Megan Kinna has had an an amazing life in sport, that currently sees her coaching men’s lacrosse in Asia.
The Hometown Hero for 2026 has been in Chengdu, China, as head coach for the men’s sixes lacrosse team for Team China. They are gearing up for the Asia qualifiers in October.
She is a pro and a veteran of international sport. Representing Canada on the world stage has offered her most memorable moments.
“A major highlight was the 2024 Box World Cup, where our team placed second in the world,” she said.
“It was an amazing experience to be able to compete for Canada in the game I grew up playing. It was the first time women’s box lacrosse had been included in the World Cup, with the help of my teammates I won my first All-World Team title, finishing third in overall tournament goals.”
Kinna has an incredible resume in the sport.
“Other highlights include my first run playing with Team Canada in 2015 when we won Worlds in Scotland, attending Northwestern University on scholarship and fighting for a chance at an NCAA championship, and coaching worldwide to inspire younger lacrosse players.”
She also played professional lacrosse in the U.S. for Athletes Unlimited and Women’s Lacrosse League, which she said was “an exceptional experience.”
Kinna started lacrosse at the age of four, and played 14 years with her hometown Burrards – including eight seasons of box lacrosse playing on boys teams.
After graduating from Samuel Robertson Technical, and winning senior athlete of the year, Kinna went on to an impressive college career on a scholarship with the NCAA’s Northeastern University Wildcats. From 2017 t0 2020 she played 72 games, scoring 61 goals and 33 assists for 94 points. She competed in two final-four tournaments, and won the Big Ten Tournament in 2019.
Kinna was a member of the 2015 U19 Canadian team that captured gold in the FIL Rathbones World Championships in Scotland. She played with the senior women in June 2022, when they took silver in the Lacrosse Women’s World Cup in Towson, USA. In July that year, she again wore the Maple Leaf at the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, Alabama, where Canada took gold in sixes lacrosse.
As a coach, Kinna guided the U-15 Maple Ridge Burrards girls team to a provincial championship in her first season on the sideline.
She works in player development, offering camps, clinics and travel teams. She’s running her own Kinna’s Crew, which helps develop players who are hoping to get a coveted NCAA field lacrosse scholarship, and other goals – even a woman in her 40s who is hoping to make Team England.
Kinna isn’t done as a player just yet.
“My future goals are a bit tricky,” she said. “I’m in China now, but if my body allows it, trying out for the Canadian Olympic sixes team who will compete in the LA games in 2028 would be a fantastic way to round out my career as a lacrosse player.”
She’s proud to join a list of Hometown Heroes that includes the likes of Larry Walker, Cam Neely, and Greg Moore.
“I remember growing up in Maple Ridge and seeing these banners in the Leisure Centre, filled with awe for the athletes who had accomplished so much in their chosen sport,” she said.
“I truly never thought that it could be me one day, I feel an overflowing amount of gratitude to the Hometown Hero selection committee and to all the youth coaches in Ridge Meadows who fostered an early love of sport and never stopped believing in me!”
Kinna’s great career in sports will be celebrated at the Hometown Heroes Night on May 20, at 5 p.m. at Samuel Robertson Technical School. Tickets cost $60 for adults, and $30 for youth, and are available now at the Maple Ridge Leisure Centre.