Warriors season gets started
Kanehsatake Warriors athletes and coaches at a recent practice. Courtesy Selena Kaniehtiiostha Beauvais
Spirits are high as the Kanehsatake Warriors kick off their official training for the lacrosse season, but the roster remains without an all-girls team this year.
Warriors staff expected to add an all-girls U11 team, but unfortunately not enough girls signed up for the team, said Kanesatake Health Center (KHC) sports co-coordinator Selena Kaniehtiiostha Beauvais.
“We would have had to outsource and find other girls, but we were running really late,” said Beauvais.
Two girls on the team are being sponsored to play on an all-girls minor lacrosse team in Kahnawake, said KHC executive director Teiawenhniseráhte Jeremy Tomlinson.
“They’re representing the Warriors program but playing for a sister community,” said Tomlinson.
Warriors’ staff plan on adding an all-girls team next year, said Tomlinson. The organization wants to do so to better level the playing field for girls on the team, who experience more difficulty when playing against boys once they enter their teenage years.
“It was important for us and as an organization, and honestly, as parents, for me, as the father of girls,” said Tomlinson. “I want to push so that they can compete as hard as they can and develop and push themselves, but it’s important for them to do it safely and in a place where their confidence can be built.”
Beauvais agrees.
“Boys’ and girls’ sports are not the same,” said Beauvais.
“Their confidence goes down, I find, and they’re more hard on themselves and they don’t want to play because they don’t want to get hurt,” said Beauvais, referring to the co-ed older teams. “We had a lot of girls last year that got hurt playing.”
As for the current teams, Tomlinson and Beauvais both expect a strong season ahead of them.
Warriors’ athletes have continued training informally during the off-season to better prepare them for the upcoming competitions, said KHC sports co-coordinator Shawn Boudrias.
“During winter we stopped, but this year we decided to keep going once a week so the kids keep developing their skills,” said Boudrias, who previously played in the NHL.
For the past two years, the Warriors have collected wins in the provincial tournament. Beauvais has high hopes some teams will do so again this year but wants the players to focus on developing their skills and having fun.
“I just want them to be involved in team sports, trying it out, because it’s a really fun game, and just developing their skills,” said Beauvais.
This weekend, the Warriors teams will compete in a Lacrosse Jamboree organized by the KHC. The U11, U13, and U15 will compete in a round robin tournament at the Jamboree.
Winners will get bronze medals with the Kanehsatake Warriors logo, said Beauvais.
In July, the Warriors will compete in the provincial tournament and participate in an all-star game, said Beauvais, who oversees scheduling practices and competitive matches.
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Being a part of the Warriors lacrosse team benefits children’s health and identity, said Tomlinson.
“Across the spectrum, it has huge benefits on identity, like kids going to school with their lacrosse sticks, with their jerseys, hoodies, like their swag,” said Tomlinson. “It’s had tremendous effects in building their self-confidence.”
And more so than winning, he hopes the athletes on the team will build beneficial values and skills.
“My expectation is always founded on the perpetuation of the values that we’re trying to ingrain in all of our programming and in lacrosse, specifically discipline, hard work, respect and strength,” said Tomlinson.
Hadassah Alencar, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
