Story by Gareth Gilson

The British Columbia Junior A Lacrosse League (BCJALL) is announcing that it has received notice from Commissioner Karl Christiansen that he will be retiring from the position effective November 1, 2021 to spend more time with family and on other pursuits.

In the last ten years as Commissioner, the BCJALL has been proud to have Karl in the role and he will be greatly missed as we prepare to return to full operations for the 2022 box lacrosse season. His leadership and experience has touched every facet of the league’s on- and off-floor operations and will be exceptionally difficult to replace.

“I am very proud of the work we have accomplished over the past 10 years. I started in the role wanting to grow the BCJALL into a great league our athletes wanted to play in,” said Christiansen.  “The BCJALL is the Premier Junior A Lacrosse League in Canada and collectively we have seen success on many levels. Minto Cup Championships, increased our presence Nationally and Internationally, and growing parity within the league through our annual U17 Entry Draft.”

“There have been so many great people I have worked with in the BCJALL and will miss them all but I want to focus on spending time with my boys right now. We will not be strangers to the arenas but I will have more time available to them by retiring from this position. The time is right and the league is in a good place for me to step away now.”

“I have worked closely with Karl over the 10 years both in my roles as a Governor and the Chairperson of the Board,” said Chairperson of the BCJALL Board of Governors Rod Wood. “In this time I have always found him to be professional in his approach and compassionate about lacrosse in general and the BCJALL specifically. He will be missed and I wish him all the best in the future.”

The BCJALL Board of Governors will oversee the search for a new Commissioner, and invites interested candidate to submit their expression of interest and lacrosse background to Gareth Gilson (league president) and Rod Wood (chairperson of the board) by email at [email protected] and [email protected].