Legends of Lacrosse Biographies
Biographies for the Legends of Lacrosse Interviews
Watch the Legends of Lacrosse interviews by clicking on the interviewees.
All podcasts are available here: https://www.spreaker.com/show/lacrosse-legends
Featuring:
Al Luciuk - Saskatchewan
Al Luciuk is known for his involvement in many areas in growing the game. He is a builder of field lacrosse in Saskatchewan and has worked at all levels of the game: locally, provincially, nationally and internationally. Al has taken skills learned as a professional teacher and brought them to benefit lacrosse.
He has served for 15 years as the president of the Saskatoon Field Lacrosse Association. Al served with Saskatchewan’s Senior Men’s Provincial Teams as a player, coach, and team captain for 15 years. With them, he won six national titles including two Ross Cups and four Victory Trophies. As head coach for the Junior Men’s Provincial Teams he won two silver medals and nine bronze medals. He was the Men’s Field Sector chairperson, and the president and a lifetime member for the Saskatchewan Lacrosse Association.
As coach of the Scorpion Lacrosse and Sturgis Trojan Lacrosse Teams, his teams won five consecutive Provincial High School U19 Championships and 12 Provincial U19 Championship Titles. His programs placed 28 athletes in Div. I, Div. II, Div. III, and Collegiate Club Programs in the NCAA.
For Team Canada he was assistant manager for the Canadian Men’s U19 National Team when they won a silver medal at the World Championships in Burnaby, B.C., and assistant coach for the Canadian Men’s U19 National Team winning a silver medal at the World Championships in Towson, MD.
He has been a writer of many manuals for the Canadian Lacrosse Association and a presenter at the US Lacrosse Convention. When you think of lacrosse in Saskatchewan you think of Al Luciuk.
Al Lewthwaite - British Columbia
Lewthwaite developed his box lacrosse skills in the Royal City’s Sapperton district, but by age 15 he was considered too big to continue playing at the juvenile level. Instead, he lined up with the New Westminster Junior B team that captured the 1966 Canadian championship in Port Arthur. With the Senior A Salmonbellies in 1967—he was not yet 17 years old—he scored two goals. After the 1968 Minto Cup series, he played a pivotal role in the Salmonbellies National Lacrosse Association professional championship victory over Detroit. In 1969 Lewthwaite was 6’3”, 230-lbs, fleet of foot, a deadly shooter, a natural playmaker and a rib-crunching checker. At the age of 18, he became a permanent member of the Senior Salmonbellies, registering 87 points in his first 27 games. Between 1970 and 1974, Lewthwaite and his teammates captured three Mann Cups in four trips to the Canadian championships. In 1975, the upstart pro National Lacrosse League team in Boston drafted Lewthwaite in the first round, but traded him to the Long Island Tomahawks where he accumulated 140 points in 47 games; however, he also seriously injured his knee. After one season as co-coach of a Senior B team, he took over the coaching reins for the Salmonbellies in 1978. Over the next 21 years, Lewthwaite held similar positions with Coquitlam, Richmond, Burnaby and Maple Ridge.
Alf Jacques - Onondaga, New York
Alf Jacques grew up in the world of lacrosse and learned the art of making lacrosse sticks from his father and fellow Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame inductee Louis Jacques. He played junior, senior and professional lacrosse in the 1960s and 1970s. Then he went on to coach and manage the Onondaga Red Hawks from 2002 to 2010. Some of his accomplishments as a coach includes coaching the Red Hawks to the league championships and represented the league at the Presidents Cup in 2005, 2006 and 2010. The team won the 2010 Presidents Cup. Jacques is also an educator about the time-honored Native traditional art form of Lacrosse Stick Making, which connects the player to the environment. He continues his father’s legacy by creating one of a kind wooden sticks as well as recreations of the wooden sticks his ancestors used in the 15th century.
Barb Boyes - Ontario
Barb Boyes’ contribution to Women’s Field Lacrosse in Ontario and Canada goes back to her representing Canada in the first Women’s World Field Lacrosse Championship in 1982. She is the Founder and Executive Director of the renowned Oshawa Lady Blue Knights Field Lacrosse Program since 2000. Through her programs, Barb Boyes has been responsible for dozens of Canadian girls playing NCAA and OUA lacrosse.
Boyes has served numerous positions within the sport including L.O.S.S.A High School Convenor, Ontario Women’s Field Lacrosse Executive, and high school lacrosse coach at many Durham Schools. She has been a player, assistant coach and head coach for the Canadian Women’s Field Lacrosse Team, and a player and head coach for the Ontario Women’s Field Lacrosse Team. She has also been a Women’s Lacrosse Course Conductor for the National Coaching Certification Program. Barb Boyes was inducted into the Ontario Lacrosse Sports Hall of Fame as a Builder in 1999. She was presented with the International Federation of the Women’s Field Lacrosse Association Recognition Award in 2007 and the Roots of the Game Award in 2000.
Bill Bradley - British Columbia
Bill Bradley is regarded as one of the greatest Adanacs, and he was viewed as the club's spiritual leader during the years Mike Gates was the scoring leader. Bill Bradley began his box career playing juvenile lacrosse in North Burnaby and led the North Burnaby Norburns into the 1961 Minto Cup national junior final. During the next 14 years, Bill played in Victoria, Coquitlam, and Windsor, as well as in Montreal and Maryland of the Professional (original) National Lacrosse League.
He earned a reputation as one of the games hardest hitting defensive specialists, garnering seven first team all-star selections in the Western Lacrosse Association and one in the Ontario league. His career lacrosse statistics included 376 goals and 937 points in 498 games. He was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1987 and into the Burnaby Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.
Bill Hutton - Ontario
Bill Hutton is one of the consummate builders of the game of lacrosse domestically and internationally. Over his long and illustrious career, he has coached at the minor level and served as president of both the Ontario Lacrosse Association and the Canadian Lacrosse Association—and just about everything else in between. He has been Chair of the Canadian Lacrosse Foundation and received many awards for his selfless service to the game including Canada’s 125th Governor General’s Award, Ontario’s Mr. Lacrosse Award and a Life Membership, the CLA’s Lester B. Pearson Award, induction into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame, and many others.
Hutton is especially known for never turning his back on a challenge when it came to helping the game. He steered the amalgamation of the Ontario Minor Lacrosse Association and the Ontario Lacrosse Association, which led to greater efficiencies for the sport in Ontario. He chaired the 1986 World Field Lacrosse Championship when the government and other entities had turned its back on the project. He restructured the Canadian Lacrosse Association at a time when leadership was less than what was needed to ensure a future for the game in Canada.
Bill also was one of the key drivers behind getting lacrosse recognized as Canada’s National Summer Sport in 1994. All this came from a person who had not played the game himself - an uncommon background in that regard.
Bob Salt - British Columbia
Bob Salt was a league all-star eight times, winner of the Maitland Trophy for play, sportsmanship, and contributing to minor lacrosse, and was twice awarded the Commission playoff MVP award. He also played on three Mann Cup teams, twice with Vancouver in 1967 and 1975 and as a pickup player with New Westminster in 1972.
Salt also showed his great leadership by coaching in the junior and senior leagues. He received both the W.C. Ellison Trophy (Most Valuable Player in the WLA league playoffs) and the Commission Trophy (Most Valuable Player in the WLA regular season) in 1975.
In 1987 he was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in the Box Player category. He received the Dorothy Robertson Memorial Trophy as the WLA Coach of the Year in 2005.
Bobby Allan - Ontario
Bobby Allan was in a class by himself, the finest lacrosse player in Canada during his peak. His consummate skill, agility and adroitness in faking a move made him one-of-a-kind. His backhand shot was a prototype move.
Allan won three scoring titles, three league MVP awards, and the Mike Kelly Award in 1964 as the most valuable player in the Mann Cup. His record of 89 goals in 29 games in 1956, in British Columbia, still stands. He played on four Mann Cup championship teams and another four Mann Cup finalists.
Later, Bob moved into coaching—first with box lacrosse teams in Peterborough and Philadelphia, PA, and then as head coach of the Canadian National Field Lacrosse Team. His Peterborough teams won a Canadian Semi-Pro Title in 1969, a Mann Cup in 1973, and were Mann Cup finalists in 1970. His Canadian National Field team won the world championship in 1978 in Manchester, England. Bob was elected to the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame and the Peterborough Sports Hall of Fame.
Bobby Delormier, Bill Sunday and Ron Thomas - Akwesasne
These three amigos have been friends for most of their lives. During their playing careers, Sunday and Delormier were based out of Akwesasne and Thomas hailed from Six Nations. All three were inducted into the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame (OLHoF) in 1998.
Delormier is best remembered for his shifty dodging ability. He was a member of championship teams in St. Regis in 1957-58, Niagara Falls in 1960 and Fort Erie in 1968/69. He was named MVP three times for these various teams.
Sunday played for the St. Regis Indians during their heyday. He received his training by the legendary team that consisted of Angus Thomas, Angus George, and Luis Sunday. They taught him to take the ball off the draw and create a fast-break and scoring opportunity using pure speed.
Thomas made his name playing with the Brantford Warriors in the 1960s and 1970s and comes from a lacrosse family that included his brothers Ivan and Charlie, also OLHoF inductees. He was on the 1971 Mann Cup Championship team. He was named Senior B Outstanding Goalie in 1968 with two Presidents’ Cup wins in 1967-68. He was a professional player with the Toronto Tomahawks in 1974.
Bruce Roundpoint - Akwesasne
Bruce Roundpoint was inducted into the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1997 representing Akwesasne. Roundpoint’s family is known for being important stickmakers for the game, at one time supplying 97 per cent of the game’s sticks worldwide.
He was Captain of the All-Star Native Team that played in the 1980 Commonwealth Games. Bruce Roundpoint played for the Montreal Les Quebecois in the original National Lacrosse League under legendary coach Jim Bishop. Roundpoint was the scoring champion for both the Akwesasne warriors in 1977 and the Cornwall Island Thunder Birds in 1981.
Bruce Wanless - Ontario
Bruce Wanless is known as one of the game’s greatest defensive players. He was inducted into the Brampton Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1987, the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2002.
Bruce did not begin playing until 1955 as a 17-year-old. He played mainly with the Brampton Excelsiors, but also with the professional Detroit team in 1968 and Kitchener in 1969. He ended his playing career in 1972. He won three Minto Cups for Brampton and played in four Mann Cups, winning one of them for Port Credit as a pick-up player.
