Lacrosse fans who are missing their favourite game this summer will have a chance to watch — online and in person — the best young players in the game in a one-day event next month in Coquitlam.

With the 2020 and 2021 seasons lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Western Lacrosse Association (WLA) announced today it is hosting WLA Xtreme Future Stars, sponsored by Xtreme Threads, an event that will provide graduating Junior players and recently drafted Senior players a chance to showcase their skills in advance of the 2022 season.

WLA Xtreme Future Stars will take place Saturday, Aug. 7 at the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex in Coquitlam, with events being held throughout the day. The action will start at 10 a.m. with the WLA Xtreme Junior Showcase, consisting of 46 final-year players from the BC Junior A Lacrosse League divided into two teams for a scrimmage. In the afternoon, starting at 12:30 p.m., the WLA Xtreme Young Stars will feature 54 players from the seven WLA clubs born between 1997 and ’99 who will be divided into three teams for a series of scrimmages. (For the full list of players participating in WLA Xtreme Future Stars and team assignments for the day, visit WLALacrosse.com/FutureStars.)

As well, seven WLA coaches will run the teams, including Pat Coyle of the host Coquitlam Adanacs, Rod Jensen of the Langley Thunder, Rob Williams of the Maple Ridge Burrards, and Mike Simpson of the defending-WLA champion Victoria Shamrocks.

And $5 will buy lacrosse fans all-day access to the action, either via a limited number of tickets at the door starting at 9 a.m. or online, via webcast, at WLALacrosse.com/FutureStars.

“We know our players, coaches, and fans were deeply disappointed by the cancellation of the 2020 and ’21 WLA seasons due to the pandemic, but the WLA Xtreme Future Stars event is a chance to watch the best young talent in the British Colubia get ready for 2022,” said WLA commissioner Paul Dal Monte. “We hope the lacrosse community checks out the talent online or in person.”