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As the 150th anniversary of the first lacrosse game being played in this area, another significant anniversary for lacrosse is this coming Monday.
Ninety years ago, on June 20, 1932, the first official boxing or indoor lacrosse game was played in Peterborough.
In 1931, the Peterborough and Norwood Field Lacrosse teams played four games of this new version of lacrosse. Interest in this indoor game grew as some NHL teams considered a version originally developed in Australia as court lacrosse for summer use in their arenas.
The Ontario Amateur Lacrosse Association, the forerunner of today’s OLA, got involved because they believed it was the trend of the game.
The new indoor game was played on the floor with seven players. There were three forwards, two defenders, a goalie and a Rover who played all over the floor. The defense played similar to their ice hockey counterparts.
The game had four 15-minute quarters and used nets four feet high and five feet wide.
On May 20, 1932, the Peterborough Intermediates and Orillia played an exhibition indoor game at Brock Arena. They had laid a new sand floor in the arena and stretched wire mesh around the playing surface above the boards. Interest in this new game grew in the city.
The Peterborough Intermediates joined a team in the newly formed OALA indoor league. To quench the enthusiasm for the game, a four-team home league was formed. The advanced players were eliminated from the league to give others the opportunity to develop.
The first OALA schedule was scheduled for September 1932, followed by playdowns. Peterborough Intermediates played a number of sanctioned games to prepare over the summer.
Your first opponent in June 90 years ago was the Oakwood Grads. Before what the examiner described as a “big crowd,” locals beat the Grads 11-5. Gene Boivin had four goals and Ira Dundas scored three goals in that game.
Los Angeles hosted the 1932 Olympics. A demonstration game of lacrosse was planned between Canada and the United States. By then, Canada had essentially abandoned the fielding game and headed to LA to play the Americans in the new boxing game.
The American coach refused to force the game on the field. The Canadians lost the best-of-three series two games to one. This essentially ended Canada’s participation in field lacrosse until 1967.
On August 30, Peterborough opened the OALA playdowns against the Oakwood Grads. Peterborough won the first game of the two-game series 15-8 at Brock Arena.
Prüfer sports editor Cec Perdue wrote the next day: “No sporting event in years has stunned fans like last night’s grueling, manly, grueling and gasping fight.”
In the second leg at Maple Leaf Gardens, Peterborough eliminated Oakwood. After 53 days of waiting, Peterborough faced Rouge Hill in the next round. In the first game, played in Stouffville, Peterborough beat them 9-4 to win the series, led by Red Creighton, Buster Whitton and Pete King.
Cornwall was Peterborough’s opponent in the Ontario semifinals. Peterborough, described by The Examiner as “the wildest and most exciting lacrosse game seen here in years” won the opening game 10-7 in front of a crowd of 1,200 at the Brock Rink. Peterborough lost the second leg in Cornwall 10-8 but won the series 18-17.
The Ontario Intermediate Finals faced the Haldimand Rifles of Brantford and Peterborough. Peterborough lost the opening game in Brantford 11-9. Back in Peterborough on November 19, 1932, in front of 1,400 fans at the Brock Rink, Brantford won the first Ontario Intermediate Lacrosse title, defeating Peterborough 12-8.
Anyway, box lacrosse was run in the “boro”.
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