Established in 1897 as the sole governing body for lacrosse, the Ontario Lacrosse Association (OLA) is the oldest sport organization in the province. The mission of the Association is to administer, promote and develop the national summer sport of Canada within Ontario.

Toward that goal, the OLA sanctions a 130-club program that reaches approximately 40,000 members between the ages of 6-45 years. Members participate as coaches, players, officials and volunteers in both the box (indoor) and field (outdoor) versions of the sport. The OLA season begins mid-April and extends to the end of October each year in eighty-eight Ontario markets.

Along with administrative support for the sport, the OLA also sponsors community outreach participation and development programs: the Brine/OLA Stick Loan Program provides resources for start-up communities; Lax on Wheels delivers lacrosse equipment and instruction to elementary schools across the province and OLA Player Development Camps reach new and existing lacrosse markets with a fun, fundamentals and fitness goal.

Current corporate partnership opportunities are anchored in the existing touch points between the OLA and it's members: annual meetings and volunteer training; a 50-event summer tournament schedule; communications and publications (including ontariolacrosse.com, the OLA Directory, Ontario Lacrosse Year in Review and LacrosseTalk); the OLA Awards Program and the 3,000 square-foot Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame and Museum.

Driven by television exposure, equipment technology improvements, expanding programs and services and a high profile professional league, twenty consecutive years of OLA membership growth has created the opportunity to launch a new, exciting, premier youth sport property: the Ontario Lacrosse Festival.

Launched in 2004, the Ontario Lacrosse Festival is the event name of a 10-day youth sport celebration hosted at Canada’s largest municipal sports facility: the Iroquois Park Sports Centre in Whitby, Ontario. The Festival features the provincial championships of the Ontario Lacrosse Association in three age divisions: Tyke (7-8 year-olds), Novice (9 & 10 year-olds) and Pee Wee (11 & 12 year-olds). The event also hosts the Pee Wee Lacrosse Championship of Canada, a round-robin tournament competition between the best players from across the nation competing as provincial team entries.

In 2005, the Festival will host 3,876 participants, making it a bigger event than Ontario's largest multisport festival, the Ontario Summer Games. The mission of the Festival is to become a premier, nationally-recognized youth sport event.

Other highlights at the Festival include the 3-on-3 PLPA Showcase featuring the biggest names in the game from the Professional Lacrosse Players Association (PLPA) in a modified game format; the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame Game & Reception celebrating the greatest names in the history of the sport and the Toshiba/Future Shop Pee Wee National East-West All-Star Game.

In addition to indoor tournament competition, an outdoor Festival Fun Zone is on-site. As participation in the Festival involves the entire family, eighteen exhibitors provide unique, engaging and experiential opportunities for Festival fans. With overall estimated attendance of 25,000, the Ontario Lacrosse Festival is the largest youth lacrosse event in North America.

In 2004, the Canadian Sport Tourism Economic Assessment Model estimated Festival economic impact at $1.8 million, spending that will approach $2.1 million this year.

Follow all the Festival fun online at www.ontariolacrossefestival.com.