Wanless won the McIntosh Award as OLA Jr. A MVP in 1959, and the OLA Senior A Merv McKenzie Awrd as Best Defensive Player on four occasions. He played against and earned the respect of some of the game’s legends including: Johnny Davis, Bobby Allan and Jack Bionda.
Cam Bomberry - Ontario
Cam Bomberry began playing lacrosse when he was just three years old. He worked his way through the Six Nation’s minor league box lacrosse program and began playing for St. Catherine’s Junior A team when he was 15. He finished his junior career with the Six Nations Arrows and won the Minto Cup in 1992. He was captain of the first Indigenous based franchise to win a Minto Cup and won the Jim McConaghy MVP Trophy. The three-time All-American played NCAA lacrosse with Nazareth College from 1990 to 1994 in Rochester, New York, where he helped his team claim an NCAA championship title in 1992.
On top of his minor league and college achievements, Cam was able to play professionally for eight seasons in the NLL with the Buffalo Bandits, the Rochester Knighthawks, and the New Jersey Storm. On the Ontario Lacrosse Association (OLA) circuit, he participated in three Mann Cup titles with the Six Nations Chiefs. His experience also stretches onto a number of national teams. He played for the U19 Canadian Men’s Field Lacrosse Team in 1988, and was a four-time member of Iroquois Nationals team. He finished his playing career in the summer of 2006 at the World Championship in London with Team Iroquois. Cam continues his involvement with the sport through lectures and clinics.
Cap Bomberry - Six Nations
Cap has been involved in lacrosse for over 60 years. At his induction into the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame it was said, "Cap is renowned for recruiting players for his team and well respected by his community and peers.”
Cap played for the Oshweken Warriors from 1959-1973 and won the Presidents’ Cup in 1964, 1967, and 1968. He helped out in the minor organization from 1975-88 and was a team manager/GM with the Jr. A Arrows from 1990-1992, winning the Minto Cup in Coquitlam in 1992. This was the first Indigenous team to win the Minto Cup.
He was also the GM for the SN Chiefs from 1993-1997 winning the Mann Cup in 1994, 1995, and 1996. Cap was president and GM of the Six Nations Rivermen from 2013-2019, winning the Presidents’ Cup in 2015 and 2019.
Cap has received many accolades including induction into the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1997 in the builder category. He went into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2001 as a builder and became an Ontario Lacrosse Association (OLA) life member in 2006 and was presented with the OLA President's Award.
Carl White - Akwesasne
Carl White played minor lacrosse on Cornwall Island, and then Jr. B for the St. Regis Braves from 1967 to 1971. The Braves were the Junior B Quebec Champions in 1967 and 1968. They also were Junior B OLA Champions in 1970 and 1971.
He then left Akwesasne and Cornwall for Brooklin and Peterborough. White played senior lacrosse for the Brooklin Redmen in 1972. In 1973, he played for the Peterborough Lakers where they went on to become Mann Cup Champions that year.
Carl White joined the Akwesasne Warriors from 1976 to 1985 and was a First Team All-Star in the 1978 Presidents’ Cup Championship Tournament.
He went on to coach after his distinguished playing career. He was inducted into the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1999.
Dave Durante - British Columbia
Dave “The Dude” Durante was a first-round draft pick of the Coquitlam Adanacs in 1973 and was named rookie of the year. In 1974 he won the WLA scoring race and the Maitland Trophy for sportsmanship. Durante played professional with the Quebec Caribous in 1975, scoring 89 goals with 117 assists for 206 points in 48 games on the way to an NLL Nations Cup victory. Durante rejoined the Adanacs from 1976 to 1979 and was traded to the Salmonbellies in 1980. He played 12 seasons with the Salmonbellies and was instrumental in the team capturing Mann Cup titles ‘81, ‘86, ‘89 and ‘91.
As a pick-up player he also helped the Salmonbellies win a Mann Cup in 1976 and was the MVP of that series. Durante was a WLA all-star in 1974, ‘76, ‘82, ‘83 and ‘84. In total Durante played 600 Senior ‘A’ and pro games with Coquitlam, Quebec and New Westminster, scoring 698 goals and 1,017 assists for 1,715 points—an average of 2.85 points a game. He joins a select group of Salmonbellies whose sweaters have been retired.
Dean McLeod - Ontario
Dean McLeod has a long list of accomplishments involving Brampton and both the Mann Cup and Minto Cup. He has also been involved at both the national and international levels on behalf of Canada. Perhaps his greatest contributions have come through serving as Commissioner for Ontario’s Junior A League.
“Dean has contributed 38 years of experience to the OJALL and over 50 years to the Ontario Lacrosse Association, and his achievements will leave a lasting legacy on the sport. He has held leadership roles across a broad range of the sport, and his devotion, work ethic and focus to Ontario Lacrosse have been exemplary,” said Stan Cockerton, Ontario Lacrosse Association Executive Director.
Dean McLeod has provided a lifetime of service to lacrosse as builder of the game. His personal awards include: Ontario Lacrosse Association, Mr. Lacrosse Award (1985); Brampton Excelsior, Life Membership (1989); Ontario Lacrosse Association, Presidents Award (1990); Canadian Lacrosse Association, Presidents Award (1991); Named Ontario Jr A Playoff-MVP Award, Dean McLeod Award in 1997; Inducted, Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame, Builder (1998); Inducted, Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame, Builder (1999); and was a Recipient, Queen Elizabeth II, Diamond Jubilee Award in 2012.
Don Barrie - Ontario
Don started playing as a nine-year-old in 1949 in Peterborough. He played minor lacrosse in Peterborough and went on to play senior lacrosse in Brooklyn, Peterborough, Sorel, Montreal, Quebec City and Hastings.
He started coaching in the Peterborough minor system in 1960, winning 10 Ontario titles and went on to coach Junior A lacrosse in Peterborough in 1970, 1971 and 1977. He advanced to coach the Major A Lakers in 1998 where he was named MSL Coach of the Year. At the professional level, he was assistant coach with the NLL Philadelphia Wings in 1974 and head coach of the Maryland Arrows in 1975.
At the international level, Don was an assistant coach of the Canadian Field Lacrosse Team in 1978, again in 1982, and was convener of the team in 1990.
Don started writing a weekly sports column in the Peterborough Examiner in 1995, and continues to do so today. In 2008, he wrote a 600-page history of lacrosse in Peterborough: “Lacrosse: The Peterborough Way”. He went on to write two novels on lacrosse, Moon and Me (2009) and Stickman (2012).
Dwight Maetche - British Columbia
Dwight Maetche was born in Edmonton and was recruited to play goal for the BC Jr. League Burnaby Cablevision. He was a Western Lacrosse Association (WLA) all-star in 1980 and ’81. Maetche played 24 WLA seasons from 1982 to 2007 with the Vancouver Burrards, North Shore/Okanagan, and Victoria. He is a seven-time WLA all-star, the WLA’s top goaltender five times, and was MVP in 1988. In 378 league and playoff games he faced 15,238 shots, allowing 3,215 goals for a career save average of 78.9% Maetche was an offensively minded goalie, scoring one goal and adding 317 assists. He won Mann Cups with the Victoria Shamrocks in 2003 and 2005. Between 1992 and 2007, Maetche played 55 NLL games with the Philadelphia Wings, Charlotte Cobras, New York Saints, Vancouver Ravens, Edmonton Rush and Portland LumberJax. During this time, he compiled 24 wins and 31 losses with a goals-against-average of 13.37.
Ernie Mitchell - Akwesasne
Ernie Mitchell had numerous career playing highlights before he turned to coaching. He was the starting goalie for the NLL Montreal Les Quebecois in 1974-1975. In 1980 in Vancouver, Mitchell and an Iroquois Nations team won silver at the World Box Lacrosse Championship, an event at which he was accorded all-star honours.
Mitchell would go on to play for the Akwesasne Warriors Senior B team in the Quebec league in the mid-eighties. In 1990, he ran the Old Sticks loop and his team captured the national crown in B.C.
Mitchell's coaching career flourished in the mid-nineties, when the Akwesasne Thunder senior B club he had established in 1993 won two Presidents’ Cup in 1995 and 1997.
Mitchell would be the first coach of the Thunder when the club, under owner Fabian Hart, went to the senior A level, and he would come back for a second Thunder coaching stint in 2004.
Mitchell was inducted into the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2007.
George “Jeep” Woolley - Manitoba
George “Jeep” Woolley started playing lacrosse with the Deer Lodge Hornets under the direction of Tom O’Brien. After capturing numerous minor league titles, Jeep went on to play Junior for the Winnipeg Wellingtons.
Based upon his playing with the Wellingtons, Jeep was selected to play for Manitoba All Stars against the B.C. All Stars for the Western Canadian championship. After winning the opener by a 12 to 8 score, the Manitobans dropped a close 8 to 9 decision in game two. Manitoba rallied to defeat B.C. 10 to 9 in the hard-fought third and deciding game.
The team made history, carrying Manitoba’s colours into the Dominion lacrosse final for the first time where the All-Stars met the Eastern representative, the Mimico Mountaineers, for the Minto Cup.
Jeep went on to play Senior in the heydays of senior lacrosse in Winnipeg. He was a steady team player who was able to chip a goal or two when needed. Jeep tangled with some of the best lacrosse players Winnipeg produced in the 1940s and 1950s.
George “Potsy” Burrows - Ontario
The first interview features “Potsy” Burrows, perhaps the world’s oldest lacrosse person at 100 years of age. He has been involved in lacrosse since 1926 at the age of eight. His roles in the game have ranged from being a goaltender for Brampton in Minor Field to Senior Box, a referee for over 20 years and a long-time Director of the Brampton Excelsior Lacrosse Club. Potsy was instrumental in starting Lakeshore Lacrosse League, made an honorary member of Brampton Old Timers Association and was inducted to the Brampton Sports Hall of Fame as a Veteran in 2010. He is a treasure, having played in the last few years of the original field lacrosse leagues that dated back to the 1800s, and then making the transition to the newly invented box lacrosse game in 1932. Potsy has witnessed our current era of both box lacrosse and field lacrosse sharing our interest as a nation in participation in the game.
Gord Gimple - British Columbia
Gord Gimple played on the Minto Cup championship teams in 1954 and 1956 before graduating to senior. As one of the few players who were effective shooting from either side, he scored 540 goals and 417 assists in his 11 year career. He was the winner of the Maitland Trophy a record-breaking six times and a member of the ICLL all-star team eight times. He coached the Coquitlam and Portland Adanacs.
