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Bringing the Gift of the Creators Game to Rural Northern California
Iroquois Lacrosse Program at Humboldt University
When Humboldt State University lacrosse head coach Tony Silvaggio decided to hold the first lacrosse camp behind the Redwood Curtain, he went back to the game's roots. Despite HSU fielding a men's club team since 1983, Silvaggio noticed a lack of elementary and high school lacrosse in the region and saw the Iroquois lacrosse program as a great opportunity to bring the sport to area youth, including the underserved communities along California's rural North Coast. Humboldt and the adjacent counties are some of the most rural and poorest counties in California, with limited recreational opportunities for youth. Few resources of any kind come their way, as most investments in jobs, education, and sports are made in the larger urban centers. New equipment for any novice player can easily cost more than $300 and which is a huge barrier to the development of the sport in these communities.
"Many of us have been hoping to build interest in developing youth lacrosse here, and when Heidi Faith, president of the Northern California Chapter of US Lacrosse, contacted me about bringing the Iroquois Lacrosse Program out to Northern California, we figured this would be the perfect kick-off event to get things moving in the right direction,” Silvaggio said. "The main goal for me was to make the camp accessible to all. Living in one of the poorest counties in California, it was important for us to keep the camp free so all kids could get exposure to the sport regardless of income," Silvaggio said. "We wanted to begin building the lacrosse program by introducing the history and cultural importance of the game."
The two-day program was held in July at Humboldt State University and introduced more than 70 girls and boys, ages 8 to 18, to the culture, history and fundamentals of the game. Since lacrosse is considered the first indigenous North American sport, the camp attracted Native American youth from North Coast tribes, including the Karuk, Wiyot, Hupa, Yurok and Tolowa.
The camp was run by the Iroquois Lacrosse Program (ILP) which focuses on development and travels between Canada and USA to bring their unique vision to youth. “We were extremely excited and honored to be able to host the Iroquois National coaches. Exposing our under-served youth to the cultural, historical and spiritual components of our sport is a unique and incomparable experience.” Heidi Faith, president of the NorCal Chapter of US Lacrosse stated. “A generous gift from the KOKARI Foundation and charitable contributions from donors to the US Lacrosse Foundation First Stick program made this possible. We are extremely grateful for their support in helping to build lacrosse in this area.”
"We're putting lacrosse sticks in kids' hands that may not have had the opportunity to do that. Just the thing of having sticks in their hands and being able to experience what this game is all about is a big deal," Cam Bomberry, director of lacrosse for the Iroquois lacrosse program, said. "These kids are learning and they're building new friendships. And that's what lacrosse does, it builds friendships. That's why this community is getting so big, so fast. Lacrosse makes friends."
All equipment was generously donated through the loaner program of the Northern California chapter of US Lacrosse, Harrow Lacrosse and Warrior Lacrosse. Brine Lacrosse provided sticks and other items for prizes. The camp also had the support of numerous Native American organizations, tribes, and volunteers, such as the Center for Indian Community Development, the Seventh Generation Fund, Native Cultures Fund, the Smith River Rancheria Cultural Department, and the tribal members. Humboldt State University administration provided funding and discounted rates to house the 40-plus overnight campers who traveled from the remote areas in Humboldt, Trinity, Mendocino, Shasta and Del Norte counties. The housing effort was entirely driven by volunteer college coaches, players and community members, many who slept in the dorms just like the campers as chaperones.
Ansley Jemison, a former attackman with the Syracuse Orangemen and Iroquois Nationals, said a key to the camp's success is in challenging the kids with something new and combining it a fun, healthy activity. "As a kid, a lacrosse stick was my version of an X-Box or a PlayStation," Jemison said. "More and more kids have these sedentary lifestyles now, they're stuck inside. Here, we're fortunate enough to have these three, very nice fields out here for these kids to run around in, lot of wide open spaces, encourage them to have fun, get loud, scream, throw balls around, chase each other around with sticks.”
"When I was a little kid, starting to learn something about lacrosse, I realized, OK, I can become a baseball player and go stand around in a field and wait for someone to hit a ball at me, or I could actually run around and run somebody over or hit them with a stick or score a goal or throw a ball as hard as I could at something. That stuff was all cool to me.”
"The game to us is a medicinal game, so it has a lot of meaning to us spiritually but it's also something just a good thing for us," Jemison continued. "I've always equated a lacrosse stick to a vehicle. It's something that can get you to a lot of other places. It was something that got me through a lot of hard times. It was something that got me to go on and further my education, to pursue a college degree, and after I had that it seemed the world was wide open... All because of this stick here, my life has opened up tenfold. It's been amazing."
Silvaggio said he hopes the youngsters left the camp wanting to continue with lacrosse at the club and eventually high school level. “At present, we have a lot of interest and energetic volunteers who want to start a youth lacrosse program in the area. The biggest barrier we have to doing this is funding. I’ve been the coach at Humboldt State for the past four years and find the biggest deterrent in getting students to try out for the team is the cost of equipment. We are starting from scratch financially at the youth level, and although we have a number of committed volunteer coaches and players who want to develop the youth program, there are few financial resources available to get us off the ground. Without the support of the local native community and community organizations, this camp would have never happened. They took the lead role in outreach and organizing, and made this event a success.”
