Vernon Senior Tigers
1919 - Present Day : A Brief History
League records show that organized lacrosse involving Vernon dates back to at least 1919, when Vernon competed alongside Kelowna and Armstrong in the North Okanagan Lacrosse League. This establishes Vernon as one of the earliest communities in the region to participate in organized senior lacrosse. While early records focus on league play rather than formal championships, they confirm that the sport had taken root locally by the end of the First World War and remained active in the decades that followed.
1947 Vernon Senior Tigers
By the post-war era, Vernon senior teams had emerged as competitive forces at the Interior level. Archival photographs document the Vernon Senior Tigers as Interior Senior B champions in 1947, marking the earliest confirmed championship success tied directly to the Tigers name. League records then show Vernon achieving provincial prominence in 1952, when the Tigers won the British Columbia Senior B championship, firmly establishing the club within the provincial lacrosse hierarchy.
1976 Vernon Senior Tigers
The club’s most celebrated era arrived in the 1970s, when the Tigers reached the pinnacle of Canadian Senior “B” lacrosse. Vernon captured the Presidents Cup national championship three consecutive times, winning Canadian titles in 1976, 1977, and 1978 - a rare achievement that placed the Tigers among the elite senior programs in the country. Following their 1976 championship victory, the team’s charter flight home was forced into an emergency landing due to an onboard fire, skillfully executed by pilot Barry Lapointe - founder of newly established KF Aerospace - ensuring the safe return of the national champions. Those national championships remain a defining chapter in the club’s legacy and a benchmark against which later generations have been measured.
In the early 2000s, the senior program competed under the name Vernon Royals, continuing Vernon’s senior lacrosse tradition within region. During that period, the Royals reached the league finals in 2002, 2003, 2006, and 2008, and captured league championships in 2004 and 2005, reinforcing the program’s competitiveness at the regional level. After the Tigers name was restored, the club continued to operate through the early 2010s before entering a hiatus from 2013 through 2018.
2025 Vernon Senior Tigers
The Vernon Tigers returned to competition following that hiatus and have since entered a new chapter as a registered non-profit society, focused on long-term sustainability, governance, and community support. Nearly eight decades after first taking the floor, the club continues to balance honoring its championship past with building for the future - ensuring that senior lacrosse remains a living tradition in Vernon rather than a historical footnote.
Club Accolades
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1947 BC Interior League Champions
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1950 BC Interior League Champions
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1952 Hartney Cup Champions (BC Senior "B" Provincial Title)
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1976 Presidents Cup Champions (Canadian Senior “B” National Title)
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1977 Presidents Cup Champions
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1978 Presidents Cup Champions
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1979 Hartney Cup Champions
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1994 Shaw Cup Champions (Okanagan Regional Senior "B" Title)
1997 Shaw Cup Finalists -
1998 Shaw Cup Champions
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1998 Mickey Meslo Cup Finalists - (BC Senior "B" Provincial Title)
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2002 Shaw Cup Finalists
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2003 Shaw Cup Finalists
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2004 Shaw Cup Champions
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2005 Shaw Cup Champions
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2006 Shaw Cup Finalists
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2008 Shaw Cup Finalists