Harry Nightingale - Manitoba
Harry, born in 1936, started playing lacrosse in Manitoba at the Kelvin Community Club at age twelve after buying an old beat up wooden lacrosse stick from the neighbour across the lane. He fell in love with the game and spent countless hours practising to throw and catch at the club or at a nearby parking lot. He was picked up by a senior league team in 1955, and from 1955 - 1957 played in the Minto Cup play-downs for Manitoba. The 1955 team advanced to play in the Championship series against Long Branch. After returning from attending university, he helped reform the senior league and organize minor lacrosse in Manitoba. He continued to play lacrosse and was selected to several local all-star teams in the late 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, before retiring in 1977. He is one of the founders of, and is still involved with, the Manitoba Lacrosse Hall of Fame. He is inducted in that Hall as well as the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
Jack Fulton Sr. - British Columbia
Jack Fulton got involved in lacrosse in 1955. For 11 years he served as team manager then as general manager for the New Westminster Salmonbellies. He served the CLA for eight years and was president for two years. Fulton and Harry McKnight founded the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame (CLHOF) in 1963. He was a member of the CLHOF’s board of governors and served as chair for seven years until his retirement in 1981. He coached minor lacrosse and was the general manager of the Canadian Field Lacrosse Team that traveled to Australia in 1974. In 1978 Fulton was presented with the Lester B. Pearson Award that is presented by the CLA for outstanding contribution to lacrosse at a national level.
Jim Brady - Ontario
Jim has been involved in lacrosse at every level since 1950’s as an organizer, referee, coach, manager, and administrator. He is a winner of numerous awards for his tireless work. Brady was the Ontario Lacrosse Association’s ‘Mr. Lacrosse’ in 1984 and has been to the Minto Cup Championships as a coach or manager on six occasions, winning four times (1980, 1990, 1991, and 1997). Brady boasted a record of over 475 wins as a coach or manager of junior teams, and his record has only improved. He was the O.L.A Jr “A” coach of the year three times (1984, 1989, and 1998). Brady also found time in 1997 and 1998 to act as the O.L.A. Major League commissioner.
Jim Burke - Alberta
In 1968 Jim Burke started playing lacrosse at the age of 18 for the North Glenora Blues Junior B team in Edmonton. The team went on to become provincial champions in 1969 and he was a member of Alberta Representative Team at the first Canada Summer Games in Halifax. In 1970, Burke played with the Rexdale Warriors Junior B team in Toronto. He moved back to Edmonton in 1971 and went on to coach the North Glenora Blues Junior B team. Burke then moved to the west coast and played with the Burnaby Colombians and the Kirby Klippers of the British Columbia Lacrosse Association’s Senior B league with Sohen Gill as his coach for five seasons.
In 1980, Burke was active in the St. Albert Lacrosse club and spent two years as president of the club. He served as the Greater Edmonton Lacrosse Association director for two years and coached almost all age groups while in St. Albert. He also started playing senior field lacrosse in Edmonton during this time.
Burke won the Jim McFall Award in 1985 for dedication and leadership to the game of lacrosse in Alberta. Burke started field lacrosse in Calgary and co-coached the 1989 U19 National Champions for field lacrosse. He was the winner of the 1991 Joe Nieuwendyk Award for dedication to the growth and development to the sport of lacrosse in Calgary. Burke then became the president of the Alberta Lacrosse Association for four years.
Burke served as the Alberta representative to the Board of Directors of the Canadian Lacrosse Association for two years. This grew to becoming a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Lacrosse Association for three years and Men’s Field Sector Chair of the Canadian Lacrosse Association for one year. Burke served as the Prairie Director of the Canadian Senior Men’s National team for two years and was a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Lacrosse Foundation in 1996.
Jim Burke became Canadian Lacrosse Association President from 1999 - 2003, and from 2003 to 2019 he served as past-president of the Canadian Lacrosse Association. Burke attended many national championships, including the Mann Cup, Minto Cup and field lacrosse championships, as the CLA representative and convener of the events.
In 2006, Burke was presented with the Lester B Pearson Award and in 2009 was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame as a builder. In 2007, Jim Burke was elected as the chairman of the Canadian Lacrosse Foundation where he currently serves.
Joanne Stanga - Ontario
Joanne Stanga is one of the important women who helped to build women’s field lacrosse in Canada. She was the head coach and assistant coach of the senior women and U19 women’s field lacrosse national teams for a 10-year period going back to 1993. She coached the Ontario senior and junior teams beginning in 1990 through 2005 and coached locally in Orillia.
Joanne shared her knowledge of the game as a master course conductor until 2016. As a player, she competed for Canada and Ontario and played as a rep player from 1978-2010.
Along with coaching and playing, Joanne served at all levels as a builder of the game through her administrative acumen. This stretched through all levels—locally, provincially, nationally and internationally. She worked on developing the high school leagues and Summer Games.
All of this work brought her many accolades. She received Orillia’s Piper Bain Award and was named a Life Member there, collected the Ontario Lacrosse Association’s Mr. Lacrosse Award, the CLA’s Lester B. Pearson Award, the IWFLA Recognition Award, and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
To top things off, Orillia created the Joanne T. Stanga Award to honour her contributions.
Johnny Davis - Ontario
Johnny Davis is the most prolific scorer in the past 60 years of box lacrosse. In his rookie year with Peterborough, Ontario in 1966 he scored 51 goals and had 69 assists. He capped it off with a Mann Cup and a Mike Kelly MVP medal as the Rookie of the Year. Davis won four Minto Cups in his junior years of lacrosse. For eight seasons John dominated the Ontario Lacrosse Association in scoring and was an eight-time All Star. He ended his career with Montreal of the Professional League in 1975 and scored 91 points. He played Sr. B in Montreal in 1976 and 1977. Johnny Davis ended up with two Mann Cups and two Mike Kelly Awards.
John Grant Sr. and Jim Wasson - Ontario
John Grant Sr. Biography
John Grant Sr. excelled in box and field lacrosse. He played in Peterborough and was on the 1972 Minto Cup Champion as the MVP of the series. He won three Mann Cups with the Peterborough Lakers in 1973, 1982 and 1984 where he was also named MVP. With the Canadian Men’s Field Lacrosse Team, Grant won the World Championship in 1978. He also enjoyed two years of professional lacrosse in Philadelphia. In 1974 he finished fourth in league scoring and in 1975 finished sixth and set an NLL record for assists with 134.
He helped resurrect Peterborough Minor Lacrosse (PMLA) from 67 kids in 1979 to 1100 kids 10 years later, acting within the PMLA as president, VP, house league VP etc. He coached at the minor, senior and pro levels. This included co-coaching Guelph to an NLL title in 1991 and helping guide the Peterborough senior teams for eight seasons.
Grant was transferred to Sudbury, Ontario and started up minor lacrosse there. The first registration resulted in 500 kids signing up to play. That resulted in the Greater Sudbury Lacrosse Association. John was president and coaching director, where he coached at all levels. He was also the representative to the Ontario Lacrosse Association (OLA) for Sudbury and was on the OLA Grassroots committee.
In 2007 he received the Merv Mackenzie award from the OLA, presented to the person who has done the most for the promotion of lacrosse in Ontario.
John Grant Sr. is recognized as a member by the following Halls of Fame: Peterborough Hall of Fame, Sudbury Sports Hall of Fame, Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame, and the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
Jim Wasson Biography
Jim Wasson was an outstanding athlete where his spirit and desire enabled him to rise to superstar status in clutch situations. He was an incredible loose ball man and short man specialist as well as a clutch play-off performer. In three years of junior A lacrosse Jim won the team rookie of the year in 1970 and the team scoring championship in 1971. During his tenure in junior A, his P.C.O. team appeared in two Minto Cups winning the championship in 1972. Jim was an assistant captain all three years and led his team in goals during his two Minto Cup appearances with 18 goals in 11 games. Jim Wasson of Peterborough, Ont., was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame and the Peterborough Sports & District Hall of Fames.
Between 1971 and 1986, a span of 15 years, Jim appeared in 10 national championships winning six of them. Jim made eight Mann Cup appearances, winning the coveted trophy five times. He captained the Lakers from 1978 -1982. He led his team in Mann Cup scoring in 1973, 1980 & 1982 and was awarded the Mike Kelly Award as Mann Cup MVP in 1982. Jim recorded 1,431 points in his career to rank 11th overall amongst the top 50 scorers ever in Canadian major/senior box lacrosse. One highlight was scoring 11 goals and having 6 assists during one game in 1979; this is a Lakers Major Series Lacrosse record that is still held after 40 years. Jim played professional lacrosse with the Philadelphia Wings in 1974 and 1975. In 1978 Jim was a member of the Canadian Men’s Field Lacrosse Team. He scored the tying goal in the championship game to force overtime that led to Canada’s victory. He played on the national team from 1978-1982.
Jim still maintains a keen interest in sports. After his playing career ended, he helped form the Kawartha Lacrosse Girls Field Lacrosse Club and he coached the senior A Lakers from 1994-1996 and then coached the junior A Lakers in 1997-1998. In addition, Jim coached high school boys and girls field lacrosse.
Jim Wasson is recognized as a member by the following Halls of Fame: Peterborough Hall of Fame, Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame, and the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
Kevin Alexander - British Columbia
Kevin Alexander has been called the Wayne Gretzky of lacrosse because of his stick prowess and scoring ability. He was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1991 after retiring from box lacrosse in 1986. In the last year of his junior career - 1976 - he led Victoria to win the Minto Cup and was named MVP of the tournament.
A fun fact, Alexander actually played his first senior lacrosse game at age 13 when Victoria was short players one night.
He won the Senior WLA Scoring Championship six times from 1980-1985. Alexander was named WLA Outstanding Rookie in 1977. In 1986, he was ranked fourth in all-time scoring, despite a shorter career than those ahead of him.
On the international front, Alexander represented Canada four times, winning All World Team and Best Midfielder honours in 1986.
He returned to play two seasons with the NLL Buffalo Bandits in 1992-1993 and helped the team to the League Championship both years.
Michelle Bowyer - British Columbia
Michelle Bowyer captained 11 consecutive B.C. Selects women’s field lacrosse championship teams between 1983 and 1992. She got her start in box lacrosse in Port Coquitlam in 1972 and went on to win league championships, B.C. provincial championships and Canadian national championships with Burnaby’s Kirby’s Klipettes between 1976 and 1981. Possibly the best field lacrosse midfielder Canada has ever produced, captain Bowyer and her Team Canada teammates won bronze at the World Championships in England in 1982. Bowyer and Team Canada finished a strong fourth in 1986 and 1989 at the World Championships in Philadelphia and Perth, respectively. In 2009, Bowyer was recognized by the International Federation of Women’s Lacrosse for her outstanding participation and achievement in World Cup competition as a player, assistant coach and head coach for the Canadian Women’s Field Lacrosse Team.