Besides learning about the Iroquois game, the participants were treated to a demonstration of the stick games from the tribes of northern California, called “sticks,” which is an athletic sport similar to lacrosse and rugby. The game is an endurance and strength game played on a sandy expanse stretching anywhere from 150 to 300 feet, is three-on-three. Men use sticks to try to throw a "tossel," which are two small, wooden blocks connected by a 5-inch-long buckskin strap, across opposing goal lines. Points are scored by getting the tossel across the goal line by flicking it with a 3-foot stick that is slightly curved on the end. Historically, the stick game was a sport, but one that had an almost ceremonial nature. “Sticks” is played not only in the physical world, but also in the spirit world by Yurok ancestors. The training, the medicine and the discipline are spiritual requirements.” This demo illustrated to the attendees the rich diversity of indigenous games and reinforced the cultural importance of stick games to tribes all over North America that have been played from time immemorial.
At the end of the camp, the 70-plus attendees were treated to a wild salmon barbeque, hosted by theSeventh Generation Fund and organized by HSU Academic Services Director Adrienne Colegrove-Raymond. "We just appreciate being here, being part of this all," Bomberry said. "If this is the first one of an annual thing, then we're all for it. We're definitely here again next year, whenever they want us back.”
Bomberry continued, "The best thing about lacrosse I think is the overall, holistic medicine of it. The campers get to play outside and to be out in the environment, the natural surroundings; it's just something to be outside playing. It's better than being stuck in the house watching the TV, little box, you know, playing video games. It's about being outside and enjoying what's around you and being a part of that. We're natural beings; we're a part of this."
The next step for this fledgling lacrosse program is dependent on the ability of the club to get stick donations, and Coach Silvaggio is hard at work trying to line up donors to get sticks in the hands of the kids. Currently he’s working with Arcata High School to add a lacrosse component to their PE classes.
For photos of the ILP camp at Humboldt University, visit norcallacrosse.org/media/gallery/ILP/
For video of the ILP camp at Humboldt University >>
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About Lacrosse Origins
Native Americans first played the game in what is now Southern Quebec and Ontario, as well as in New England and the Great Lakes region. To Native Americans, lacrosse had a spiritual and cultural significance. Lacrosse was played during harvest time to celebrate the changing of the seasons and as a right-of-passage for men. Since then, the game developed and standardized in the late 1800s in Canada into the modern game that we see today.
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Iroquois Lacrosse Program: Sharing the Gift of the Creator's Game
The Iroquois Lacrosse Program was established to provide quality interactive instructional and leadership sessions in box, field and indoor Lacrosse. Mission: To provide leadership camps, instructional clinics and motivational sessions to inspire youth.
Our Directors and Instructional staff are also available to conduct motivational and inspirational sessions to students, youth, schools, communities or international countries who truly want to understand what the game is all about (i.e. cultural education/awareness) and why it's important for people to strive for excellence and commit to achieving their goals (motivational and empowerment).
facebook.com/iroquois.lacrosse.program
US Lacrosse Foundation First Stick Program :
The US Lacrosse First Stick Program was established to supply lacrosse equipment, coaches and officials education, and life-skills training to teams in diverse and non-traditional communities throughout the United States.
With the assistance of generous donor contributions, the First Stick Program will provide a multi-year deployment of comprehensive US Lacrosse team development resources to expand participation beyond traditional boundaries and inspire kids to play hard, dream big, and act responsibly within the sport of lacrosse and the game of life. The First Stick Program is inspired by the life journey and experiences of founders Paul Meyer, Peter Gibson, and Lou Delligatti, who where teammates and friends at Oceanside High School in New York.
uslacrosse.org/FirstStickProgram
NorCal Lacrosse Foundation:
The Northern California Lacrosse Foundation is a regional Chapter of US Lacrosse, the national governing body of lacrosse. The Northern California Lacrosse Foundation is an independent non-profit corporation which is dedicated to promoting and supporting the growth of lacrosse in Northern California. The Chapters supports the leagues, clubs, teams and organizations which operate in Northern California by offering start-up loans, scholarships, loaner equipment, coaching and officiating development programs and educational events.
norcallacrosse.org
Humboldt State Lacrosse:
The Humboldt State Lacrosse fields both men’s and women’s collegiate club lacrosse programs. The men’s team is a member of Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA) competing in the Western Collegiate Lacrosse League (WCLL) division. The women’s compete in the North D2 division of Western Women’s Lacrosse League (WWLL).
Humboldt State Lacrosse has struggled over the years but now under strong leadership and coaching of Tony Silvaggio they are having good success and looking to build a feeder program from local youth.
humboldtlacrosse.org
Center for Indian Community Development (CICD)
In 1966, Humboldt State University established the Center for Indian Community Development (CICD) to provide services to American Indian communities in Northern California. Since then, CICD collaborated with American Indian community members, Tribes, Indian organizations, educational institutions, and governmental representatives on hundreds of projects. CICD continues to dedicate its staff, materials, and resources to support projects, programs, and goals as defined by each American Indian community.
humboldt.edu/cicada/
Seventh Generation Fund
The Seventh Generation Fund is an Indigenous non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and maintaining the uniqueness of Native peoples throughout the Americas. We offer an integrated program of advocacy, small grants, training and technical assistance, media experience and fiscal management, lending our support and extensive expertise to Indigenous grassroots communities.
7genfund.org/
