Check out this piece published today in The Independent about the Iroquois Nationals:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/why-the-tribe-who-invented-lacrosse-cant-play-it-here-2025986.html

Immigration Cowboys refuse entry to Iroquois nations...

The most interesting if controversial news which has caught my eye recently is the debatable decision which has ground the Iroquois Nations world championship campaign to a halt. The Iroquois nationals, who are scheduled to play the opening game in world championships have been rejected from entering the UK, as the british consulate refused to acknowledge the team’s Haudenosaunee passports without assurance from the U.S. State Department that the group will be allowed back into the United States.

The 23 man squad and their entourage of family members, supporters, and fans, around 50 in total were expected to depart from the states yesterday evening, however, the most recent updates imply that they may not leave until tonight, if at all! The hope is that the US State Department will have told the consulate that the team and entourage will be allowed to return to the U.S. If that happens, the team will depart for England that evening and start immediate preparation for their first fixture of the world championships. Facing off against England, as part of the very special opening ceremony. An ironic twist towards the underlying symbolism of national and sporting pride which this match, between the creators of our sport and the host nation, will undoubtedly uphold.

The Team had sent their Haudenosaunee passports to the British Consulate in New York and were told they needed to use U.S. or Canadian passports, even though team members have been traveling to and from World Championships for over 2 decades, to several different nations including to England, Australia, Japan and Canada, they have never never before had a problem returning home.

This controversial decision made by the British consulate contradicts everything that this native american confederacy has fought for, hundreds of years. These passports are a representation of these people’s freedom as an independent nation, a nation who’s people are indigenous to the US. Which raises an interesting questions. Why would the British consulate think that these people would not be allowed back into the country to which they are citizens? Why are these people being asked to use an American or Canadian passport when they are completely in there rights to travel as a nation which has been recognized for over 20 years of international Lacrosse and accepted in several countries, including England for that matter.

When asked to do this, Waterman, a spokes person for the Iroquois team said “we cannot do that. We’re our own people. We are a sovereign nation. We already have travel documents and we’re participating in an international tournament, and to participate in an international tournament you have to be a country. We’ve been recognized by this organization as a country with our own citizens, our own sovereignty, our own land, and flag and anthem and we’ve belonged to this organization since around 1990 and we’ve been sending teams out since that time,”

The Haudenosaunee (or Iroquois) Confederacy is comprised of six nations: Onondaga, Mohawk, Seneca, Oneida, Tuscarora, and Cayuga. While each nation is a separate entity, they share a collective identity as Haudenosaunee and are issued Haudenosaunee passports, rather than individual nation passports.

According to sources the team are still optimistic that they’ll be leaving tonight, but there are still hurdles to overcome. Waterman continued “There isn’t anyone more proud about this country. This is our home and we would never endanger it. If we had a phone call from the State Department just to reaffirm, ‘Yes, we’re proud of them, we’ll welcome them back,’ it would be nice to know they’d be supportive of us,”

There are many issues which I feel are flagged up within this affair. The british government are so uptight on being politically correct, so why do they not recognize the Iroquois nation as it’s own nation? This issue has cost the iroquois nationals over $23,000, who will be reimbursing them? this is an amateur sport after all, and just as most of the countries that participate in the World Championships, Iroquois are self funded. Was it unethical of the British Government to hold them back despite allowing them in to the country for the same tournament just years back? These people are doing something really positive and they’re doing it at the highest levels, they are the inventors of our sport and are entitle to use the documentation which supports their heritage and allows them to represent there nation at the games. It’s a shame that in this day and age, when we are taught to be proud of who we are, where we come from, and how to accept other peoples cultures within our own societies; and especially where sport is considered to a platform that brings people together as one; that bureaucratic idiocy is allowed to tarnish everything that the world championships stand for...

I hope this topic can inspire debates amongst yourselves, and below are quote’s which members of the Iroquois nations team made which I felt gave a raw, truthful perceptive.

“When you talk about lacrosse, you talk about the lifeblood of the Six Nations. The game is ingrained into our culture our system and our lives,” said Oren Lyons, Onondaga Faithkeeper and a former All-American Lacrosse Goalie.

“This is our game and this is our gift to the world,” Gonnella Frichner said.

LACROSSE FOR DUMMIES - Blog No 2.

Getting in Gear: Lacrosse Equipment

The physical nature of lacrosse requires players to wear a wide assortment of protective gear. To do its job, the equipment must be in good condition, meet appropriate safety standards, and fit the youngsters properly. The following sections examine the different types of equipment used in boys' and girls' lacrosse.

What players use in Men's Lacrosse

Players typically use the following equipment when they take the field:

• Stick: Sticks come in a variety of lengths and styles. Check with your league director to determine whether any specific styles are required.

• Mouth guard: This guard protects valuable teeth (and helps save parents from taking their children on unwanted trips to the dentist for repairs).

• Shoes: Check with the league director regarding the types of cleats that are allowed, and let parents know so can purchase the correct shoes for their child.