Morley Kells (Builder) - Ontario
Morley Kells played lacrosse from 1954-1961, where he won the 1955 Minto Cup with the Canadian Junior Lacrosse Long Branch team. In the 1960s he began to coach and in 1974 he co-founded the National Lacrosse League. The league started with six teams in Canada and the United States. Kells led Rochester to the championships in the first year of the league. He is also a Lester B. Pearson Award winner and was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1976.
Paul Parnell - British Columbia
Paul Parnell began playing lacrosse in Peterborough and played two seasons of Senior for Peterborough in 1958 and 1959. In 1960 he joined the Victoria Shamrocks for one season. In 1961 he joined the Salmonbellies and won five Mann Cups. He was selected to the ICLL/WLA all-star team in 14 of his 15 years with New Westminster, and retired in 1975 holding 23 WLA records and three Mann Cup records.
Peter Black - British Columbia
Peter Black led the powerful Vancouver, British Columbia, Burrards to the Mann Cup finals five times and four times his mates came away victorious. During his eleven-year playing career, Black participated in 399 games, scoring 443 goals and 320 assists for 763 points. He also shared the rookie-of-the-year award and was on five all-star teams.
Whenever Vancouver would play New Westminster, the boys in blue would stick Black on superstar Jack Bionda. Bionda would be in for the time of his life trying to free himself from Black's tenacity. Black wasn't overly strong, but he was tough and very dogged, making him a nightmare to play against. Players knew they were not going to have an easy shift if Black was on the floor against them.
After his playing days were over, Peter coached the Burrards for five years, coached the New Westminster juniors for two years, coached minor lacrosse in Coquitlam, and sat on the Board of Governors of the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
Robert Hanna - Ontario
Robert Hanna was inducted into the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1997 as a player for Toronto and Jim Bishop. He won the Merv McKenzie MVP Trophy in the 1967 senior “A” series and was a member of Pro Lacrosse Detroit in 1968. Hanna was also a Mann Cup finalist for three of four consecutive years between 1964 and 1967.
Ruby Lang and Barb Cormier - Ontario
Barb Cormier donated over 25 years to Mimico Minor Lacrosse, where she shared her love for the game and benefitted countless children of Etobicoke. She acted as main administrator and fundraiser along with Ruby Lang (also featured). Cormier helped create a new House League program and served on many boards and committees. She is also the recipient of the OLA Presidents Award.
Ruby Lang served for over 30 years as guardian of the 110-year-old Mimico Lacrosse Club. She is a winner of the Provincial Merv McKenzie Award (Top Promoter of Lacrosse in Ontario), a winner of the “Tip” Teather Memorial Award (Outstanding Service to the Sport), and a life member of the Ontario Lacrosse Association. Lang is recognized both locally and provincially for her positive, community-based approach to ensure opportunity of the sport for all children.
Russ Heard - British Columbia
Russ Heard’s lacrosse career spanned over 20 years in Jr. A, Western Lacrosse Association (WLA) and the National Lacrosse League (NLL). In the WLA, Heard scored more than 1,000 points, was a three time WLA scoring leader, and was twice selected as league MVP. In 1993 he set five WLA playoff scoring records including scoring six goals in one period. In 2000, he won an NLL Champions Cup with the Toronto Rock. In 2013 the Burnaby Lakers retired his jersey—the first Laker to be so honoured. Heard was a head coach in the WLA for seven seasons and is an assistant coach with the Salmonbellies.
Russ Sheppard — Saskatchewan
Russ was introduced to lacrosse in Saskatchewan through master coach Al Luciuk. He played some senior men’s lacrosse and began coaching youth in 1995. He moved to Nunavut as a teacher in 1998 and began the Kugluktuk Grizzlies lacrosse program in 1999. Soon after, he formed Nunavut Lacrosse. The journey of his program and the amazing impact the game had on the disenfranchised youth of the region has been captured in the recent release of the full-length motion picture “The Grizzlies.”
This Lacrosse Talk will tell the story behind the initiative and the movie and will be of great interest to all who love this game.
His involvement with the game did not end with the Grizzlies. Russ moved to Edmonton in 2005 and helped found the Edmonton Razorbacks. He coached the Midget A Warriors, the Sherwood Park Titans Junior B, Team Alberta Box Midget and Bantam, and Team Alberta U16 and U19.
He signed a life rights movie deal in 2006 for the Grizzlies program and helped start and build the Vimy Ridge Lacrosse Academy. Russ moved to Toronto in 2008 to become the dean of students and the assistant lacrosse coach for the Hill Academy. In 2009, he coached the Sherwood Park Titans and attended law school in Edmonton.
In 2012, he moved to Cranbrook, B.C. where he started the Badgers Field Lacrosse Program and assisted in growing Cranbrook Box Lacrosse.
As an administrator, Russ was a board member of the Canadian Lacrosse Association for six years and the B.C. Coaches Chair since 2014. Russ has worked with over 30 athletes who went on to play lacrosse in college in Canada or the NCAA. He was a master learning facilitator for box and field lacrosse, a writer of both box and field lacrosse manuals, and has worked with the CLA coaching committee for many years. Overall, he has helped to train thousands of coaches across Canada.
Sam Seward - Squamish
Sam Seward is from the Squamish Nation and has been involved with lacrosse for almost 60 years as a player, coach and manager. As a player he got his start with the North Shore Minor Association and played through Junior B with them. He played Junior A with the Salmonbellies, and was brought up to play with the North Shore Indians Senior B Club. He played in the first World Box event in 1980 for the Can-Am Native team. In 1985 he won the Presidents’ Cup with the North Shore Senior B team.
He transitioned to coaching both box lacrosse and field lacrosse and on numerous occasions he was named West Coast Senior Lacrosse Association Coach of the Year. In 2006, the Aboriginal Sports Circle named him National Aboriginal Coach of the Year. He has been head coach of both box and field teams at the North American Indigenous Games. Sam Seward is one of the great contributors to the game from the Squamish Nation.
Stew Begg has officiated and administrated lacrosse officials at all amateur levels since 1962 when he started with the game in Cornwall, Ontario. Up until 1998 he had officiated at the Founders’ Cup, Presidents’ Cup and Mann Cup games as an official. After that he served as Referee-In-Chief (RIC) for the Founders’ Cup and Minto Cup, as well as the 2007 FIL World Indoor Championship (WILC) in Halifax.
From 1999 through 2008 Stew was the CLA Chair of the Nationals Officials Certification Program. He is one of four Master Course Officiating Clinicians in Canada. From 2008-2016 he was the CLA VP of International Competitions.
Over his career he has assessed more than 2,000 officials locally, nationally and internationally. Begg was RIC of the 2011 WILC in Prague. Begg also has convened national championships at all levels from 2012-2019.
Stew Begg has also coached at minor, junior and senior levels in Alberta.He has received many awards along the way. His accomplishments include the Queen’s Jubilee Medal in 2012, the 2011 FIL Recognition Award, the CLA Lester B. Pearson Award and he was made a CLA Life Member.
Begg has also been made a Life Member of these organizations: Alberta Lacrosse Association, the Alberta Lacrosse Referees Association, and the Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks and Wildlife Foundation.
Stew Begg will go down in history as one of Canada’s greatest lacrosse officials for all the on-floor and administrative work he has provided.
Tewanee Joseph - British Columbia
Tewanee Joseph was born in North Vancouver with a unique ancestry - half Squamish Nation and half Maori from New Zealand.
Growing up on a Squamish reserve, Tewanee used his love of sports and natural athleticism to survive the rough-and-tumble challenges of reserve life. By playing lacrosse, soccer and basketball, he earned the respect of many. As a teenager, Tewanee became captain of the North Shore Indians Lacrosse Club of the West Coast Senior Lacrosse League.
He won four national championships in box and field lacrosse and had the opportunity to represent Canada on a Junior National team in 1989 and the Iroquois Nations at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria.
The North Shore Indians have a storied history in lacrosse. Tewanee had relatives on the 1936 team that made it all the way to the Mann Cup national championship final, and he followed in those same footsteps when he was growing up.
“I love lacrosse. Every Friday night I’d go out to the games and watch the North Shore Indians. That was what we did, me and my friends, and that was what we dreamed of being: North Shore Indians,” Tewanee said. “My late grand-uncle, Stan Joseph Sr., he’s in the Lacrosse Hall of Fame. He used to go run laps and we’d be in there as kids playing in the box, we’d gear up with what little gear we had and play lacrosse for all hours of the day. I spent a lot of time in that box.” The dream eventually came true for Tewanee, as he suited up for the North Shore Indians and helped the team win two Presidents’ Cup championships— the Canadian Lacrosse Association’s senior B national championship.
In addition to his lacrosse specific work, Tewanee is on the board of the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame. He was instrumental in the drive (including funding projects) and getting history and suggestions for the Hall’s award-winning Indigenous Sport Gallery. He was also a key part of the work with the 2010 Olympics and the Four Host Nations involvement in the Games.
Tom Parker - Manitoba
Tom captured four Winnipeg Senior Box Lacrosse League Championships while coaching in 1974 and 1975 with the St. Boniface Clubs, and in 1978 and 1983 with the Elmwood Clubs. He won the Canadian Division II Field Lacrosse Championship in 1985 and repeated as champions again in 1986 while coaching the Manitoba Senior Men’s Field Lacrosse Team. Tom initiated the high school field lacrosse competition in the mid-1980s, organized a Summer Field Lacrosse League, and conducted lacrosse workshops for other physical education supervisors and their school divisions, women’s lacrosse groups, Manitoba’s universities, rural communities and First Nations’ reserves. As an administrator, Tom served a lengthy term as president of the Manitoba Lacrosse Association and simultaneously sat on the Board of the Canadian Lacrosse Association until 1992. He was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Lacrosse Foundation in 1996-1998. Tom has been duly recognized with several awards, most notably the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Award in 2012 and the Canada 125 Medal in 1994. Tom is an original member of the Manitoba Lacrosse Hall of Fame and currently serves as president of the organization.
Wayne Baker - British Columbia
Wayne Baker has a life and lacrosse journey that is remarkable. The North Shore Squamish player and coach comes from one of the “lacrosse royal families” on the West Coast. He tells his story of being lost through alcoholism and credits lacrosse for helping him find his way. Baker has made his mark in entertainment as an actor on both the big and small screens. Credits include: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, DaVinci’s Inquest, Pathfinder, Indian Horse, North of 60, the Canyonlands, Futureman, Blackstone and many more.
