History and heritage: NLL looks to enhance league's standing among First Nations

Displaying the Iroquois flag alongside the Canadian and U.S. flags for games in arenas in the nine franchise cities is one of the suggestions being made to commissioner Nick Sakiewicz as the National Lacrosse League looks at ways to enhance First Nations content.

“I think it is a great idea, personally,” says Sakiewicz.

First Nations ceremonies before all games was another suggestion made during a conference call heralding the Pennsylvanian’s tour of Six Nations territory in southern Ontario on Wednesday and Thursday at the invitation of Six Nations entrepreneur Curt Styres, majority owner of the NLL’s Rochester Knighthawks.

Sakiewicz says he will pass the suggestions on to the board of governors. The tour of the community that supplies so many of the athletes for Canada’s national summer sport is the first by a sitting commissioner in the 30-year history of the pro indoor league, which has never taken full advantage of the benefits that would be available by fully embracing those who forged lacrosse’s history. The sport is, in the minds of the Haudenosaunee people, a gift from the Creator.

“At heart I’m a history buff,” Sakiewicz said as he contemplated his trip. “I love the history of sport.

“I love the history of the game and its traditions up there. I’m looking forward to immersing myself in that culture and understanding where such an ancient game came from and to put my arms around it. I’m looking forward to it . . . and to meeting all of those fine, passionate lacrosse fans up in Six Nations (a 90-minute drive southwest of Toronto).”

Of the NLL's 215 players, 19 (8.8 per cent) are native North Americans. They include Cody Jamieson, a Mohawk, and Jeff Shattler, of the Ojibwe tribe, the league’s MVPs in 2014 and in 2011, respectively.

As well as the team owned by Styres, the New England Black Wolves have native ownership in the Mohegans of Connecticut. Pre-game ceremonies featuring First Nations dancers are colorful preludes to games in their arenas.

Referring to some of the NLL’s native North Americans as “spectacular, tremendous players," the commissioner says he looks forward to “learning about where they came from, the traditions behind their development and how they developed as players.”

“I get to see highlight reels after each weekend of them doing great stuff in our league and part of my goal in visiting Six Nations is to see where those guys come from, where they grew up and what has made them as good as they are. When I look at talent no matter what sport, you can always see superstar talent and there is all sorts of reasons why that talent emerges. I’m looking forward to seeing the environment they grew up in and understanding what makes them the elite athletes that they are.”

Sakiewicz said one of the goals of the visit is “to understand what we can do more of.”

“I made it pretty clear when I came in that we were going to really be a transparent and open-book league for our fans . . . and for our athletes and that we were going to operate in a little bit of a different fashion perhaps than leagues operate in other sports.

“I want to understand how we can create platforms and events to showcase the talent that comes from this rich ethnic diversity.”

Canada won gold and the Iroquois Nationals won silver at the 2015 world indoor championship last September. The Onondaga Nation was host with games in its arena and in the nearby Syracuse Carrier Dome.

Sakiewicz refers to lacrosse as the best-kept secret in professional sport.

“The unique aspects of our game, including the involvement of so many high-quality native North Americans playing in our league, many of whom are star players for their teams, I think that needs to be uncovered,” he says. “Maybe over 30 years the NLL has got a little complacent and relied too much on the status quo.

“That’s not the way we’re going to move this league forward. We’re going to move this league forward in a very open-minded and out-of-the-box way, no pun intended.”

A big part of his mandate is to bring in new franchises. It was not long ago that there were 13 teams. Sakiewicz hopes for 16 to 20 by the end of the decade, which means many more players will be needed.

“I’m astonished at the quality, precision and skill that our players produce very single weekend and it’s a shame it’s not out there enough. It needs to be out there more on the ESPNs and TSNs of the world on their sport wrap-ups, on digital media, in every respect, and I hope my visit to Six Nations is going to bring more attention to our league.”