Legacy of lacrosse continues in Burnaby with annual Jack Crosby Tournament

The Jack Crosby Lacrosse Tournament has marked 38 years of bringing teams to Burnaby from all over B.C. every July. This year, the tournament featured 35 teams with U11 novice boys and girls competing in three divisions. An Alberta team also took part in the 2025 tournament.

The new Rosemary Brown Recreation Centre, with its two rinks, was used for the first time for this tournament along with the Kensington Arena and Bill Copeland Sports Centre. Over the four-day competition, 103 games were played in the three locations.

The event is named in honour of Jack Crosby—a legendary figure in B.C.’s lacrosse community. He was the president of Burnaby Minor Lacrosse and was known for his impactful contributions as a player, coach and builder.

Tournament director Susan Kirkby of Burnaby has been overseeing the event for 20 years and she welcomes being at the Rosemary Brown venue. “You can see this lobby is huge, there’s so much room for people to mingle around and lots of room for vendors,” says Kirkby. “Everything is new and beautiful. The participants are very happy with the venue. It’s all been very positive.”

When adding up all the players, parents and friends, some 4,000 people were part of the tournament.  As an organizer, Kirkby loves the nine- and 10-year-old age group. “I knew Jack Crosby well. This was his favourite age [of players]. They are very skilled, but they are still young enough that winning and losing isn’t everything.”

Lacrosse is an accessible sport, says Kirkby. Many of the kids also play hockey, so they can use their shoulder pads and helmets in lacrosse. But they do need a lacrosse stick. The tournament provided options for participants to get a new stick.

One of the vendors is Brent Crosato, who was born and raised in Burnaby and played for Crosby. Now, he runs Venom Custom Sticks, a company that provides professionally crafted, durable and affordable sticks. The booth, with the colourful mesh and sticks, was a popular stop for tournament participants. “I used to string my own sticks, back in the day,” says Crosato. “Then, I started doing some repairs for the sticks of members of my son’s team and it just caught on.” Crosato provides the kids with the colours and logos they want. “We try to have something for everybody, with all the team colours. We can do anything to customize a stick.”  He says “it’s cool” to be a part of the tournament as “Jack put his heart and soul into lacrosse. He will never be forgotten.”

With lacrosse sixes being one of five new sports to be featured at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, Kirkby says it’s a great opportunity to grow the sport. “It’s a very fast, high-paced, high-scoring game,” she says. “It will be huge and I’m hoping it will get more kids interested in the sport.”

The City of Burnaby and Sport Burnaby are sponsors of the Jack Crosby Lacrosse Tournament.

Photo Credits

Venue lobby: Sam Corea

Action photos: Photo Franco

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