Bartley led the Buffalo Bandits to three of their four championships in the Major Indoor Lacrosse League (MILL), and won four more championships with the Toronto Rock in the renamed National Lacrosse League (NLL).
After graduating from high school, he worked at the GM plant in St. Catharines, and later became a union official.
Bartley, a native of nearby St. Catharines, Ontario, helped get the new franchise off the ground.
Less than a week later after being named NLL Executive of the Year, Les Bartley died at his home on May 15, 2005, in St. Catharines after his 18-month battle with cancer.
Fittingly, two of the first recipients of the renamed award were Derek Keenan of the Portland Lumberjax in 2006 and Ed Comeau of the Rochester Knighthawks in 2007, both former assistants of Bartley in Toronto.
[3] He was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the 2006 NLL All-Star Game in Toronto.
In March 2007, the Toronto Rock announced a new award in honour of Bartley.