Out are the best-of-five series played over a couple of weeks to determine a champion.
In is a round-robin and one-game final, played in one place over a weekend.
The Thompson Okanagan Junior Lacrosse League has released its 2025 playoff schedule. League governors voted to do away with the traditional post-season semifinals and final series and, instead, replace the playoff format with a round-robin and one-game championship to be played the weekend of July 18-20 at the Kamloops Memorial Arena.
The only team to miss the playoffs is the Cranbrook Blackwolves. The other four squads – North Okanagan Reapers, Â鶹AV Kodiaks, South Okanagan Flames, and host Kamloops Venom – will begin the round-robin Friday, July 18, at 10 a.m., with the Venom hosting the regular-season champion Kodiaks in a battle of the top-two teams in 2025.
The Reapers will take on the Flames at 1 p.m., followed by North Okanagan facing Kamloops at 8 p.m.
Each team will play their opponents once over the first two days.
On Saturday, July 19, South Okanagan will take on Â鶹AV at 9 a.m., followed by the Flames and Venom at 4 p.m. The round-robin ends at 7:30 p.m. with the Kodiaks facing North Okanagan.
The two teams with the most points after the round-robin will meet in the winner-take-all championship game Sunday, July 20, at 2 p.m.
The regular season closes with the Reapers travelling to Cranbrook for a weekend twinbill with the Blackwolves Saturday and Sunday, July 5 and 6.
North Okanagan fell 22-12 to the hometown Kodiaks at the Â鶹AV Memorial Arena Wednesday, July 25 (scoresheet not posted on league website prior to publication).
Â鶹AV finished atop the standings with a 10-4-2 record, four points better than Kamloops (8-6-2).
South Okanagan ended up third at 7-6-3.
The Reapers will take a 6-8 mark into their final two games against Cranbrook (3-10-1).
