Frazer Macdonald - A Life in Junior B Lacrosse

In 1973, Frazer began his lifelong involvement in lacrosse when he became Vice President of the Esquimalt Minor Lacrosse Association just outside of Victoria. He would continue in this role until 1978 when a career move brought him and his family to the Lower Mainland. Looking to continue to be involved in lacrosse, Frazer accepted a position as the Assistant General Manager of the Vancouver Burrards of the Senior A Western Lacrosse Association, where he would hone his managerial skills in the highly competitive atmosphere of the WLA.

In the spring of 1982, Frazer saw another opportunity to make a difference in lacrosse and became the Commissioner of the West Coast Junior Lacrosse League, a position he would hold until the 2019 season, making him the longest tenured Commissioner in BC Lacrosse at 37 continuous years. In his role as Commissioner, Frazer always had the best interests of the players at heart, and did everything he could to give Junior aged players in the Lower Mainland a place to play the game of lacrosse.

He guided the WCJLL through some tough times in the late 1980’s when the league contracted to just three teams; he was able to keep the league alive through an interlocking agreement with the Vancouver Island Junior B League, so the WCJLL teams could play full seasons until the league could add more teams. From this dark period, Frazer oversaw the expansion of the WCJLL to over thirteen teams in two separate divisions, and included teams from across the Lower Mainland from the North Shore to Abbotsford.

During his tenure as WCJLL Commissioner, Frazer also assisted in the founding of the Thompson Okanagan Junior B League in the late 1990’s, helping the TOJLL’s original Commissioner Dan Wray in the startup and development of the interior league.

Frazer always had two main goals for Junior B lacrosse in BC; one was to have the age group expand from a three year limit to a five year limit emulating the Ontario model so that more kids could play Junior lacrosse at every level in the province. After several years of lobbying his ideas for this format at BCLA AGMs, he finally saw his wish come true and BC now has adopted a five year Junior program throughout the province.

After finding the original trophy tucked away in an office, Frazer’s other main goal over the years was to resurrect the long dormant Western Canadian Junior B Championship and involve teams from all four western provinces in hosting and playing in a true play-in championship series. Having been involved in several Founders Cup National Championships during his time as Commissioner, Frazer realized the logistical difficulties that BC teams encountered in trying to participate and successfully compete in the Founders Cup, and saw the Western Canadian Championships as a viable, but equally important alternative. Having seen his dream come true after all these years through the hard work of the people volunteering to make this championship a reality, and then having the championship named after him is truly the highest honour one could receive.

- by Scott MacDonald