Tournament Sanctioning
Tournaments are key to the success of lacrosse in Alberta and an important foundation for the growth and development of our athletes. Providing a positive, inclusive athlete experience through tournaments is central to the Alberta Lacrosse Association’s philosophy and player development philosophy.
The ALA must sanction all lacrosse tournaments within the Province of Alberta. Securing sanctioning ensures safe participation for teams outside your District and the province. It also ensures that your players, coaches, and officials will be protected under the ALA insurance policy.
Tournament Sanctioning Process
There are four steps in the tournament sanctioning process:
Tournament Application
Clubs wishing to have a tournament, festival, or jamboree must complete the tournament-sanctioning application form. Must submit a completed tournament sanctioning application form to your Local Governing Body (LGB) for LGB-level approval.
LGB Approval
Each LGB will set a date for the receipt of tournament applications before the ALA’s tournament sanctioning application deadline (November 1, 2025) and share this date with all its member clubs. The LGB will review and vet all sanctioning requests to determine which tournaments they sign off on and bring forward to ALA for sanctioning.
Each LGB will notify prospective tournament hosts about the status of their application and whether or not it will be signed off at the LGB level.
LGB Submission
Hosts of tournaments signed off at the LGB levels must submit the signed “The Request to Host a Tournament” form with a fee of $150.00 to the ALA Office by November 1.
Applications for tournaments run by an ALA member club will only be accepted if submitted via their LGB.
ALA Sanctioning and Approval
Sanctioning by the ALA will review all tournament requests forwarded to them to ensure they have been signed off at the LGB level and provide all necessary information. ALA will convene a meeting of representatives from all of the LGBs and the Alberta Lacrosse Referees Association (ALRA) in early November to review the submissions and identify instances of scheduling overlap. Based on the discussion at this meeting, clubs that have submitted a tournament application may be contacted to discuss a change of date(s) and/or age divisions if a conflict is noted. Once any conflicts have been resolved, the ALA will send a letter to tournament contacts letting them know whether their tournament has been sanctioned. Once the host club and its LGB have been formally notified, the list of sanctioned tournaments will be uploaded to the ALA’s website.
The tournament schedule must be provided to the ALA office a minimum of two (2) weeks in advance of the first game of the tournament.
Tournament hosts are advised to consult the ALA regulations for information on scheduling considerations.
Tournament hosts are responsible for working with the ALRA to schedule officials for their tournaments. The ALA Office does not participate in this process.
The host organization of any tournament must, within 48 hours post tournament, file with the ALA Office, as well as its LGB, a report outlining any discipline problems, accompanied by the corresponding game sheet (if applicable) which resulted in five-minute penalties and any suspensions of any official, player, coach, manager, or other person. Tournament discipline will be supplied using the discipline template provided to the tournament’s discipline chair.
Questions? Please contact the Alberta Lacrosse Association Office for more information.
Key Resources
Request to Host Minor Tournament
Schedule Template
Discipline Log
Tournament Standing Report