• Gloves: Gloves help players hold on to the stick and also protect their fingers and hands from the ball they or other sticks. Some girls' leagues don't require players to wear gloves.

• Lacrosse helmet with face guard: The helmet and guard protect a player's head and eyes. All helmets and face masks should be approved by the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE).

• Shoulder pads: As the name implies, these pads protect the shoulders.

• Elbow Pads: These pads protect the elbows when players fall or get knocked down.

• Rib pads: Rib pads usually are optional at the younger levels of play but are recommended to help protect kids' ribs from being whacked.

• Cup and holder: These pieces are appropriate for older players and cost about $10.

What Goalies wear

Because goalies have to face a ball that's being shot at them, they wear some different protective equipment, in addition to some of the pieces detailed above, to help them play their positions safely:

• Chest protector: This garment protects the player's upper body.

• Shin guards: These items are worn to protect the shins.

• Knee pads: Knee pads come in handy, because goalies often must drop to the ground to block shots.

• Goalie stick: These sticks are larger than the other players' sticks, which helps the goalie block the opposition's shots.

• Helmet: In both boys' and girls' lacrosse, goalies wear helmets with a throat protector.

Below is a picture of a Warrior, Men's Lacrosse starters pack.

This information was sourced from Dummies.com

LACROSSE STARTER PACK

Success on both sides of the Pond!

If there is one very distinct reason for America’s success in almost every sport that they choose to participate in, it is their undeniable awareness that sport is a key to which opens many doors. Furthermore, their outstanding national, collegiate athletics programs can’t hurt either. Now, although these young American athletes are setting the standard for Lacrosse around the globe, they are not the only ones benefitting from the student athlete concept that has been developed with such success. Two rising stars of England Lacrosse, Sam Russell, and Jak Wawrzyniak have been spending time in the US preparing for there World Championship campaign.

Sam Russell has spent the past two years at Whittier College, a Division III school in California. As a sophomore he started 15 of 15 Games, scored 31 Goals, made 25 Assists, 56 Points in total, with 33 Groundballs. As far as I’m aware, these impressive stats left the England youngster in the top 5 nationally for Division III midfielders.

Although Sam played Lacrosse from a young age, the success story started at Cheadle & Marple 6th Form College, where he represented the growing lacrosse academy. Head coach at the academy, Alistair Hodgson, also assistant coach for this years England Team, saw Sam’s amazing potential as a top international player, and promptly recommended him to a close friend of his, Henry “Skip” Flannagan.

“Skip”, a Head Master at the very prestigious ‘Western Reserve Academy’ in Ohio, welcomed this student athlete with open arms. Here Sam joined the Academy as a Senior, and had an impressive season, attracting attention from an eclectic mix of colleges, earning him self the honor to represent and captain his country at the U19’s World Championships in Canada. Here he scored 19 goals as a midfielder, securing 7th top goal scorer in the championships, beating many world class attacker to the honor of top 10 statistics.

That Autumn, after much deliberation, Sam found himself at Whittier college, and why not after all, only 40 minutes from LA, a swift hour to the Beach, and only a few more from the mountains! Some might say, “you’d be stupid not to!” The developing Lacrosse program here meant that the England Skipper played 11 games in his freshman year whilst striking 16 goals and 5 assists, enough to place him 4th on the squad.

Two years at Whittier have clearly served him well, as now just a week from the World Championships he is training with the senior England squad as the second youngest player, and looking stronger than ever. However, the squad’s youngest player, Jak Wawrzyniak has an equally impressive success story...

After representing the England U19’s in Canada, Jak moved to Avon Old Farms High School where he has just finished his senior year. Here, the varsity lacrosse team enjoyed a tremendous season – one of the school’s best lacrosse teams in the past decade. The program achieved a 15-3 overall record, finishing #1 in the Founder’s League (7-0) and #3 in Western New England (13-2). Some season statistics included a winning streak of 13 games, an impressive 200 goals for, and 134 goals against. The team’s average margin of victory was 4.67 goals per game, and average margin of losing a mere 1.33 goals per game.

Jak performed so well this year at Avon, after being scouted by many top teams he has now committed to Stoney Brook University, New York, who narrowly missed out on a NCAA Division I semi-final place, losing 10-9 to Virginia.

I asked Jak: “How he was feeling about the up coming Championships in Manchester?” He replied, “I don’t really get too nervous about games or tournaments. I start getting myself ready for a big game a few days before then the nerves kick in the night before and pre-game but nerves definitely make me play better.”

He continued, “Ultimately I’m going against the best players in the world in July which is going to be a load of fun and can really only make me a better player….as crazy as the thought is of lining up against some of those guys: I’m excited to get after it!”

Both these young players have performed to the critics, proving their worth when it truly matters, and have accomplished one of the greatest honors a player can receive; representing their country at the highest level. But what makes it extra special is that they get to do it in their home town. A truly special achievement for them both. I wish them, and all those all competing the best of luck, this tournament is looking to be one of the most exciting yet.

