Over the last year the Vancouver Warriors have given fans tons to cheer about. Since bringing in head coach and general manager Curt Malawsky the culture of the Warriors completely changed. Malawsky has the team playing better than they have before. Since the second half of last season the Warriors have turned it around and are making lacrosse exciting in Vancouver. Someone who has seen lacrosse grow in the Lower mainland is Warrior’s defenceman Matt Beers. Beers who grew up in Coquitlam has played professional lacrosse in two different eras. With the Vancouver Stealth now with the Warriors. Beers spoke on the culture of lacrosse in the Lower mainland before practice on Thursday January 23rd.
“The culture of lacrosse is really strong, it’s a very like blue collar sport. There’s a lot of hard-working kids that just want to have fun and it still affordable for families”.
The Warriors are very active in the community with their stick to school program and lacrosse camps for kids. Beers touched on how Curt Malawsky emphasizes this to the team. “the culture of lacrosse in our dressing room with Curt is really professional. There’s a lot of emphasis on growing the game on and off the floor there’s a lot of accountability for us to do more in the community. I think that’s something he brings to the table that’s really changed the culture in our dressing room. I will say I think across the league they do a pretty good job of that cause a lot of us (players) have gotten here from volunteers and we know what it means to give back so I do see that around the league but the culture that you Curt brings to his dressing room is unmatched.
Tonight, we welcome Brendan to Curt’s Corner!
Brendan was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in October 2023. After a long journey, he completed his final treatment in March 2024 and has since been declared cancer-free.
Brendan is a passionate lacrosse player for the Langley… pic.twitter.com/1CG9JTv7VA
— Vancouver Warriors (@VanWarriors) January 25, 2025
If you’ve been to a Warriors game, you know how much effort they put into making it fun for the fans. Every game is a theme night with tons of festivities like a machinal bull on country night. They make every game feel like a party. With how the team is playing and in the middle of a seven-game home winning streak the attendance at Rogers Arena is growing. We all saw how much buzz there was around town with the Canucks in the playoffs last year. The Warriors are currently on pace to make the playoffs this year. It would be the second time in franchise history. The first time coming in 2017, but lacrosse as grown a lot in British Columbia since then. Beers added on how important playoff lacrosse would be for the province of B.C.
“Really important, I was actually part of the team we played a championship game out of the Langley Events Centre and sold it out. You can just see the hunger in this city for playoff game. People came out in drove in for that in 2010 when we won in Washington. A large portion of those people were from BC. If you build it they will come Chris hall used to say that we were playing our first year in Washington. We’re building it right here in Vancouver and we hope as we continue to grow and have success that the fans will come out and support us, and they have. So really excited for a hopeful playoff game”
The Warriors are currently fourth in the NLL and the players and fans are excited for a potential playoff game.