Baker tells of his love of the game and the desire to be the best player he could be in a unique, far-reaching interview that lacrosse aficionados will greatly enjoy.
Wayne Goss and Ed Goss - British Columbia
Wayne Goss
Wayne Goss excelled at all aspects of lacrosse from goal scoring and play making to penalty killing and face-offs. Between 1968 and 1981, Goss scored 812 goals, added 1,040 assists, and amassed 1,852 points in 465 games. He held 41 WLA scoring and faceoff records and shared four others. Goss was named Rookie of the Year in 1968, league MVP four times (1969-71, 1975) and playoff MVP three times (1968-69, 1976). He was named to 11 all-star teams and won five Mann Cup championships (1970, 1972, 1974, 1976, and 1981) with the Salmonbellies. He set a WLA and Canadian record in the 1981 Mann Cup series with an assist during the final seconds to amass a 98-point total and was named the series’ MVP. He played in the 1968 and 1969 National Lacrosse League championships, winning in 1968 over the Detroit Olympics. Goss also played for Canada in the 1974 world field lacrosse championships in Australia. He retired in 1981 after 14 seasons with the Salmonbellies. In 1983, his sweater was retired on “Wayne Goss Night” at Queen’s Park Arena. Goss was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1986 and the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame in 1989.
Ed Goss
Wayne Goss’s younger brother Ed played hockey, soccer and basketball, but excelled at lacrosse. He played minor in New Westminster where his teams were perennial champs. Ed’s Jr. A Salmonbellies team were Minto finalists three consecutive years (1966-68). In 64 regular season junior games Ed scored 141 goals and had 133 assists for 274 points. He was Jr. A Rookie of the Year and 1st Team All-Star in 1966, he won the Bill Dickinson Trophy as league top scorer in 1967 and held the record for most goals in a game (11). He played three pro seasons with New Westminster in 1968-1969 and Maryland in 1975, winning two World Pro Championships with the ‘bellies. Goss played Sr. A for the ‘bellies over six seasons 1969-1977. In 135 Sr. A and pro regular season games he netted 163 goals and 222 assists for 385 points, and in 53 playoff games added 53 goals and 52 assists. His ‘bellies teams went to three straight Mann Cups, winning two in 1970 and 1972.
William K.C. Cook - British Columbia
“Casey” Cook built and moulded the New Westminster Salmonbellies into a dynasty between 1980 and 1995. In that time New Westminster appeared in 11 out of 15 Mann Cups, winning in 1981, 1986, 1989, and 1991. Over this period he served as either coach, GM, Vice President, or President—at times filling all positions at once. After playing junior lacrosse in Coquitlam, and senior lacrosse for Coquitlam and New Westminster, he coached in South Burnaby before moving on to the Junior B Burnaby Cables from 1974-1978. Casey also held positions in the CLA and the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
William “Whitey” Frick - Ontario
William "Whitey" Frick of St. Catharines excelled at lacrosse. He was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1999. Frick played forward, defense as well as goalie in his career. Frick was the goaltender for the St. Catharines Athletics who won the Minto Cup (Junior Championship) in 1947 and won the Mann Cup as senior champion of Canada a year earlier. Frick served as a backup goalie for the senior Athletics, which is how he won the senior championship a year prior to winning the junior title. Frick has remained active in lacrosse with the "Old Boys Lacrosse Association" for 30 years.
Gail Cummings-Danson - Ontario
Gail Cummings-Danson is a native of Huntsville, Ontario. She played boys' box lacrosse until 15 years of age when her father introduced her to girls' field lacrosse through the Etobicoke program run by the Gilkinson family. She was the youngest player selected to play on Team Canada in the inaugural 1982 World Championships - age 15 when selected and just 16 during the tournament where Canada won a surprising Bronze.
Her showing in that event led to her receiving a full scholarship to Temple University a few years later where she became a three-time D1 All-American and led the school to a National Championship in her final year. She was Canada’s first full scholarship women’s player in the USA. She is the all-time leading scorer at Temple with 283 goals, 89 assists for 372 points.
Gail played for Canada in three World Championships through 1989 and then was selected to the US National Team from 1990-1993 winning one Gold Medal.
Cummings-Danson was selected to the U.S. National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2007, the Canadian National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2008 and the OLA Hall of Fame in 1999.
Steve Brown - Nova Scotia
Steve Brown has been a builder of the game in the Maritimes. He has 35 plus years as an administrator for the game as well as 30 plus years as a player and a coach. He has also refereed for over 20 years. He has done it all. Brown has played in Founders, President’s, and Victory Cup tournaments and was named as an MVP and All-Star as a player in the Maritime Junior League.
He has coached at all age levels for Sackville Minor Lacrosse, Sackville Wolves Senior Lacrosse, Canada Summer Games Teams, and Nova Scotia Provincial teams. In 1974 he was a co-founder of the Sackville Wolves Lacrosse Association and in 2000 he was co-founder of the Metro Minor Lacrosse League. Brown has served as Commissioner of the Nova Scotia Senior Men’s Lacrosse League, Commissioner of the East Coast Junior Lacrosse League, and was VP of Operations for Lacrosse Nova Scotia from 1997-2014.
He gained international experience by coordinating the Organization Committee for the 2007 World Indoor Lacrosse Championships that were held in Halifax. When it comes to building the game on the East Coast, Steve Brown can claim a large share of the success.
Frank Nielsen - British Columbia
Frank Nielsen is known as a solid, knowledgeable lacrosse competitor. He had an 11-year stint in the Western Lacrosse Association Sr. A-League, playing for the Coquitlam Adanacs from 1976 - 1984 and the New Westminster Salmonbellies from 1985-1986. He was best recognized by his defense and faceoff abilities, and was made the Alternative Captain for Canada West in the 1980 Nations World Box Championship.
Nielsen moved on to coaching after his playing days and brought the Coquitlam Adanacs to the Mann Cup in 1998 for the first time. He also coached the Coquitlam Junior Adanacs while in the organization. Nielsen shared his deep knowledge of the game as one of the contributing authors of the BCLA Coach Drill Manual for Box Lacrosse.
Nielsen had great success as an international coach of Team Canada, capturing silver medals in 1998 and 2002. He capped those honours off with a gold medal performance at the 2006 World Lacrosse Championship held in London, Ontario. It was Canada’s first gold since 1978.
For these achievements, Nielsen was selected as a finalist for the 2007 Sport BC 'Coach of the Year' Award.
Louis Delisle has been involved in minor lacrosse since 1955 and was inducted into the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2014. Delisle won two Quebec Junior Championships in 1966 and 1967. His senior career spanned from 1968 to 1988, with the Caughnawaga Indians and the Kahnawake Mohawks, playing in 5 President Cups and winning a Silver Medal in 1969. His accomplishments were noted in 1970 when he won the ‘Thorpe-Longboat Award’ for outstanding lacrosse and hockey achievement.
Delisle’s record as a Coach and Builder is equally impressive. He was a founding member of both the Caughnawaga Minor Lacrosse Association and the Caughnawaga Indians Senior Team. These and other contributions led to him receiving the ‘Quebec Lacrosse Volunteer of the Decade Award’ for the 1970s. Delisle was ‘Quebec Coach of the Year’ in 1979.
Delisle has coached in every decade since the 1960s and continues to coach high school lacrosse today, in addition to running local clinics. He played a major role in the 150th Anniversary of Lacrosse Celebration, organizing the Kahnawake community for the historical re-enactments of the game.
Bruce Logan received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for volunteer activities with Lacrosse Canada and Lacrosse New Brunswick in 2012. Beginning in 1969, he and his friends would use Javex bottles with the face cut out, screwed to the top of broom handles as lacrosse sticks. Soon after, his father brought real sticks from Ontario for them to use. Lacrosse in New Brunswick spread quickly soon after.
In 1972, a Pee Wee team was developed in Saint John to play against a Nepean team that was stopping in Saint John. This was the first time lacrosse was played competitively near Logan.
From 1974 to 1979, Logan played in the Maritime Junior Circuit for Saint John, NB. New Brunswick fielded a team from Saint John, Sackville, Fredericton, Caraquet, as well as nearby Charlottetown, PEI, and Halifax and Dartmouth, NS. During those years, he played for Team New Brunswick at the Canada Summer Games in St. John’s, Nfld. He went on to play for the Provincial Team at the Founders Cup tournaments in Sarnia and Montreal from 1978 to 1980.
On the administrative side of the game, Logan chaired the Lacrosse Sector for the Saint John Canada Games from 1984to 1985. He oversaw the equipment, officials, security, media, and disciplinary committees as well as all onsite activities during the event. It would be the last Canada Games that lacrosse was played, until the upcoming Canada Games in Niagara in 2022.
Bruce Logan was also part of the organizing committee for the Fundy Lacrosse Association (which garnered 650 players in its first year), the President of the Fundy Lacrosse Association for five years, the President of Lacrosse New Brunswick for nine years, and serving as a director on the LC board for eight years, including a volunteer role on several committees.
He also was Head Coach for the New Brunswick Bantam Girls team which played in the inaugural Bantam Girls National Championships in Whitby, Ont. He coached Tyke through Bantam for approx. 10 years. To round his career out, Logan officiated hundreds of minor league games.
He was rewarded for his efforts with the 2006-2007 Sport New Brunswick ‘Volunteer Sport Administrator of the Year’ Award. He has cemented himself as a notable Builder in the Maritimes.
Miro "Medo" Martinello - Ontario
Hailing from Windsor, Ont. Miro “Medo” Martinello is a Builder of the game. He was recognized with his induction into the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2005. Martinello attained tremendous success as a Player, Coach, and Ambassador for Canadian lacrosse for over 55 years.
As a player, he learned from Jim Bishop in the 1968 Professional League. Bishop called him one of “the top 5 players he had ever had the pleasure to coach.”
Martinello is known for his innovative coaching ideas at the professional level including positions in Syracuse, Quebec, and Detroit. His coaching acumen was recognized when he received the ‘Professional League Coach of the Year’ Award in 1975 with Quebec City and in 1991 with the Detroit Turbos.
He coached the Windsor Junior team to the Eastern Canadian Championships in 1972 and 1973. Martinello has received national and local recognition for his involvement in lacrosse and was the recipient of the Canadian Government’s 125th ‘Medal of Confederation for Outstanding Achievement’ in 1992.
He will forever be recognized as one of the most innovative coaches of his era.
