Warrior Lacrosse
If there is a sports equipment manufacturer that assisted best lacrosse growth outside of Canada, it is Warrior Lacrosse. What the sports manufacturer Warrior Lacrosse did to the game was comparable with what Nike did to the sport of basketball and golf.
Warrior Lacrosse started with Dave Morrow, himself a former All-American lacrosse player, on the year 1993 in Canada. At this time, lacrosse was already an established national game in Canada, played competitively on collegiate and professional levels. And Warrior Lacrosse was one of those fledging sports equipment and utility company growing in tandem with the game. Warrior Lacrosse was very successful, their sports gear made highlight material in every equipment reviews and publications. The company made successful designs especially on lacrosse stick heads that set aside prominent places on important leagues and matches. Another of their best-known products was their lacrosse ball, and it enjoyed a prevalent presence in the said tournaments and matches. They featured well against other major lacrosse equipment manufacturers, such as Brine and STX.
Its effort to bring the sport of lacrosse outside the borders of Canada is what gave the brand name the most enduring mark. Warrior Lacrosse was pivotal in bringing Canada’s national sport to the rest of United States. The first move was to create a national sport for lacrosse outside collegiate matches, and to form a nationwide regulating body for it. So came proposals to build the Major League Lacrosse (MLL). In the year 1999, Dave Morrow, together with Tim Robertson and Jake Steinfeld of the “Body by Jake” fame founded the Major League Lacrosse and by June 2001, Major League Lacrosse began its first regular season play. As of current, Major League Lacrosse is participated by 10 teams in two division conferences, the East and the West.
With Dave Morrow at the helm, Warrior Lacrosse continued on being the very face of lacrosse, earning recognition as both the sport’s ambassador and image. Warrior Lacrosse was the biggest sponsor of the game, actively participating in its activities and signing talents under its brand name. Warrior Lacrosse sponsors players like Greg Cattrano, Mark Millon, among many other talents. The brand name also carried out sponsorship on several college lacrosse teams, and professional teams such as the Canadian Men’s National Team, the Major League Lacrosse notwithstanding. Warrior Lacrosse was the title sponsor during the 2006 Warrior World Lacrosse Championship, an event that was held in London, Ontario, and on the later year, for the 2007 Warrior World Indoor Lacrosse Championship held in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Warrior Lacrosse also held TV rights and agreements with ESPN and their annual coverage of the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship, where the brand name is also the presenting sponsor.
By 2005, the sports equipment giant New Balance concluded the acquisition and made Warrior Lacrosse its subsidiary. Seeing the influence of the name Warrior Lacrosse has on the sport, New Balance capitalized on this by renaming one of their recent acquisitions, a sports hockey team, as Warrior Hockey, from their old name Innovative Hockey.
Warrior Lacrosse gear is prevalent in the big leagues. It has earned standing rights to provide lacrosse balls to the Major League Lacrosse, providing the standardized “grippy” bright orange lacrosse ball, though Warrior Lacrosse also offers balls of other colors, even glow in the dark practice balls. The brand name also has an extensive array of exceptional lacrosse heads and shafts. Lately, the brand name extended its franchise to offer personalized warrior lacrosse jerseys, helmets, and protective gears.
Just like the prevalence of Nike in the game of basketball and golf, Warrior Lacrosse is very prevalent in the game of lacrosse that it’s impossible to miss the name.