Laxers come close in 1812 Shootout
Playing with a single substitution, the Kahnawake War Party still almost made the finals of the 1812 Shootout tournament in Watertown, New York. Courtesy Al Jones
The 1812 Shootout field lacrosse tournament in Watertown, New York, is an opportunity for lacrosse players to get noticed by college recruiters in a group setting - an opportunity some players from Kahnawake got to have over the weekend.
They were playing in the U18 tournament for the Kahnawake War Party team coached by Al Jones, with the squad going 2-2 in round robin play, missing out on the finals.
“I thought it was good time to get some of the boys some exposure, and hopefully they get some free education out of it, or something positive,” said Jones.
He said that powwow weekend limited the number of Kahnawa’kehró:non who could play on the team, meaning his son Darris, Jackson Norton, and Rowehrenhatie Jacobs were the only players from town to take part.
While going 2-2 seems like a pedestrian tournament run on paper, the War Party lost their first game of the tournament 4-3 to the NoCo Ripperz. Had they won that game, they would have made the finals.
On top of that, they did so with a very short bench in the scorching heat - with four players backing out at the last minute, the War Party had only a single player available for substitutions.
That player was not on the original roster, but rather a younger brother of another player in the tournament.
When asked, he did not have any equipment with him.
“He didn’t have cleats or sneakers. He had sandals on,” said Al.
“Luckily, my son and a few other players, they always bring extra equipment.”
While he prepared himself, the team played its first game, with some creative player rotations necessary to not overwork players. Luckily, the games were 25 minutes long, with running time, so they were not as grueling as your average field lacrosse game.
That being said, those 25 minutes were played in temperatures at or above 30 C, with high humidity.
“That’s why my hat’s off to these boys. It was iron man lacrosse,” said Al.
The game was back and forth and very low scoring, but Al said the team ran out of gas, simply put.
They did not have much time to recover before the next one, playing their second game with only a one-game buffer.
They lost that one 6-2 to Movement 27. Following that, the War Party found their footing, winning their final two games 5-2 against the Liberty Elite and 7-4 against Cold Brook 2027.
After they were done, Al reminded his team that had they scored just twice more in the first game, they would have made the finals, an awesome feat given the circumstances.
“They all lit up, like, ‘wow we didn’t do as badly as we thought,’” said Al.
To do so in front of college coaches could be a huge boon for them, too, as recruiting for their age group begins on September 1.
“We did that for sure, because we had a single sub,” said Al.
For Darris, having the opportunity to perform in front of college coaches could be lifechanging for him and his teammates.
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“There are so many opportunities now, you can play a sport that you love and end up becoming a lawyer because of it,” said Darris.
“You’re not playing just to play. Excellent teams are there trying to help their players get seen and start a career with roughly nine, 10 coaches on every sideline. You have eyes on you the whole game, and there is pressure for sure, but at the same time, you have fun and you just do you.”