Kerrianne Hardill received her first lacrosse stick for Christmas when she was just 4 years old. She remembers attending a lacrosse school for girls in Peterborough at 11 and 12 years old (in 1974), and playing on the first girls’ teams in Lakefield and Peterborough. From 1975 to 76 she played on a bantam boys’ team in Bridgenorth, while also playing on a girls’ team. In high school, she was invited to play for the high school boys’ field team by Coach Don Barrie.
In 1978, she received an invitation to try out for a women’s field team started by Paul and Stan Gilkinson. This team marked the beginning of women’s field lacrosse in Ontario and Canada and would lead to a tryout for Team Canada in 1981. Hardill would play in the inaugural women’s World Cup in Nottingham England in 1982 with Canada, who would win bronze. She would then go on to play for her provincial team from 1983 to 1984, a lengthy stint with the Ontario Women’s Field Lacrosse team. They would win several bronze and silver medals, finally capturing gold in 1994.
Hardill remained involved with Team Canada from 1983 to 1994, where the team finished in fourth at three consecutive World Cups. In 1993, she began a girl’s field program in Peterborough under the PMLA, as well as at the high school she taught at. She would continue to coach club and high school lacrosse for 20 years. Hardill also served as an Organizing Committee member for the World Championships held in Canada (2007, 2013, 2019).
For these achievements, Hardill was inducted into the Peterborough and District Sports Hall of Fame as a Player in 2000, the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame as a player in 2001 and was the first female player inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2007.
Dave Arsenault - New Brunswick
Dave Arsenault was introduced to lacrosse when he was 14 years old at the 1969 Canada Summer Games, which were held in Halifax. He would play for Dartmouth, Shearwater, and Sackville in Junior lacrosse. A Builder of the game, his legacy began at 17, when he was asked to coach and referee. After moving to New Brunswick, he went to play for the local Saint John Junior team, playing teams from Sackville, Caraquet, and Charlottetown. Eventually, a Maritime Junior Lacrosse League was formed.
The legendary Bill McBain became head coach of the New Brunswick Junior team in 1976 and took them to the Founder’s Cup in Windsor, Ont., later that year. Another memorable moment occurred when the 1977 Canada Summer Games were held in Newfoundland. The New Brunswick team traveled to the Rock a few weeks before the Games to help Team Newfoundland prepare for the competition. Arsenault would continue with his playing career when he played for the first New Brunswick Senior Team in 1978, traveling to the President’s Cup later that year.
Simultaneously, Arsenault and some fellow players were starting a Youth League in New Brunswick, incorporated three short years later. Dave Arsenault would become Head Coach of the 1985 Summer Games Team. In 1988, work commitments took him away from the game, but he was able to return in 2001 and worked with Bruce Logan on development. Arsenault would become Head Coach of Team New Brunswick in 2003. He remained part of the Provincial Team Program for 15 years.
Arsenault was made Technical Director for the provincial governing body from 2012-2016. During this time, he helped P.E.I. grow the game and began working with New Brunswick Indigenous communities. He also helped with the development of school field lacrosse programs, and the Maritime Cup for U15 and U18 Boys Field Lacrosse Teams followed.
These efforts were recognized with his induction into the Saint John Sports Hall of Fame in 2017 for his work at the local and provincial levels.
Dan Wilson was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in the Class of 2011. This Junior A lacrosse star played for the famed Burnaby Cablevision in the late ’70s, winning two Minto Cups in 1976 and 1977.
A perennial Junior A all-star, Wilson ended the 1977 campaign as a league-leading scorer with 196 points in just 28 games. Dan parlayed his talents in field lacrosse and was a member of the 1978 Team Canada squad.
In nine Western Lacrosse Association seasons for the Adanacs, Bellies, and Burrards, he was selected as an all-star on three occasions from 1979 to 1982. He took WLA Rookie of the Year honours in 1979 while amassing 121 points.
Wilson led the Adanacs Nations in the Nations 80 Cup Box Lacrosse Championship team while being named tournament MVP. Wilson led the team with 12 goals and 18 assists in five games.
In 205 WLA regular season and playoff games, Wilson scored 238 goals and 386 assists for 624 points. Wilson won one Mann Cup ring in 1985 with New Westminster.
Dan Wilson was also a member of the Team Canada Field Lacrosse Team in 1978. This team, in one of the greatest comebacks in international lacrosse competition, won the 1978 World Championship with a 17-16 double-overtime victory over a stunned U.S. team. They had lost to that same team in round-robin 28-4.
Carol Patterson is one of the most important women in the development of international lacrosse, and the launch of Canada’s involvement with the women’s field game. Her lacrosse resume includes a career filled with coaching, officiating, and administration. Patterson has coached lacrosse in Baltimore County and New York State, at SUNY Buffalo and Niagara University. She also ran the Niagara girl’s lacrosse camp.
As an administrator, she served as a director on the board of the Iroquois Nationals. She was active in the family business Tuskewe Krafts - a wooden lacrosse stick manufacturer - with her husband John Wesley Patterson. Their sticks were distributed worldwide and coveted by female lacrosse players. They set up a Canadian company as well—Canam Lacrosse Ltd.
Patterson wrote the US Lacrosse PE Curriculum for grades 4-12 in 2006 and was involved in CD-ROM and Course Development for Lacrosse Canada.
Some of her accolades include her induction into the Western New York Lacrosse Hall of Fame, a Lacrosse Canada Certificate of Merit, and the International Federation of Women’s Lacrosse Association Recognition Award.
Her legacy continues to this day—the OUA Women’s Lacrosse Champions are awarded the Patterson Cup annually.
While Tim Murdoch got his start in Princeton, NJ, he has been a long-time resident of Montreal. Volunteering for 17 seasons as the head coach of McGill University’s men’s varsity lacrosse team from 2003 to 2019, he retired with a career record of 191-88-2, an overall win percentage of .684. During his tenure, he guided the program to nine Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association (CUFLA) East pennants (2007, 2011-2017, 2019), four undefeated regular seasons (2013-2015, 2019) and two national championships, claiming the league's Baggataway Cup in 2012 and 2015.
In 2018, Murdoch received the Honora Shaughnessy Ambassador Award, presented to a friend of McGill who has made an exceptional contribution to the University as a role model in fostering loyalty, professionalism, and team spirit. Murdoch played a leadership role in establishing the Canadian Lacrosse Foundation McGill Indigenous Lacrosse Scholarship for student-athletes. In 2019, the “Tim Murdoch Fund” was established to memorialize Murdoch’s coaching career at McGill.
Murdoch has contributed much to the growth of the game in the city of Montreal. He founded the Westmount Lynx youth field lacrosse program in 2006, served as head coach of the Quebec U19 team at the 2013 First Nations Trophy, and was a member of the advisory board of Canada’s 150th Celebration of Lacrosse, held at McGill. In 2007, he and his McGill assistants were voted CUFLA coaching staff of the year. Under Murdoch's guidance, the team has received the Harry Griffiths Trophy four times (2008, 2009, 2012, 2015) as the most outstanding sports club at McGill University.
Dave White could be called one of the greatest high school lacrosse coaches of all time. He ran the lacrosse program at Salmon River Central School, located in Fort Covington, NY. near Akwesasne Territory, for 33 years. He was presented the Gerald J. Carroll Jr. Exemplary Coaching Award for his efforts.
White left Akwesasne to attend Mount Herman Prep School from 1966-1970 as a student-athlete. His lacrosse prowess and academic record culminated in a scholarship to the Ivy League’s Brown University. He continued to excel in Lacrosse and played in the 1975 North-South Game where he scored the winning goal in overtime in a 25-24 thriller.
White would be chosen as a member of the North American Native Warriors Can-Am team that played in the 1980 Nations Cup - the first world box lacrosse championship.
Dave Evans has made his mark in lacrosse as both a Builder and a Player, in both Box and Field disciplines, as well as the Men’s and the Women’s game. As a player he was made an all-star and won MVP awards in three seasons in the Junior "A" division, toiling for Burnaby Cablevision.
When he was a Senior he collected top goalie awards in the Western Lacrosse Association in 1973. He followed up this achievement with the top goalie award in 1975 in the National Lacrosse League. Evans was the WLA playoff MVP in 1973 and 1977, and a four-time Maitland Trophy winner (1973, 1977, 1980 and 1981). He had three All-Star ratings and a Mann Cup ring in 1977.
Evans also represented Canada at the 1974 World Field Lacrosse Championships. The Vancouver Burrards retired his jersey in 1996 and he was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1995. As a coach, he had three Canadian Senior Women Box Lacrosse titles and was Head Coach of the BC provincial women's field lacrosse rep team that captured seven Canadian titles. He was Assistant Coach of the 1982 World Field Lacrosse Championships Canadian National Women’s Field lacrosse team which won a bronze medal, and Head Coach of the team in 1989, which would finish fourth.
Evans was named 1987 WLA Coach of the Year for the Vancouver Burrards and was Head Coach of the NLL Philadelphia Wings, winning two league titles and being named the 1992 Coach of the Year. He coached in the NLL in 2007 with the Washington/Vancouver Stealth. Dave also served the Burrards as general manager between 1983 and 1986, winning the WLA Executive of the Year Award in 1985. In a truly well-rounded participant moment, the BCLA named him Referee-of-the-Year in 1973.
Pierre Filion established the Quebec provincial lacrosse governing body from the ground up. He was hired in 1975 as Technical Director of the Fédération de crosse du Québec, and subsequently drafted a constitution, bylaws, operations manual, incorporated the Federation, and established a democratic procedure.
In 1975 he created the QSLL, a QJLL and in 1976 three more juvenile leagues. Filion organized 14 regional lacrosse associations and managed provincial minor championships and Québec Games. He organized provincial and regional lacrosse clinics for coaches. Filion created the Québec Team Program at the Canada Games. In 1977 the Fédération de crosse du Québec presented a request on behalf of the CANAM League to obtain membership within Lacrosse Canada and thus access annually the Presidents’ Cup (the Senior B championship of Canada). Filion organized field and women’s programs in Québec and Intercrosse in QC schools. He was also very involved in the international development of lacrosse.
Greg Thomas was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2006. He began his 27-year lacrosse career in Peterborough, which included four seasons on the P.C.O’s Junior A team, which won a Minto Cup in 1972. The next year, Thomas headed west to tend goal for the Coquitlam Seniors for 10 years, and a single season each with the New Westminster and Vancouver Burrards. He had a career save percentage of 74.3 per cent in 269 games. He also scored an infamous goalie goal - bringing his point total to one goal and 330 career assists. His best game saw one goal and five assists. This productivity led to three All-Star Team selections in the Western Lacrosse Association, and he backstopped Canada West in the 1980 World Box Lacrosse Tournament. Other personal awards include the Maitland Trophy in 1979 and the Leo Nicholson Memorial Trophy as the WLA MVP in 1981. After he retired from play, he coached youth lacrosse for 8 seasons.
