Senior women's box lacrosse is returning to Nanaimo for the first time in more than a decade. The Senior Women Timbermen open their season April 20 at the Nanaimo Ice Centre against Victoria. (Dreamstime)

By Dan Marshall

big return

Senior women’s box lacrosse returns to Nanaimo after 10+ year absence

Apr 19, 2024 | 3:43 PM

NANAIMO — The Senior Women Timbermen make their season debut this weekend.

Team member Jenna Krajinovic said it’s the first time in more than ten years Nanaimo has had a senior women’s squad and they’ve already experienced strong support, ahead of their first game on Saturday, April 20.

“We need that lacrosse community and we need that village. It’s a good safe outlet for female athletes to go play sport and make connections with other women.”

Krajinovic said up until now there’s been a void for players once their youth careers are over.

Few options have remained locally for women to continue playing, meaning either a move away or giving up the competitive side of the sport completely.

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“It’s that level of camaraderie. You really lose that when you age out of sports. To have that now that I’m a little bit older it’s a pretty incredible privilege to have. I’m very excited that we’re growing this game.”

As the program gets off the ground there’s a wide mix of player backgrounds and experience levels.

Many players have a connection to hockey, which provides a little bit of overlap.

“We have girls who have been playing together in the Nanaimo community for well over a decade and there’s other women who have never even picked up a lacrosse stick. There’s quite a few of us that played for the Nanaimo Islanders or Nanaimo Black Ice travel hockey teams.”

The Senior Women Timbermen have been preparing for the season with scrimmages and practices.

Krajinovic said the players will have a busy spring schedule.

“We’re going to be traveling a fair bit and we’re hoping to be able to make it out to provincials. We practice twice weekly and we have one to two games every single week. There’s really good commitment from the women so far.”

The Saturday season opener against the Victoria Wolves is a 6:30 p.m. start time at the Nanaimo Ice Centre with free admission.

There are currently nine games on the schedule with the Timbermen playing games in Nanaimo, Parksville, Victoria and North Saanich.

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