Kamloops Venom see path to TOJLL title despite inconsistent season

The Venom needed to be among the top four teams at the end of the Thompson Okanagan Junior Lacrosse League (TOJLL) season to qualify for the playoffs.

They edged the visiting, second-place Kelowna Kodiaks 12-11 on Sunday – the last day of the regular season – to leapfrog the South Okanagan Flames of Penticton and finish in fourth place.

“We had to put it all together under pressure on Sunday against Kelowna and we played by far our best game of the year – from goalie to defence to offence,” Primus said.

Recent roster and lineup movement are among reasons for Kamloops confidence.

The Venom were involved in a blockbuster TOJLL deadline deal on June 30, acquiring four players from the Flames – Cylis Charlton, Jordyn Charters, Taynon Charters and Aiden Watson.

Taynon Charters is the league’s leading scorer, with 75 points in 17 games.

Four-point-per-game danger man Seamus Bankier has returned from national team duty with Scotland and key cogs Wyatt Streek and Tyson Von Hollen are back from injury and suspension, respectively.

“We’ve got a great team,” Venom runner Sam Borschowa said. “We just haven’t had a full roster all year. Even when we don’t have a full roster, we’ve been putting up fights against really good teams. I think we’ve got a really good opportunity heading into playoffs.”

The Kodiaks will host the league championship tournament, which is scheduled to run from July 17 to July 19 in Kelowna.

Each of the participating four teams – No. 1-seed North Okanagan Reapers (34 points), No. 2 Kelowna (27 points), No. 3 Cranbrook Blackwolves (22 points) and No. 4 Kamloops (19 points) – will play each other once in the round-robin, with the top two teams advancing to the championship game.

(The Venom expressed qualms with the post-season tournament format last year).

Kamloops won a third consecutive TOJLL title in 2024, but fell short of the final in 2025.

This year, the league champion will play host to the winner of the B.C. Junior Tier 1 Lacrosse League in a best-of-three provincial final series.

“Last weekend’s win was huge for us and all the boys are absolutely pumped for that,” Venom captain Keaton Thibault said. “We’re really riding that high right now. We’re peaking at the right time and we’re at our best right now.”

Kamloops – which has claimed eight league championships since inception in 2008 – suffered defeat in the provincial final in 2022, 2023 and 2024.

by Marty Hastings

Kamloops Venom see path to TOJLL title despite inconsistent season

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