Hi, this is Fred Wallace with ” Off the Wire “.
Sometimes when you hear a rumour or the potential of something afoot, it allows you to prepare and brace yourself for the news.
Yet sometimes, even with the hint of something coming down the line for months, it still goes off like a bomb.
Such was the case yesterday when the confirmation came that the Brampton Excelsiors Major Lacrosse team will be shifting their operations to Owen Sound for the ” next ” season, whenever that may actually take place.
The Brampton to Owen Sound shuffle has been in the air ever since Joe Norton took control as owner of the Owen Sound Bug Juice Senior NorthStars.
Norton owned and operated the Brampton Majors and when he purchased the Owen Sound Seniors the rumbles commenced.
Travelling with the Senior NorthStars in 2019, the potential shift was the topic of conversation on almost every trip.
When confirming the pending alteration yesterday, current NorthStars General Manager Keith Peer related the possibility was a virtual reality for months.
Still, even with all those arrows and clues, the confirmation was stunning to me.
Equally stunning to me was to find out my assumption that Major Lacrosse would displace Senior Lacrosse was inaccurate.
According to Peer, Joe Norton and the Owen Sound lacrosse operators truly want to make the city a hot bed for the sport of lacrosse.
And from this angle it does look deep and varied;
– Minor NorthStar Lacrosse
– Lady NorthStar Field Lacrosse
– The Junior B NorthStars program
– The Bug Juice Senior NorthStars
& now, the Owen Sound Major squad which I assume will also be known as the Bug Juice NorthStars.
Now confirmed; the Brampton Excelsiors, first seen in 1883 and running continuously for the last 50 years, now officially reside in Owen Sound.
I’m Fred Wallace