Lacrosse is called “the fastest game on two feet” so playing lacrosse will provide your child with great cardiovascular exercise. Given that lacrosse is a team sport, your child will learn the values of working together to achieve success. Lifelong friendships are part of the game, as Bellies lacrosse is a passionate and close knit community in New Westminster where the game has a long standing history of 130 years.
The box lacrosse season begins in early April and runs until the end of June for U11 and younger players, but extends into July for teams qualifying for Provincial championships that are held throughout the province.
The field lacrose season begins in early September and runs until early December for U9 and younger players, and until February for U11 and older players qualifying for the season-ending Provincial championships.
Join the “Pride & Tradition” in New West, and take part in Canada’s National Summer Sport by registering today!
Box Lacrosse
Games are usually played once or twice per week with a give home time at one of the two indoor arenas in New Westminster for teams U9 and above, and at one of the two outdoor lacrosse boxes (Hume or Moody) for U7 teams.
U7 games are generally played on Saturday at 10 am and/or Wednesday nights at 6 pm at Moody Outdoor Box, while U9 games are generally played on Saturday or Sunday morning at Moody Park Arena or on Tuesday 6 pm at one of the outdoor lacrosse boxes. U7 and U9 teams play “in house” so no travel outside of New Westminster is required for games. Home games are the same day and time each week unless there is a conflict with the opponent and away games (U11 and up) could be scheduled any day of the week. There are times when U9 games are moved to outdoor boxes due to tournaments and scheduling conflicts and games may not fall on the regular day and time.
Practices are held at various days during the week, depending on the Coaches’ availability and arena/box schedules.
Field Lacrosse
Games are played once per week, on Saturdays (Women’s) or Sundays (Youth).
Practices are held twice per week at Queens Park East turf field.
Coaches will be assigned to teams either just before or just after evaluations. If you are interested in coaching please complete this application and submit to our head coach.
For U7 and U9 we will try to accommodate 1 convenience request per child, excluding coach requests. We will ask that parents request the 1 most important thing. If it’s a friend, carpool, a night or time not to practice, or location…we will try to accommodate 1 request per child. We cannot guarantee that we can accommodate every request, but we will try. U7 and U9 teams are required to be balanced in ability at the beginning of the season.
See our Box Equipment and Field Equipment pages for further details on these items and approved stick sizes.
NWMLA offers an equipment rental program for U7 and U9 players so that they can try out the game without the financial burden of purchasing all the equipment. See our Box Equipment and Field Equipment pages for more information on the rental programs we offer.
We also offer a very reasonable rate for the purchase of the pads required for U7 and U9. Beginner sticks for players can also be purchased from our equipment manager at a discounted rate.
For older players, equipment can be purchased at many sport outlets in the surrounding cities. Contact equipment@minorbellies.com if you need help.
Games for the Box Lacrosse season typically begin in early April.
Games for the Field Lacrosse season begin the first weekend of September.
Shorts purchased online during the registration process will be distributed by the division manager or team manager at the beginning of the lacrosse season. Please contact uniforms@minorbellies.com if you did not order shorts but now would like to purchase them.
The regular Box Lacrosse season is from April to the end of June.
NOTE: Play downs for Provincials start in mid to late June and go into July. A subset of teams at the U13 and above will have this opportunity. A subset of U11 players will play into the first two weeks of July for a tournament in Burnaby or an away tournament.
The Field Lacrosse season begins in September. The season ends in early December for U7/U9; older divisions have a season break at the end of December before resuming games in early January. The season ends with Provincials in mid to late February.
Your division manager will be working with the coaches to get the teams assigned. Most levels will not know until early April, as evaluations will begin in February (U11 and above) and continue through the first week of April. Multiple teams in a division (U7 and U9) will be balanced, so further movements may happen as the season starts.
The division managers assigned for this season can be found on our website.
If you determine that lacrosse does not fit into your family’s schedule or your child does not like it, please refer to our refund policy on our website at:
https://www.sportregistration.com/register.cfm?id=4&key=B413F166-6F95-407D-88AA-865FAF303068
We will no longer be issuing manual receipts, please refer to the confirmation email you receive after online registration.
NWMLA is a volunteer-based organization made up of parents just like you, so help is always needed and appreciated! Once your team is set, managers, bench helpers, coaches, assistant coaches, scorekeeping, timekeeping, helping with tournaments, freezies – all very necessary positions! Please proactively reach out to your coordinator, coach or manager if you can volunteer! It makes us a stronger community and you get to broaden your circle of friends!
NWMLA holds three tournaments during the box lacrosse season so volunteers are always needed to make these tournaments a success.
Please contact volunteer@minorbellies.com for more information.
The NWMLA offers the “Bring A Buddy” lacrosse program in January for new players to try out the game of lacrosse.
In February, the NWMLA runs the Doug Hazelwood Clinic for players under 8 years of age or new players under 10 years of age.
In the summer, the Field Frenzy program provides weekly drop-in clinics for new players to try out field lacrosse.
See our Financial Assistance page for more information on families seeking assistance for registration and/or equipment costs.
All kids get to play!
For box lacrosse, teams are established by early April but players can still register until early May once the season is well underway. There may be teams that are declared full, so those who register late may be put on a waitlist and can be “released” to other clubs looking for players. Players at the U7 and U9 levels can register to play with NWMLA into early May without being placed on a waiting list, but they may not be able to request to play on a specific team.
For field lacrosse, teams are established by early September, but players can still register into October.
Yes, you are required to play in the community in which you reside. Players in their first year must provide 2 pieces showing proof of residency.
