On any given summer night across Niagara, hundreds if not thousands of people could be attending a sporting event.
The highest level sport, because of coverage on TSN, would be the Niagara River Lions who play out of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) average 2,000 fans a game at Meridian Centre in downtown St. Catharines.
The River Lions are the defending league champions and currently lead the CEBL Eastern Conference standings at (9-5).
The Welland Jackfish, who regularly sellout Welland Stadium, are also on-top of their league standings leading the Intercounty Baseball League (IBL) standings at (17-6).
Sticking with baseball, the Niagara Ironbacks – the new kids on the block – playing out of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League at George Taylor Field in Merritton are last in the West Division at (4-23) on the season.
On the lacrosse floor, the St. Catharines Jr. Athletics (12-8) wrapped up their regular season Monday night with an 8-5 loss to Toronto Beaches and now await their first round playoff opponent. The Athletics will host the Minto Cup, the Canadian Junior A Lacrosse Championships, come August at the aforementioned Meridian Centre.
The Junior A Athletics are the oldest sporting franchise in Niagara, and one of the oldest in Canada, founded in 1877.
Meanwhile, the Jr. B Athletics are well into their postseason run after battling back from two games down to take the Cambridge Highlanders in five games. The B’s are now playing Orangeville in the second round of the playoffs, trailing one game to none, with game 2 at Canada Games Park Tuesday night.
On the soccer pitch, the St. Catharines Roma Wolves, after earning promotion last season, play in the League 1 Ontario and currently sport a very respectable (4-4-4) record. The Roma Wolves play out of Roma Field in the Garden City.
From the soccer pitch to the football gridiron, the Niagara Spears Football team continues to graduate Canadian University and Canadian Football League (CFL) players. The Spears play their games at Kiwanis Field on St. Paul Street West in St. Catharines.
And last but certainly not least, another sporting mainstay in Niagara, is Merrittville Speedway. Opened in 1952, the oval hosts weekly races which local auto racing fans continually support. Merrittville Speedway is located on Merrittville Highway in Thorold.
So if your own family member isn’t playing sports this summer there’s plenty of options. From the hardcourt to the diamond, lacrosse floor, soccer pitch, gridiron and track Niagara offers a plethora of sports.
Support local.
Rod Mawhood is a lifelong Niagara native who has had the pleasure of working in all three mediums – Radio, Print and TV – for over 20 years. His first announcing gig was with the then St. Catharines Stompers. Since then he’s worked in radio and TV in Toronto, and currently is the announcer for the Niagara IceDogs and Niagara River Lions.
Rod also covers the Buffalo Bills for FOX Sports and the Buffalo Sabres for NBC Sports.
