Shattering Glass Ceilings: The Women of the Minto Cup

Written By Colleen Grimes

Left to Right: Shelly Fey, Maki Jenner, Claire Mikuska, and Nicole Schenato

By Adam Levi

The kids battling for Junior A Lacrosse supremacy aren’t the only ones taking centre stage at this year’s Minto Cup.

On Tuesday night, Maki Jenner made Minto Cup history. She became the first female broadcaster to be behind the microphone calling a Minto Cup game. It was a memorable evening, and one that has now shattered the glass ceiling for other female broadcasters to call future Minto Cup games. 

“Lacrosse is for everyone,” Jenner said. “I think for me, the biggest thing is being able to have young girls watching the broadcast and hearing a female voice. I’m still quite fresh at this, but it is such a privilege to help pave the way for female commentators in lacrosse. Young girls watching now know that they too could be sitting up there with some of the best voices in lacrosse one day, and I hold that responsibility to do my best for them very close to me.”


Jenner’s historic moment has headlined a tremendously successful week for the women of the Minto Cup. Jenner, Nicole Schenato, Shelly Fey, Colleen Grimes, Claire Mikuska, and Alyssa Wahl have been putting together incredible work to make this Minto Cup one we will never forget.

Before this summer’s Minto Cup, Nicole Schenato, a member of the 2024 Minto Cup Committee, who is also the Coquitlam Minor Referee Coordinator, was hard at work with the team that was putting this year’s tournament together. Looking back, she is very grateful to have had the opportunity to work with some incredibly hardworking, talented people in this industry to make this all possible.


“It’s truly heartwarming to see the dedication and effort that went into holding this event,” Schenato said. “The committee’s commitment, expertise, and collaborative spirit is commendable.”

She went on to add how inspiring it has been to see the work of Jenner, Fey, Grimes, Mikuska, and Wahl make this summer’s Minto Cup a great success.

“All of these amazing women’s hard work ensures this event will not only be successful but also inspiring for everyone involved.”

Keeping things local, Shelly Fey, if you do not know already, is one of the leading lacrosse photographers in the Lower Mainland. Throughout the summer, you can find her in her homes away from home (the lacrosse barns of the British Columbia Jr. A Lacrosse League and Western Lacrosse Association).

If you’ve been following these leagues online and on social media, you’re guaranteed to have seen Fey’s fantastic work. The quality of her work is matched by her passion and enthusiasm for the game of lacrosse.

“I love my job because I was once an athlete too, and growing up in the sports community, I felt like it was a second family,” Fey said. “And, playing the game and having cherished memories was one thing, but to have photos afterward was such a treasured keepsake in my household that I still hold close to my heart. Even though I suffered major injuries in the sport of Rugby, years later, I combined my love of Photography and media to stay close to each sport I encountered just to give that athlete that same feeling I felt when I look back on all the good times, and I hope to give these athletes those treasured memories here at the Minto. I love my job because I make people happy & that gives me purpose.”



Fey later was able to put into words how we all likely feel about this sport. There is a reason this community is so tight-knit. It is because of our collective love of lacrosse.



“I love Lacrosse for three reasons,” Fey said. “The excitement, because you never know what may happen in a blink of an eye. Second, the community. You can feel how everyone on the team loves and cares for each other like a second family, and when I photograph from behind the glass, it’s no different - they just can’t hear me cheering - haha. And lastly, the passion. I’ve learned that Lacrosse players have to be some of the most passionate athletes I’ve ever met, and I have high respect for everyone I’ve met/photographed and high-fived in any arena. I am very grateful to be welcomed into this sport.”



Box lacrosse has such a unique hold on communities across Canada. As “The Great One” Wayne Gretzky has reminded us many times, lacrosse is just as much the national sport of Canada as hockey. Sometimes, the paths to falling in love with this game are serendipitous, just as Claire Mikuska, the Raiders Lacrosse Club Social Media Manager.


“My roommate worked with Assistant Coach Jesse Fehr, and she recommended me to him at the beginning of last season cause the team was looking for someone to do social media. From there, I met Raiders GM Andrew McBride. I grew up watching him play so it was a cool connection for me. It didn’t take long from there for me to be locked in with these guys! Honestly, it’s so much fun to work with them, and it makes you realize why people stick around the Raiders organization.”


Mikuska also has experience playing the game. She was with the Calgary Axemen for Midget and Junior. Now, while the Raiders may not be battling for the Minto Cup still, having important personnel relaying important news, notes, and updates to the home base in such an important tournament. Particularly with the Raiders, who were the youngest team at this year’s Minto Cup, making them feel like social media rock stars will only give them more confidence as they continue their Jr. A careers. 

The same can be said for Alyssa Wahl, who holds the same title as Mikuska, but for the Port Coquitlam Saints. The Saints were playing in their first-ever Minto Cup this week. This is their time to shine. Working to help give these kids their moment in the sun is what the lacrosse community, and especially the incredible families of these kids, love to see. 

Photo: Alyssa Wahl and Team BC, 2017

And, how is this for a cool nugget: Wahl and Jenner were long-time teammates on Team BC going all the way back to when they were in Grade 9. How’s that for box lacrosse being a high-knit community?


Sticking in the social media space, you can’t forget about Grimes. When it comes to being known in the industry of Canadian box lacrosse, few people don’t know Colleen Grimes. She is a seasoned communications expert in the lacrosse world and has taken on significant responsibility for lacrosse as the Director of Communications and Digital Strategy for the Ontario Lacrosse Association. Grimes’ contributions to the Minto Cup have been particularly impactful. In 2022, she was responsible for the broadcast and digital content for the Minto Cup in Ontario, launching themintocup.com and @TheMintoCup social media accounts, to be shared between the three leagues and provinces that host the tournament annually to promote the National Junior A Lacrosse Championship of Canada. This initiative established a unified and permanent online presence for the event to grow its following year after year. 

Photo: Colleen Grimes

"Women and girls in lacrosse have their own unique perspectives to bring, and the sport is undeniably better because of it,” said Grimes. “I had the privilege of working with Maki Jenner when I asked her to be part of our team at the 2022 Minto Cup —watching her career take off has been nothing short of inspiring. The opportunity to meet like-minded women across the country, who are often the driving force behind these events, is incredibly rewarding. This year’s Minto Cup has shown just how powerful those connections can be. The social media insights speak for themselves — the Instagram account gained 500 followers on Day 1 alone, the growth has now exceeded 2,200, with over 1.4 million impressions, and they’re not done yet!”

Grimes also introduced GameSheet Inc. as the digital scoring standard for the Minto Cup beginning in 2022. During this year’s Minto Cup, she has been managing the website content, supporting the social media team, and assisting the host committee with the administration of GameSheet Inc.

There is no question that the women of the 2024 Minto Cup have made this tournament one of a kind. The barriers broken at this event have set the standard for what to expect from the Minto Cup in future years. I know I speak for all of us: Thank you, Women of the Minto Cup!

Colleen Grimes

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