Barry Alfred was inducted into the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2013. Known for his leadership, he was elected Team Captain many times throughout his career with Kahnawake. He is known for bringing out the best in his teammates and was named Top Player in Quebec after posting 150 points. He saved some of his best performances for the Presidents Cup, where he gained numerous MVP Awards, Leading Scorer Awards, and All-Star Nominations.
Alfred began coaching in 1996 as Head Coach for the Kahnawake Senior B Mohawks, and would continue until 2009. During that time, the team had seven Presidents Cup appearances. He also led his Masters Kahnawake Chiefs Team to a National Canadian Championship title. Alfred feels fortunate to have played with “greats” including Brian Jacobs, Louis Delisle, Ernie Mitchell, Galla Thomas, Barry Powless, Mike Benedict Sr. and Gaylord Powless.
Mike Benedict Jr. has had a lifelong involvement with the game, starting with a great high school career spanning 1986 to 1989 at Salmon River High School in New York State. He went on to play Junior B for both Akwesasne and Gloucester through 1992. Benedict became a full-time Senior Player in 1993 for the Akwesasne Thunder, and was picked up by the Onondaga Redmen to play in the Presidents Cup, where he was named a First Team All-Star. In 1994, he played in Manchester, England with the Iroquois National Team. He scored 10 goals in one Senior box game in 1995, and the same year won a gold medal with the Akwesasne Thunder, putting up a five-goal, five-assist performance. From there, he would head to his Major Indoor Lacrosse League (MILL), now the National Lacrosse League (NLL) rookie season with the Rochester Knighthawks, also in 1995. Benedict’s NLL/MLL career included time with the Syracuse Smash, Buffalo Bandits, New York Saints, Columbus Landsharks, Rochester Rattlers, and New Jersey Storm. Benedict has seen it all. He also made an appearance in an NLL PlayStation video game, and was an Olympic Torch Bearer for Akwesasne for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games.
Ron Pinder grew up in Richmond, B.C. His first national championship would come in 1971, when he won the Minto Cup playing for the legendary Richmond Roadrunners. Pinder would go on to win two Mann Cups for the Vancouver Burrard’s in 1975 and 1977, finishing his career with a nearly three point-per-game average.
But Pinder really left his mark on the Mann Cup. His father, Roy Pinder, had won the Mann Cup in 1949. Ron would “see him and raise him one” starting in 1975, as he was awarded the Mike Kelly award as the series MVP. Later that year, Jim Bishop called on him to join the Montreal Quebecois in the NLL playoffs. Montreal was down three games to one in the semi-finals against the Boston Bolts but would come back to take them 4-3. They would go for six games against the Quebec Caribous, who ultimately won the championship in the final year of the original league.
A.J. Jomha is one of the great lacrosse minds to come out of Alberta. He has excelled as a player, coach and builder of the game at all levels - local to national. Jomha began his career in Edmonton’s minor program, and would go on to play on the 1979 Minto Cup with Alberta. Several players on that team would go on to win Alberta’s first-ever Founders Cup the next year.
Jomha went on to coach the 1985 Alberta team in the Canada Games. He also would later coach at the Junior B, Junior A and Senior B levels, winning a number of national championships along the way. He served as a scout for the Toronto Rock and also Assistant Coach for the Edmonton Rush. Jomha would ultimately advance to the position of Director of Lacrosse Operations for the Rush.
Nationally, Jomha has served Lacrosse Canada as a previous Box Sector Chair, and has recently returned to the Board of Directors as the Director of National Championships. Jomha also played a strong role in the development of the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League, which features teams from Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta.
Bill Lefeuvre was inducted into the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2002. His induction was fitting, as he was a member of the core group that raised the funds to build the institution. As such, Lefeuvre has stories regarding many of the major acquisitions on display, including the 12-foot Indigenous carving that greets visitors to the Hall, and the venerable Globe Shield.
But his involvement spans far beyond that. Lefeuvre was Coach and General Manager of the Founders Cup champion Spartan Warriors in 1996. He also served as General Manager of the Major Series St. Catharines Athletics. His travels took him to Cape Breton and even China where he has been involved in building the game. Lefeuvre even put his talents towards equipment manufacturing. Bill Lefeuvre’s impact on the game has been diverse and far ranging.
Brian “Butch” Keegan had a lacrosse career that many could only dream of. He had great success as a player, but also as a coach. Keegan was a top scorer throughout junior and senior lacrosse, played on a Mann Cup team, a pro-league Nations Cup team, and also coached four Presidents Cup champions. As a player, Keegan was awarded the Most Gentlemanly Player Award at both the junior and senior levels. Keegan also played for Canada in the first World Field Lacrosse Championship in 1967, and played professionally in 1966, 1974, and 1975.
Keegan’s coaching prowess was recognized in 1989 when he was selected as OLA Senior Coach of the Year. This remarkable career resulted in his induction into the inaugural class of the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1997, and later entry into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2000. Keegan would give back to the game as a member of both the OLHof and CLHoF Eastern Selection Committee for many years.
Jim Aitchison or “Aitchy” was born and raised in New Westminster, B.C., but never played as a Salmonbellie. His career was as unique as his personality, and he came to the game later than most— at age 16 he was introduced to field lacrosse in high school. Seeing his interest, a friend invited him to play with the Junior Coquitlam J-Hawks, yet Aitchison’s lack of experience made him want to quit after just eight games. Not willing to lose this developing talent, the coaches talked him into staying and his skills progressed steadily that season. In 1970, Aitchison was picked up by Burnaby to play in the Minto Cup - a real eye-opener for the newcomer to box lacrosse. He had a fine career with the Senior Coquitlam Adanacs from 1971-82, and was selected as Rookie of the Year and awarded the Ed Bailey Trophy in his first year. On four occasions, Aitchison made the WLA All-Star Team.
Aitchison would go on to represent Canada on the national men’s field lacrosse team in 1974, 1982, and 1986. He even played in the 1980 World Box Lacrosse Championships and won gold as a member of Coquitlam’s squad. Despite coming off a serious knee injury in the 1986 Field Worlds, he was selected to the All-World Team as a long-pole defenseman.
Craig Moore is a Maritimer who has given a great deal to the development of lacrosse on the East Coast. He started out as a participant in the Sackville Minor Lacrosse Association and played on the All-New Brunswick Team that participated in the annual Lobster Trap Tournament early in his career. When Moore advanced to the Junior ranks he played for Sackville, Ottawa, and Alberta teams as well as in the Canada Games. Despite these Canadian roots, Moore would be the only Canadian to play for Team USA in the 1980 World Box Lacrosse Championships. He went on to coach at Springfield College in Massachusetts, and that team would later become the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Champions.
Moore would eventually return to Canada, coaching youth box and field lacrosse, at both the club and high school levels, from 2000 to 2021. He served on the Board of Lacrosse Nova Scotia, and has been a member of the Canadian Lacrosse Foundation Board since 2012.
If you asked Jim Price if he thought of himself as the “Father of Canadian Field Lacrosse Officiating,” he would certainly not think so. But if you asked any of the hundreds of officials he developed in Canada, and around the world, they would ascertain that the title was justified. Price first came to the game when his son played U9 box lacrosse circa 1967. He would go on to coach and eventually referee box lacrosse.
Price realized his calling was to officiate men’s field lacrosse when Canada won its first World Field Lacrosse Championship in 1978, and the need for officiating in the burgeoning field game was urgent across the nation. He would become a Master Clinician in Canada, and after traveling to Baltimore for the 1982 World Field Lacrosse Championships began to get very involved at the international level. Price became an Assessor in 1986 when Canada hosted the World Championship in Toronto.
Price became well known for training officials across Canada, often on his own dime, staying in the little camping trailer that he would pull behind his car. He would create the Ontario Field Lacrosse Officials Association, and later directed its merger with the established Ontario Lacrosse Referees Association. Price would serve as a leader on many committees at the Provincial, National and International Levels. This resulted in Price being awarded the Lester B. Pearson award in 2004, which is presented annually to those who have dedicated their time and efforts to the development of the game nationwide.
Price saw the world through his officiating travels—having the adventure of a lifetime as he would officiate in 25 countries. He also lent his skills to the officiating of Intercrosse worldwide.
It is one thing to launch a program. Eventually that initial energy dissipates, and the grueling, but important, work begins to keep the program alive. Cheryl MacNeill stepped up after a great beginning provided by Team Canada in 1982. To grow the game, you need players, coaches, managers, builders, and officials. In one way or another, MacNeill played all those roles.
As a player, she rose to National Team level, competing for Canada in both the 1989 and 1993 World Championships. MacNeill has coached in Canada and the USA in secondary schools, universities, rep teams, provincial teams, and national teams. She has been a clinician, an assessor, and an umpire at the highest levels of the international game, including this past summer at the 2022 World Lacrosse Women’s Championships. MacNeill has been a key contributor or chair for several international events and World Championships held on Canadian soil. You want to hear MacNeill’s story - a tale filled with effort and excellence.
Troyhann Santos is a trailblazer. And she was recognized as such this past fall when she was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of. It followed her inductions in the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame and the Whitby Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
As a player, Santos was a natural leader, and was named co-captain of Team Canada twice. She also was captain of her NCAA team at James Madison University. She played on many Team Ontario squads over the years. Santos took her skills, knowledge, and mindset and was the head coach of several Team Ontario women’s box teams. When you add her volunteer roles, in which she learned more about the technical aspects of the game, along with the proprietorship of the Lax Shack, you have a full life in lacrosse. Join us as we hear Troyhann Santos’ story.
The Maritimes are an area for unparalleled growth for lacrosse in Canada, and several important individuals have made key contributions over the years. Wayne Finck could be called by some “Father of Maritime Lacrosse.”
Unfortunately, Finck passed away after a battle with cancer before he could tell his tale in his own words. His daughter, Julie, and others have kept his legacy alive in this interview. Finck was involved as a player, a coach, a builder, administrator, a referee - as well as any other role you can think of. He is regarded as the person who saved the sport in Nova Scotia in the 1990’s, and was eventually inducted into the Nova Scotia Sports Hall of Fame as recognition for his many efforts.
This is one of just a few interviews we have undertaken regarding a Legend of Lacrosse who has passed, and we do so as a tribute to Wayne Finck’s legacy in the game.
