Hunters hustling with Kanehsata’kehró:non

It’s the debut season for the Junior C Kahnawake Hunters team, but that’s not the squad’s only “first” - featuring Ava Weriasanoron Gabriel, the team is believed to be the only one in league history to play a woman in a position outside of the net.

“It means a lot. You don’t see girls playing at the Junior level,” Gabriel said. “I think because of the way people look at it, being a girl playing against guys just doesn’t seem right to most. Although they’re definitely a lot bigger and stronger, it doesn’t mean I still can’t compete with them.”

Gabriel, who has been notching one milestone after another and will soon be entering the North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame with her World Lacrosse Box Championships Haudenosaunee Nationals team, played in one of the two Junior C Hunters games so far and will be on the roster at the team’s home opener this Saturday.

“I’ve been working extra hard to show that I can play with the guys and see my full potential,” said Ava, who said she hopes to make the team for the full season - the squad is still essentially in tryouts, with a few necessary cuts on the horizon to abide by league rules.

A female phenom from the community on the floor is not the team’s only compelling storyline for members of the Hunters’ sister community in Kanesatake, however, as Gabriel is playing alongside her younger brother, 17-year-old Logan Gabriel, setting up the potential for a powerful brother-sister duo on the floor this year.

“I loved it, honestly. I was so excited to play with him. I think the last time we were on the same team was when we played in Kanesatake when we were very young. Being able to make that happen again was so exciting,” said Ava.

Their mother, Andrea Nelson, fondly remembers those days.

“I never thought they’d be playing together in the future,” Nelson said.

It was exciting to watch them compete in Hunters’ jerseys, she said, and she thinks her daughter’s decision to join the team was a fitting one. After all, she noted, Ava’s new clothing line with PURE Athlete includes the slogan “Prove them all wrong.”

The siblings are joined by cousin Rahsontahawe Gabriel to round out the Kanesatake contingent. He’s getting off to a strong start this year, already racking up two goals and an assist in two games so far.

The Junior C team comes into existence at a time when the Junior B Hunters have willed themselves into a force to be reckoned with, with the team achieving its best-ever result last season, invigorating Kahnawake sports fans with a Cinderalla story playoff run that saw them win the Eastern Conference Championship.

“It was exciting,” said Eric Jacobs, a coach with the Junior C Hunters who is also Ava and Logan’s stepdad. “It gave a lot of people hope to see the community team make it so far with a chance of winning a big championship, not just competing. The bar was raised.”

The young C team, mostly made up of 17-year-olds, has high hopes of building something special over its first few years of existence, according to Jacobs. The key is for the team to stick together and grow as a group, he said.

“We have to find a way to keep their spirits up, help them realize that we are young, probably by far the youngest in the whole league, and stick with a process that we’re trying to implement here,” Jacobs said.

They already have the skills, he said, so the coaches’ mission will be to help usher the players into a mature athletic mindset.

“For Logan, and all my other players, I told them the development this year is a learning curve, and that’s what I’m going to keep on telling them over and over and over until they start understanding lacrosse is more than just ‘give me the ball and I’m going to put it in the net,’” he said.

As for Ava and Logan, they’re off to a good start, he said.

“Logan did super well both games, and for him it’s going to be a big confidence booster playing Junior C this year,” Jacobs said.

Logan has five assists in his first two games and was named offensive MVP in his first game.

“Ava was out there doing what she does,” he said. “She was moving, she was setting picks, she had a couple opportunities. The more she gets comfortable realizing she’s able to do more and more, we’ll put her out more and more and give her a little more responsibilities.”

Ava earned an assist in her only game so far, along with a shot on net.

Jacobs remembers when she started thinking about trying out for the team, asking him nonchalantly what he thought if she tried out for the men’s squad.

“I told her the only thing that would hold her back is herself. She has the skill and the knowledge and the lacrosse IQ,” said Jacobs, who was both pleased and surprised by the suggestion.

“I would say, as timid as she can appear, she’s pretty fearless,” Jacobs said.

“It’s shocking, and I know for Ava’s side, she’s going to be so inspirational for all these young ladies trying to get involved in lacrosse.”

That said, for the Junior C Hunters, she is not defined by her gender, he said.

“We’re not looking at it as she’s female, or me anyway, and it seems like the players also. She’s part of the team. Everyone got to see she’s capable of playing, and that’s where that’s going to stay. She’s a lacrosse player.”

In the Junior C Hunters’ first two games this year, they lost 14-10 against the Clarington Shamrox and 15-6 against the Whitby Warriors. Their third game will be the home opener Saturday, May 10, at 2 p.m. at the Kahnawake Sports Complex.

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Marcus Bankuti, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter