Sports

Northmen Way documentary premieres at Theatre Orangeville

July 10, 2025   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

The long-anticipated documentary film, “Northmen Way,” premiered at Theatre Orangeville on Thursday, July 3, to a full house of local residents who came to see the history of Orangeville’s sport on the big screen.

Produced by Orangeville brothers Jake and Zack Thompson, the film took four years to make and is a feature-length movie with archival footage and recent interviews with players, coaches, and executives of the local lacrosse club.

Taking a look back in history, the film details how the sport was created by Indigenous people who played the game on an open field.

The film chronicles the early years of lacrosse in Orangeville when it was a fledgling sport in the town and organizers struggled to put together teams that could compete with larger centres with established lacrosse programs.

Through the years, lacrosse in Orangeville became better organized, stronger, and more competitive.

Star players began to emerge in the junior program.

The film has interviews with original players and coaches as well as recent Orangeville Northmen athletes.

Film footage of different games over the years provides a look back at some of the exciting moments in Northmen history as well as some bench-clearing brawls that were part of the sport.

Going through the years, the film details the success of the Northmen organization, including national championships and the number of Northmen players who have moved on to play at the professional level.

The film explains how the Northmen are unique, having teams in Junior A, Junior B, and Junior C lacrosse.

Interviews with players provide some insight into the Northmen culture and how the camaraderie has resulted in life-long friendships and a sense of belonging to a special club.

It also emphasized the importance of sponsorship at the local level and how the community supports the club.

The film received a standing ovation on opening night. 

Northmen Way was on the big screen from July 3 to 6 at Theatre Orangeville.

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