Written by James Mearns

Information in this article has been source from Whittier College athletics, and Avon Old Farm Athletic websites.

For tickets to the championships, copy the following link in to your browser...

www.2010worldlacrosse.com/tickets

Diary of a Lacrosse Dummy: Part 1

The first time I saw a lacrosse game it was whilst watching a friend in a women’s 2^nd XI team match at Loughborough University. I remember being gobsmacked that my normally blasé and laid back friend had suddenly channelled a fierce and competitive side of herself that I had never seen before. I was surprised by how fast the game was played; it was ferocious and shockingly aggressive. There were elbows and body bumps flying all over the place but no sign of the referees whistle. Basically, it was very very exciting.

But when I went along to an men’s England lacrosse team training session I immediately noticed differences in the game. What instantly stood out between the men’s and women’s games was the outfit. The men have a lot more equipment, helmets shielding their whole heads and faces, down to the chin making them instantly unrecognisable. They also have arm and chest pads. Without seeing any of the play it was obvious the game was going to be a lot more brutal. Lacrosse is typecast by some as a women’s game but the hard-hitting and physical nature of the men’s sport is anything but girly.

It was incredible how accurately and far the players could throw the ball, the size of a slightly smaller hockey ball but just as hard. The receiving player would catch the ball whilst on the move and was already looking for his next pass. This was all taking place while other players were trying to distract the pass by shouting and running in different directions. They also had very high fitness levels.

If this was just a training session I can’t wait to watch a competitive match, especially in the World Championships. Its only 13 days until the FIL World Lacrosse Championships for men begin and teams from all over the world descend on Manchester. I knew Lacrosse was played in England obviously, as well as America and Australia but there are a lot of unexpected nations who play competitively and who will be taking part in the tournament in July. Argentina, Japan, Latvia, New Zealand, Bermuda, Spain, Poland and 23 other nations will be showcasing the sport and hopefully attracting new fans.

Whilst researching the sport a team that have really caught my imagination is the Iroquois Nationals, a collection of indigenous people from the USA who are also known as the Six Nations. They are the original creators of the sport who played for healing medicinal reasons or even to settle conflicts within the tribe. The Iroquois Nationals is the only Native American team sanctioned to compete in any sport internationally. If the inventors of the game are going to be playing in Manchester, these Championships are going to be a big deal.

Even though I don’t have a great knowledge of lacrosse I am genuinely excited to learn more and for the event to start. These Championships will be the largest major sporting event to be held in Manchester since the Commonwealth Games back in 2002. This will be a fantastic opportunity to showcase the area and of course there will be the buzz of excitement around the City that only sport can produce. I hope that other people who have a genuine love for sport, like me, will make the most of this opportunity to discover a new game and watch world class lacrosse teams play this exciting sport at the highest level.

By Holly Teague

LACROSSE FOR DUMMIES - Blog No 1.

Lacrosse has many similarities to both basketball and hockey. Simply put, the lacrosse team that ends the game with the most goals wins. A game clock dictates the length of the game, and scoring goals is the sole determiner of who wins and who loses. The following list offers a few of the technical essentials that you need to know to better understand the game.

• Four quarters equals a game: The length of a box or field lacrosse game is 60 minutes, which 4 quarters lasting 15 minutes each. Unless . . .

• Two halves do make a whole (game): Depending on the age and/or gender of the teams playing, variations on the length of a lacrosse game do exist. Women's lacrosse matches are divided into halves instead of quarters, and can range in length from 50 to 60 minutes. Minor league lacrosse games offer a wide variety of lengths and divisions, from 8-or 12-minute quarters to three 20-minute periods, much like a hockey contest. High-school field games have 12-minute quarters.

• Whatever the length of the game, remember that any individual contest will include at least one intermission. There's a lot of running and bumping and hitting and missing to recuperate from.

• Facing down the opposition: A faceoff at the center circle starts each game and each quarter, and it begins play after every goal scored.

• A faceoff is one of the many areas where lacrosse resembles both hockey (the only other with faceoffs) and basketball (with its jump-ball set-up at the beginning of games). In a box lacrosse faceoff, the teams surround one of the lined circles on the floor, with two players in the center of the circle awaiting the referee's whistle to being play and go for the ball. Essentially, a faceoff is an organized, if sometimes frenetic, way to initiate play at the beginning of a game, or to restart play that has been stopped for some reason (opening a new playing period, after a scored goal, in a dead-ball situation, and so on). Any game can present many faceoff opportunities, so you better be pretty good at it to have a chance of controlling the ball and therefore giving your team more scoring opportunities.

• Faceoffs in field lacrosse come at the start of each quarter and after each goal. They consist of two players at the center X and two players from each team perched on the wing area lines (20 yards from the middle of the field and 20 yards long, parallel with the sideline). Once possession is gained by one of these eight players, the rest of the players can cross the restraining lines that are perpendicular to the sideline and 20 yards from the midline.

Information sourced from www.Dummies.com