THE HISTORY OF KW JR A LACROSSE

Author: Dolan Costa

Humble Beginnings (1967)

Every great organization starts somewhere. For the club now known as the KW Jr A Lacrosse Club, it started with six players, one lacrosse stick, and a couple of battered shoulder pads.

In 1967, Jim "Buddy" Johnston — a charter executive member of the Kitchener Rangers — was approached by Bob Crosby, manager of the Kitchener Auditorium, about organizing a lacrosse team to help fill the building. Johnston, who grew up playing lacrosse on a dairy farm outside Orangeville, didn't hesitate. He scraped together $5,000 for equipment, designed a crest, built an executive, and christened the new club the Kitchener Braves — a name chosen as a tribute to the game's Aboriginal roots.

To fill the roster, lacrosse hall of famer Ross Powless brokered an affiliation with the Senior A Brantford Warriors, bringing established junior talent like Gary Powless, Gene and Vic Generoux, and Gil Bomberry to Kitchener. Additional players like George Irwin, Ron Yee, and Chris Gavris came through a recruitment drive in Owen Sound.

The Braves played their home opener in May 1967, falling 6–3 to Elora in front of 505 fans who paid a dollar each at the Aud. They'd finish that inaugural season third in an eight-team loop — a solid foundation for what was to come.

The Junior B Era and National Championship Glory (1967–1990)

For more than two decades, the Braves competed at the Junior B level, grinding through the 1970s and early '80s with mixed results while quietly building toward something bigger.

That something bigger arrived in 1987 and 1988, when the Braves captured back-to-back Founders Cups as Junior B national champions. The 1988 campaign was dominant from start to finish — a 14–5–1 regular season record, a first-place finish in the OLA-B West, a league title, and a national crown. The two seasons that followed were even more impressive on paper, with the club going a combined 39–1–0 in regular season play across 1989 and 1990, winning their division both years before falling short in the finals.

The Founders Cup hardware from '87 and '88 remains the organizational high-water mark in terms of championships — a two-year run that defined a generation of Kitchener lacrosse.

The Jump to Junior A (1991)

In 1991, the Braves made the leap to Junior A competition. The adjustment was immediate and unforgiving. After a solid first two seasons at the new level, the club crashed to a 1–21 record in 1993, finishing 12th in the OLA-A. Junior A was a different game entirely.

Stability gradually returned through the mid-to-late '90s. A 16–6 regular season record in 1998 showed the club could compete, but deep playoff runs remained out of reach. At various stretches in their Junior A tenure, the Braves went 14 years without a single playoff series win — a difficult chapter that tested the resolve of everyone connected to the organization.

A Pipeline to the Pros

Through the lean years, one thing never wavered: Kitchener was developing elite lacrosse talent.

The club produced roughly 30 players who went on to professional careers, including NLL stars Steve "Chugger" Dietrich, Colin Doyle, and Ryan Benesch. Doyle became the all-time scoring leader in Braves Jr A history. Dhane Smith and Aaron Wilson also came through the KW program on their way to the highest levels of the sport.

The club's unofficial motto — "Turning out pros since 1967" — isn't just a tagline. It's a track record.

50 Years of Continuous Operation (2017)

In 2017, the club celebrated 50 years of uninterrupted operation — a milestone that very few minor sports organizations in Canada can claim. Five decades in the same building, in the same community, playing the same game. That's a legacy worth celebrating.

A New Identity (2020–2021)

In 2020, the organization underwent its most significant transformation. As teams across the sport moved away from Indigenous names, the Braves name was retired after more than 50 years, and the club became the KW Jr A Lacrosse Club. It was a respectful acknowledgment of the game's roots while stepping forward with a new identity.

The 2020 season was cancelled due to COVID-19, and the club's first season competing in the newly rebranded Ontario Junior Lacrosse League (OJLL) in 2021 was a shortened bubble format — an 0–8 campaign that was less about results and more about getting back on the floor.

A New Chapter: The Kitchener Kodiaks (2026)

Nearly 60 years after Jim Johnston scratched together six players and one lacrosse stick, the organization is turning the page once again.

Heading into the 2026 OJLL season, the club is rebranding as the Kitchener Kodiaks Jr A Lacrosse Club — a bold new identity for one of the oldest franchises in Ontario junior lacrosse. Still calling the Kinsmen Arena home inside the same Kitchener Memorial Auditorium complex where 505 fans watched that very first game in 1967, the Kodiaks carry nearly six decades of history into a fresh era.

From the Braves to the KW Jr A Lacrosse Club to the Kodiaks — the name has evolved, but the mission hasn't: develop elite lacrosse players, compete hard, and represent the Waterloo Region with pride.

Some things get built to last. The Kitchener Kodiaks are proof.