Hunters bid farewell to strong year 

Earlier this season, when the Kahnawake Hunters were on an eight-game losing streak, the team brainstormed words to describe themselves.

A number of descriptors came up, but “resilient” was the one that stuck.

It became a word they’d repeat to themselves as they grew throughout the season, and it was in their minds when they celebrated becoming the “beasts of the East” at the end of July, sweeping the Orangeville Northmen to become the Eastern Conference champions of the Ontario Junior B Lacrosse League (OJBLL).

The team’s owner, Derek Stacey, had a sign made and hung at the exit of the locker room, so the word “resilient” has been the last thing the boys see before running onto the floor.

It remained in their minds last Friday, as they took on the league’s Western Conference champions, the Elora Mohawks, for game three of the OJBLL finals.

When the whistle blew and the Hunters faced the fact that they had been knocked out of the finals, the word “resilient” reminded them that even though the journey was over, the progress they made as a team was astronomical.

“Resilient really does define us. I mean, we’ve been up and down as a team from the moment I joined the Hunters, and this year we weren’t even sure if we were going to make the playoffs,” said Hunters player Colby Dobbins, whose season marked his last in Junior B lacrosse. “But we overcame that, and we snuck in, and then we went on a crazy run after having the odds against us.”

Last Friday’s game at the Kahnawake Sports Complex came after two difficult away games the previous weekend in Elora, where Kahnawake lost 10-7 and 15-5. Despite having the week to rest up, Elora were too fast for Kahnawake, and their hopes of lifting the OJBLL trophy and securing a spot in the Founders Cup came to an end with a 15-6 loss on Friday.

“After that final buzzer went off, I was definitely sad. There was nothing I wanted more than to win the championship with these guys,” Dobbins said. “Everyone on the team I think took it heavy, but we all were happy we got that far in the first place.”

It was an unprecedented season for the Hunters, who have never before made it so far in the OJBLL. Stacey said he’s grown more and more proud of the team with every game.

“It’s just been a joy watching them grow,” he said. “It’s an awesome thing to see. They never quit, they never give up, even when they’re down or losing a game.”

Stacey was particularly touched to see how many community members backed the team this season.

“My plan when I started with this team was to try and involve the community and the kids as much as we can, and to have them at every game,” he said. “Pretty much everywhere we went we had a fan base. It was some real good motivation for the players to see.”

Those who couldn’t make it out in person showed up in big numbers online. Community member Brandon Bordeau commentated and livestreamed most of the games throughout the season on his YouTube channel Baby Blue Memories, with his final broadcast of the Elora game last Friday garnering nearly 4,000 views.

“It was just an incredible ride. Minor lacrosse players used to think about being Hunters, but now they absolutely want to be Hunters,” Bordeau said. “The Hunters used to think about winning in the OJBLL playoffs. But now they expect to do so.”

He said support this season has been unlike past Hunters runs.

“They bonded this community behind a common goal,” Bordeau said.

Stacey said the atmosphere in the arena reminded him of years gone by.

“When I used to play in the 90s, that’s how the arena used to be. You couldn’t even get in there, the cars would be all the way down to the school,” he said. “This is what I always wanted to see. Just fans behind the team.”

Stacey said that he hopes the community will show the same enthusiasm next year, and he plans to continue building a positive atmosphere in the sport.

“My dream is to bring a new culture. I want it to always be a sober environment, there shouldn’t be alcohol involved, because it is a medicine game,” he said. “That’s an example I’m trying to keep pushing on the kids, so when they’re around, they don’t see that.”

Though the season is over, Dobbins said the bond between the team is lifelong.

“It was awesome playing with the Hunters this year. Everyone on this team was so close to each other and we did everything together,” he said. “I’m really going to miss those bus rides with the guys.”

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