Kanehsata’kehró:non on the big stage

Kanesatake was represented at both the Canada Games and Lacrosse Canada’s Minor Box Nationals last week, proving the community’s commitment to lacrosse is paying off with opportunities to compete against the best in the country.

“It was so amazing,” said Selena Beauvais, who served as an assistant coach for Team Quebec’s U17 women’s squad at the Canada Games. “I was coaching alongside two others, and I learned so much just from this past week.”

Beauvais is also a coach with the Kanehsatake Warriors, meaning she’ll be bringing home what she learned at the event. She even acquired a level two coaching certification just to qualify herself to coach at the Canada Games, which are taking place in St John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador.

Her team’s roster featured fellow Kanehsata’kehró:non Skanaie:’a Serena Ionescu, who served as U17 Team Quebec’s backup goalie at the Games.

“Once we got the chance to put her in, she did so amazing, and I’m so proud of how far she’s come,” Beauvais said of the 14-year-old.

Back at home, Ionescu’s parents were following the team’s every move.

“As a mom, having your daughter have this amazing chance presented to her, we were so excited for her,” said Ami-Lee Trentin Hannaburg, Ionescu’s mother.

While Ionescu’s role limited her time on the floor, she still got a chance to serve her team.

“Every day we cheered her on, watching the games live, but our biggest excitement came when she finally got to play. I was in the nail salon with a friend and called her dad right away. He was on the golf course yelling also,” said Trentin Hannaburg.

“For the next 20 minutes we cheered for her, not caring about anything else going on around us. It’s hard for me to see her go, knowing she’s still young, but her father and I know she is destined for greatness and will always be cheering her on, even if we can’t be in the stands.”

The Games typically take place just once every two years, alternating between summer and winter, making it a major milestone for Canadian athletes. “Some athletes that played in the Olympics actually played in the Canada Games,” said Beauvais.

“Kanehsata’kehró:non having the opportunity to compete in the Games is important because it allows us to showcase our talent, discipline, and cultural pride alongside others at the highest level of amateur sport in Canada,” she said.

Quebec went 0-4 in the round robin and went down in the quarterfinals against Nova Scotia, but the team bounced back in the August 14 consolation game against New Brunswick, taking that contest in a 4-1 victory.

“I’m sure if we had more time together, we would’ve finished in the top. We had really great defence, we just couldn’t bury. We had so many chances,” Beauvais said.

Nevertheless, Beauvais, who has a major role in community sports as the sports and athletics coordinator at the Kanesatake Health Center, believes just getting a chance to play at that level is valuable in itself.

“Seeing our very own athletes compete on this stage shows our younger generations that they belong there and that their skills and dedication are recognized and we couldn’t be more proud of them,” Beauvais said.

Meanwhile, Kyle Atkwiroton Canatonquin and local lacrosse star Ava Weriasanoron Gabriel made their way to the 2025 Minor Box Lacrosse Nationals in Halifax from August 11-15.

Canatonquin served as head coach of Team Quebec U15 mixed, while Gabriel lent her talents to the U22 Team Ontario women’s squad.

Canatonquin’s team, featuring two Kahnawa’kehró:non - Nashtyn Mayo and Aronhiakèn:ra Martin - walked away with a bronze medal.

“It was incredible,” he said. “We faced so much adversity throughout the whole thing. We’ve had ups and downs the whole way. To end on a high note by winning bronze was really something.”

He appreciated the positive attitude his group brought to the floor.

“I was always saying, I don’t care what the scoreboard says. All our kids, I felt like we had the most fun out of all the teams,” said Canatonquin, also a coach with the Warriors back home in Kanesatake.

“It makes me hopeful for the future because now that I got my foot in the door, maybe I can encourage more kids from our communities to try out and hopefully make them get to that level,” he said.

“It was a very cool week. I’ll definitely remember it forever.”

Read more on his team’s run in this week’s sports section in The Eastern Door.

Gabriel, meanwhile, was vying for the Carol Patterson Trophy with Team Ontario. While her team went 2-5 at the tournament, losing the bronze medal match in an 8-6 heartbreaker on August 15, she still had a strong offensive showing with four goals and four assists at the tournament, including a four-point game with two goals and two assists in a positional match against the First Nations Lacrosse Association team in a 10-3 win.

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Marcus Bankuti, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter