U13 and U17 Jr. Rock Deliver Championships at Jr. NLL Tournament
Published on August 24, 2025 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Toronto Rock News Release
Oakville, ON - The 11th Jr. NLL Tournament concluded on Sunday with the Jr. Rock winning two of the three age divisions. The U13 and U17 Jr. Rock squads were successful in defending their championships won a year ago, while the U15 Jr. Rock came up just short, losing in the finals.
The three-day annual event is held in Oakville, ON with the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre serving as the main venue for the event, also staging games at the Kinoak Arena, and Glen Abbey Recreation Centre.
The U13 Jr. Rock captured the Jr. NLL Cup without dropping a single game, but it wasn't without a strong push from the Jr. Black Bears in the championship game. A back-and-forth affair was blown open late when the Rock broke up a second half 9-9 tie with five straight goals over the final ten minutes to take a 15-9 lead and hang on for the win. The Jr. Rock's Grayson Chapman was named the U13 Jr. NLL Tournament MVP winning the Tucker Williams Award. The U13 Jr. Rock championship win was the second straight at this age division and the seventh all-time.
The U15 championship game saw the Jr. Rock facing the Jr. Bandits. The Jr. Bandits came out of the gate firing, building a big lead by halftime, up 6-1. A Jr. Bandits goal less than a minute into the second half put the orange and black up 7-1 early. Down 8-1, the Rock mounted a comeback that was too little - too late, scoring four consecutive goals to make it 8-5 with 29 seconds to play. The Jr. Bandits would add one more to take the U15 Jr. NLL Cup with a 9-5 win. Jr. Bandits goaltender Bentley Cuthbertson was named the U15 Jr. NLL Tournament MVP winning the Tucker Williams Award. Cuthbertson had won the same award last summer in the U13 division with the Jr. Rock. It was the first time the Jr. Bandits have ever won the U15 division and just their second-ever Jr. NLL win.
Last summer, it was Jr. Rock captain Owen O'Halloran that played hero scoring the golden goal to capture the Jr. NLL Cup, however this year's U17 Jr. Rock spared everyone the drama building an 8-1 lead over the Jr. Bandits and held off a late comeback attempt to record a 10-6 victory. The U17 Jr. NLL Tournament MVP was the Jr. Rock's Avery Shirtliff, winning the Tucker Williams Award after leading his squad in scoring during the tournament.
U17 Jr. Rock coach Josh Dawick made some history becoming the first person to win a Jr. NLL title as both a player and a coach. Dawick was a multi-tournament participant in his youth and won this same U17 division in 2016 as a player.
The Jr. Rock teams are made up of players from the Rock Stars Elite Lacrosse Program. The players train year-round at the TRAC and are coached by current and former Toronto Rock legends such as Colin Doyle, Dan Dawson, and Challen Rogers.
Below is a list of this year's Jr. Rock coaches:
U13: Dan Dawson, Sandy Chapman, Bill Greer
U15: Challen Rogers, Latrell Harris, Blaine Manning
U17: Josh Dawick, Chris Weier, Ian Llord
This year's tournament once again featured a pair of marquee events in addition to the traditional tournament.
On Friday night, the Jr. NLL Skills competition took place inside the TRAC. The U13 players participate in the Long Shot, U15 players shoot for accuracy, and the U17 players fire up their hardest shots. In each skill, a Jr. NLL player competes alongside an NLL pro player, making for a truly unique experience for the youth lacrosse players.
On Saturday night, it was the second Jr. NLL All-Star Game, with the top players from the tournament facing off as the Goal Diggers took on the Mesh Monsters in all three age divisions. Each age division played one twenty-minute period with the score carrying over from period to period to crown one winner at the end of the night. The Mesh Monsters put up a combined 25 goals, to the Goal Diggers 19 goals in a high-scoring and extremely entertaining game.
Below is the list of Jr. NLL Tournament winners, through the years.
U13
2013 - Jr. Mammoth
2014 - Jr. Rock
2015 - Jr. Knighthawks
2016 - Jr. Rock
2017 - Jr. Rock
2018 - Jr. Rock
2019 - Jr. Black Wolves
2022 - Jr. Rock
2023 - Jr. Bandits
2024 - Jr. Rock
2025 - Jr. Rock
U15
2013 - Jr. Rock
2014 - Jr. Knighthawks
2015 - Jr. Knighthawks
2016 - Jr. Rock
2017 - Jr. Rock
2018 - Jr. Rock
2019 - Jr. Mammoth
2022 - Jr. Rock
2023 - Jr. Roughnecks
2024 - Jr. Rock
2025 - Jr. Bandits
U17
2014 - Jr. Knighthawks
2015 - Jr. Knighthawks
2016 - Jr. Rock
2017 - Jr. Roughnecks
2018 - Jr. Rock
2019 - Jr. Rock
2022 - Jr. Mammoth
2023 - Jr. Rock
2024 - Jr. Rock
2025 - Jr. Rock
For more information on 2025-26 Toronto Rock tickets, please contact a Toronto Rock account executive by phone at 905-426-4744, by email at tickets@torontorock.com or visit torontorock.com.
National Lacrosse League Stories from August 24, 2025
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