association, but for the first thirty years, the future Senior A and Senior B teams played in the same competition. That would change in 1968, when 4 of the more prominent clubs, the Salmonbellies, Burrards, Shamrocks and Adanacs, split to join the new professional National Lacrosse Association. When the NLA collapsed after two years, the four western teams returned to amateur status, creating the WLA. The teams who didn't go pro retained the Inter-City Lacrosse League name.
In 1968, the league consisted of 6 teams: the Surrey Riders, New West Blues, Vancouver Killarney, Chilliwack, North Shore Indians and Burnaby. 1970 saw the league officially change status to Senior B. In 1972 Harry George Woolley took over as commissioner, helping the Senior B league take giant strides toward respectability after years of having a reputation for being a men's recreational league. Woolley took drastic measures in changing the structure of the organization by implementing a league agreement, producing league perpetual trophies and crafting a new overall image. Attendance grew from only a half dozen people to several hundred fans during the playoffs. Out of the changes came the newly formed West Coast Senior Lacrosse Association (WCSLA) in 1973.
The President's Cup was held in BC for the first time in 1974. Hosted at Queen's Park Arena, the New West Blues and Prince George represented BC. Prince George would go on to win the Cup. [1]
In 1978, the league's tenth anniversary season saw the following clubs compete: New West Whalers, North Shore Indians, Burnaby Klippers, Vancouver Blue Angels, Abbotsford Braves and White Rock Titans. [2]
In 1991, the Langley Knights traveled to Czechoslovakia to represent BC and Canada in an international tournament. [3]
In 2001, the league had grown to 8 teams. The Abbotsford Bandits, Ladner Pioneers, Langley Knights, North Shore Indians, Nanaimo Timbermen, Port Coquitlam Eagles, Surrey Rebels and Vancouver Burrards. [4]
Over its history, the league has been very volatile, with a plethora of defunct teams. Only three of the current teams have remained in the same location their entire existence. The North Shore Indians were founded in 1968, and have gone through a few name changes, as well as multiple seasons where they had to suspend the teams operations. The Indians have won 3 Presidents Cups, in 1985, 1993 and 2001. The Ladner Pioneers and Nanaimo Timbermen have existed in their original locations since the 1980s. Ladner is the most successful team in the league, having won the tied most league titles, and 5 Presidents Cups, in 1998, 2004 and three from 2022-2024. Nanaimo has won 0 national championships.
Coquitlam originated as the Burnaby Lakers in 1987, playing there until 1999, when they moved to Abbotsford and changed their mascot to the Bandits. Their stay in the Fraser Valley was short, moving back to Burnaby in 2002 for one year before heading to Port Coquitlam and being renamed the Tri-City Bandits. As Tri-City, they experienced a golden age, winning 9 league titles in 10 years, although they did not have the same level of success on the national stage. The team moved once again in 2015, to Coquitlam, and changed their name again to the Adanacs, to match the cities Senior A team. The Senior B Adanacs played for 4 years, until Covid-19 forced the league to cancel the 2020 and 2021 seasons. When the league restarted, the team played as the Port Coquitlam Saints, adopting the name of that cities Junior A team. The Saints only lasted one year, before the franchise had to suspend operations. After a hiatus, they rejoined in 2025 as the Coquitlam Bandits. The Bandits won 1 Presidents Cup, in 1999 in their last year in Burnaby.
Victoria entered the league in 2016 as the Wolves. After the covid break, they were renamed to the Shamrocks, the same as the Senior A team. Unlike the Senior A Salmonbellies, New Westminster's Senior B team has had a history of moving and renaming. Beginning their history as the Langley Knights in 1989, they won the league title in their first year. The Knights would remain in Langley until 2006, winning a second league title in 2000. 2007 saw them move to New West, keeping the Knights moniker for one year before becoming the Royal City Capitals. Like most other teams, Covid-19 saw the Capitals undergo a change in name, to the recognizable Salmonbellies. Unfortunately the name change has not heralded a era of success, with the Bellies having only won 4 games total since the 2022 season. [5]