Wayne Shuttleworth is known as a fine scorer and a rugged competitor. He was a member of four Mann Cup Championship teams for three different clubs. Shuttleworth had been a late starter to lacrosse, coming from a soccer background. The delayed start didn’t seem to matter.
Shuttleworth was selected to the Intercity League All-Star Team on three separate occasions. In 1971, he won the League Scoring Title with 61 goals and 82 assists. His career led him to a Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame induction in 1992. He also was a member of the 1968 Salmonbellies World Lacrosse Championship Team that was inducted into the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame in 2019.
Monty Slingerland learned to play lacrosse on the dirt floor of an outdoor rink within view of the Niagara Escarpment and wine country. He loved being involved in all facets of the game, adding coaching to his resume almost as soon as he began playing.
Slingerland embraced management as well, with the Niagara Warriors Junior B Team and becoming a co-owner at a fairly young age. 1973 was a dream year for Monty and his Warriors. The team won the Ontario Summer Games, the Canadian Summer Games, the Founders Cup, and ended the summer beating a tough Whitby squad for the Ontario championship.
Slingerland continued playing up to 1980 through participation in the Port Dalhousie Men’s League. His final coaching stint was in 1988-1989 in the Niagara-On-The-Lake Minor Lacrosse Association.
Joe Cambria is one of Quebec’s finest lacrosse players. He played minor lacrosse in Anjou, QC and progressed to Junior Major Lacrosse at age 15. Joe had a six-year Junior career from 1974-79. He won numerous League awards and set many records, including being a 4-time MVP, and establishing a Quebec Junior season point record. He would also captain Quebec Junior teams in three Founders Cup Tournaments to second and third place finishes.
In 1980 he joined the Montreal International Senior Team in the Can Am League. Cambria won the league scoring title as a rookie.
Cambria added to this impressive list as a field lacrosse and inter-crosse player. He gave many clinics and lectures on the game. He was a Quebec Lacrosse Federation Director and President. Cambria topped it all off as an analyst for NLL French broadcasts. Joe Cambria naturally received great honours for his career including the creation of the Joe Cambria Merit Award and the symbolic retirement of his number 19 by the QLA.
This interview is unique. Jojie Engemann talks about his parents and their legendary contributions to the game, and how their guidance led him to an impressive playing career himself.
Rose and Joe Engemann were inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame as Builders - for their tireless efforts in the creation and operation of the Spartan Athletic Club. It all began when the Engelmann’s registered Jojie to play minor lacrosse in St. Catharines. The Spartan Athletic program began in 1963, and during its peak in the 1970’s and 80’s as many as 2,000 children were playing in five different sports, including lacrosse.
Their most notable achievement, besides the joy of sports provided to thousands of youth, was the success of the 1981 and 1996 St. Catharines Spartans in winning Founder’s Cups.
Jojie Engemann tells a deeply personal story of the dedication and sacrifice his parents made to create a laudable lacrosse organization.
Bob Parry- British Columbia
After leading the B.C. Junior A Lacrosse League in scoring in 1954, Bob Parry went on to an outstanding Senior A career with the Vancouver Burrards, winning the Inter-City Lacrosse League outstanding Rookie award in 1955 and becoming an integral part of three Vancouver Mann Cup winners.
It was after his playing days when he really excelled. As Burrard General Manager for 1970 - 1976 he was largely responsible for moulding the team that was a success both on the floor, going to Mann Cup in 1971, 1975 and 1977, and at the gate.
In the late 1980's Bob was again there to help resurrect them. He brought the team back to the top with a Mann Cup appearance in 1990. He has been a tireless behind-the-scenes worker with the Burrards.
Gary Bottomley- Nova Scotia
Gary Bottomley was introduced to the game in 1968 and began to play in 1969. He has continued to play, coach, coordinate leagues and run skill development programs for Tyke to Senior players over the past fifty years. Bottomley retired from playing in 1996 at the age of 43. He played in 13 Canadian Championships and in some years he was a player-coach. In addition, Bottomley was the coach of the 1999 Nova Scotia Field lacrosse team that played in the Canadian Championship that were held in Halifax of that year.
Other highlights include being a member of the 1973 Nova Scotia Canada Games Lacrosse Team that received the Silver Medal. In 1975 he was drafted to the Quebec Caribou’s of the National Lacrosse League Later that summer he played in in the Canadian Senior B championship and won a Silver Medal. In 1977 he was selected to coach the Nova Scotia Canada Summer Games Junior Lacrosse Team. In 1978 he was asked to play with the Crossbow Inn Capitals in Edmonton. They won the the Alberta championship and went to the Canadian championships in B.C. He won Outstanding Player Awards in two of the games. He was also selected as a First Team All Star.
While playing and coaching in Nova Scotia, Bottomley was a member of teams that won various league and provincial championships at both the junior and senior levels.
Jim Bishop- Ontario
As our interview team conducted dozens of interviews across Canada over the last 4 years one name kept popping up - Jim Bishop. Bishop is one of the most well-known names in the game. He is deceased, but his influence and work lives on. We have put together a number of former players and coaches who knew him to discuss the lacrosse life of one of Canada’s most important contributors to the game. He was involved with lacrosse for 58 years, making his mark as coach and builder of the game in Ontario and throughout Canada.
Jim began coaching minor lacrosse in Toronto in 1946 and in 1957 he founded the Huntsville Minor Lacrosse Association. One of his greatest accomplishments was building the Oshawa Junior A Green Gaels - the legendary lacrosse organization that competed in and won 7 consecutive Minto Cups. This record of 7 consecutive titles from 1963 to 1969 has not been equalled since and likely won’t be matched.
Bishop was involved in establishing the initial National Lacrosse League in 1968 and coached the Detroit Olympics. In 1969, Jim also went to work in Pro Hockey with the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings. He served as a vice-president of the team for 4 years. In 1974, Jim was instrumental in establishing the NLL again for a 2 year period. During that time, he was the Coach and General Manager for the Toronto Tomahawks and then the coach of the Montreal Quebecois.
He became the first Technical Director of the Canadian Lacrosse Association in 1978. In 1997 he won his 8th Minto Cup as a coach.
Bishop is a winner of the Lester B. Pearson Award from the Canadian Lacrosse Association for excellence in lacrosse. In 1969 he was inducted into both the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame and the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
He did countless clinics for both players and coaches across the country. He wanted to teach Canadians the proper way to play the game he loved. He also established a company to distribute lacrosse equipment across Canada which assisted in the development of the sport.
Bishop’s greatness was his vision for the whole sport. He built systems into the game that were ahead of their time and made his players work hard to be skilled enough to execute these systems. He freely shared his knowledge and approach to the game and was instrumental in helping to expand the game to all provinces in the country.
His story is one everyone in the lacrosse community, young or old, should learn.
There are a few names that resonate within the lacrosse community when it comes to stickmaking. Many have heard of Jacques, Mitchell, Logan, Patterson, Cree, and Etienne among others.
One of the most important stick making families are the Roundpoints from Akwesasne. At one point, it is said, the Roundpoints produced 97% of the world’s wooden sticks. Join Frank and Bill Roundpoint as they tell the family story of stickmaking and playing the game.
Dennis Joseph descends from a long line of lacrosse players. His father, Willard Joseph, played box and field lacrosse for the famed North Shore Indians teams.
Dennis Joseph’s grandfather , Andrew Paull was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame. Paull was the founder/coach/manager of the North Shore Indians and the Squamish box and field teams. Paull was able to build capacity crowds of over 10,000 fans in the historic Denman Arena in the 1920’s and 30’s. Outside of lacrosse Paull was the well known activist and lawyer who battled for First Nation rights and advancement.
Dennis Joseph followed these footsteps with class and dedication. His minor years were with the North Shore Indians. He has played box and field lacrosse for over 54 years. He has almost exclusively played goalie and continued to star in Masters and Grand Master divisions years after others had retired. A most memorable moment in a colourful career was playing against Gaylord Powless and his father Ross Powless who coached when Joseph was 15 years old .
These days he coaches goaltending and serves as an elder at the Senior Level with three different organizations. Join us in hearing the unique story about Dennis Johnson and West Coast lacrosse.
Barry Powless has made his mark in lacrosse on both sides of the border as a player, coach and manager in both box and field versions of the game.
While at Lafayette H.S. near Syracuse he was named a USLA High School All American. He went on to play attack at Syracuse University. After Syracuse he played in the 1980 World Lacrosse Championship and won the Silver Medal as part of the Can-Am Warriors squad in Vancouver.
After getting a taste of West Coast life he would play for the next decade in the Vancouver area. In 1981 he would play and star for both the North Shore Indians and the New Westminster Salmonbellies who would win the Mann Cup.
In 1985 he captured a Presidents Cup with the North Shore Indians. He would join the Vancouver Burrards and the Coquitlam Adanacs during that time. He even made his mark in Field Lacrosse playing for the Vancouver Field Lacrosse Club and won a Provincial Championship and made the All-Star Team.
In 1990 he would head back east and helped propel the Fergus Thistles to a Presidents Cup Championship. That same year Powless played for the inaugural Iroquois National team in the World Championships in Perth, Australia. In 1992 he was picked up by the Buffalo Bandits in and would win an MILL Championship.
Powless would play at the Senior B level until his retirement at the advanced age of 50 years! This lengthy career brought him many honours including induction into the Ontario Lacross Hall of Fame in 1999, US Lacrosse Upstate New York Chapter Hall of Fame in 2015, the Akwesasne Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2018, the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2021 as a member of the Salmonbellies Organization and others. This year he was inducted into the North American Indigenous Athletic Hall of Fame.
His coaching and managing endeavours included Head Coach of the MLL Rochester Knighthawks from 1995-1997, VP of Lacrosse Operations for the NLL from 2000-2002 and Assistant Coach for the Iroquois 2003 World Indoor Finalists.
Barry Powless has done just about everything a lacrosse person can do
Joe Curotte is known as one of the toughest defensemen to come out of Kahnawake. His playing career stretched from 1965 through 1980 for both the Junior and Senior Caughnawaga Indians teams. He played against the best including Gaylord Powless, Johnny Davis, Bruce Roundpoint, Frank Benedict and Mike Benedict.
As a Junior he received the Best Defenceman Award in 1966 and 1968 and a similar award as a Senior player in 1976.He was a Junior All Star in 1967 and 1969. Joe was a member of the Junior team that won the Provincial Championship in 1966. He also won Silver with the Seniors in 1969.
A crowning achievement was capturing the Thorpe Longboat Trophy at the North American Lacrosse Championship in Vancouver in 1969. This accomplishment and his career in general led to his induction into the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2018.
