Another great weekend for laxers

Lacrosse is a game of community, and that is exactly what the Kahnawa’kehró:non who played in this year’s edition of the LAXNAI tournament in Utica, New York, felt over the weekend.

For Darris Jones, that came from winning first place with the U18 Snake Island Muskies team, made up of Indigenous players as well as his new teammates from the prep school he just started at, The Hill Academy in Caledon, Ontario.

Jones said he was first invited to join the Muskies team for LAXNAI by his longtime friend from Akwesasne, Dash Adams.

“Me and him, we’ve been playing against each other forever, since we were little kids.  Once we grew up and we started playing on the same teams, we kept seeing each other, and we came to be close friends,” said Jones.

At first, the team was an all-Indigenous one, but as players had to drop out, the team invited some players from Hill Academy to fill spots, bringing eight of them to Utica.

Jones said the affinity between teammates served the Muskies well during the tournament.

“We’ve been practicing every single day. All of the Hill kids, especially, we’ve meshed already, because we have to go through so much physical activity together that is not always the most fun, so it automatically creates a bond,” said Jones.

The U18 Snake Island Muskies went undefeated in four games, with three of them being one-sided wins: 15-1 versus the Junior Yeti, 9-0 against US Indoor Lacrosse, and 12-1 against the Akwesasne Outlaws, before beating the Woodsmen in the finals 5-1.

For winning the tournament, the team was presented with a wrestling-style championship belt, as well as a road sign keepsake with their team name on it - which Jones said is now hanging in his Hill Academy dorm room.

For Kirby Joe Diabo, community at LAXNAI came in two forms: his longtime Master’s division (35 and up) teammates and his sons Kaymen, Dash, and Sahakohe, who also played in the tournament this year.

“We look forward to this tournament every year, knowing that we’re all playing. It’s a long weekend, but it’s awesome,” said Diabo.

“I really appreciate it. I’m trying to play as long as I can with my sons. And every opportunity I get, I go out there and play with them, whether it’s men’s division or just putting together games. As long as I can play with my boys, life is good.”

Diabo is hoping to keep playing with the other players from the Kahnawake Master’s division team, who finished third this year after winning the championship last year.

“We play a bunch of tournaments together,” said Diabo.

“It’s just a bunch of guys always willing to go.”

The Kahnawake Master’s team went 1-1 in pre-playoff portion of the tournament. They won their first game 6-1 against the Tri-City Dogs, and lost the second one 7-6 to the Onondaga Redhawks. They lost 6-5 to the Moon Bears in the semifinals before winning their last 3-2 in a rematch against Tri-City.

“We’re happy with the way we played. It’s a long tournament, and it takes a lot out of you, knowing that you’re playing the late games and the early morning games,” said Diabo.

Kaymen played for the men’s division Club 24 HEAT team which featured many other players from Kahnawake. They lost in the finals 6-4 against the Rochester Bats, a team made up of many National Lacrosse League players, Diabo said.

“It was some really good competition,” said Diabo.

Dash and Sahakohe, meanwhile, played for the U18 Kahnawake team, where they defeated the Akwesasne Outlaws 8-3 for bronze.

“I can’t say it enough, they really performed well. Unfortunately, they didn’t go to the gold medal game, but they really had a good squad, and their future looks bright.”

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