North Central Lacrosse News

(Bemidji) - The fall lacrosse season in northern Minnesota is heating up and winding down at the same time soon in Bemidji. The Northern Indigenous Lacrosse Day will be held at Bemidji State University on Sunday, October 11. Game play and skills sessions will be held from 10 am to 1:30 pm at the BSU Football Practice Field. All training sessions are geared toward beginners and intermediate players and are free to local and area youth and adults. All equipment will be provided. In case of rain the event will move indoors at the BSU Gillett Recreation Fitness Center. The event is hosted by the BSU American Indian Resource Center.

“North Central Lacrosse is encouraging programming in over 40 communities in our region of the state where lacrosse has not started yet,” said Dan Ninham. “We are a third of the way there with 13 communities

playing at various levels.”

Iroquois Nationals and pro player Brett Bucktooth will be featured as an instructor at Bemidji State. Other instructors include Curtiss Summers, Oneida Nation Lacrosse (WI) and Pat Haugen, Bemidji Lacrosse and Cass Lake Area Lacrosse. Bucktooth is currently playing for the Iroquois Nationals at the 2015 World Indoor Lacrosse Championships hosted by the Onondaga Nation in New York. The Iroquois Nationals defeated USA 13-9 on the first game of the event on Friday.

Brett Bucktooth will also be featured at Pine Point School in Ponsford on the southern end of the White Earth Nation on October 8 from 4 to 7 pm, at Red Lake on October 10 from 9:30 am to 1 pm and at Ponemah on October 10 from 2 to 6 pm. The Red Lake and Ponemah events will also feature Summers, Dan Shook, Ohio Coach of the Year, Mark Hellenack, former champion coach and founder of the Minnesota Boys Scholastic Lacrosse Association (MBSLA), and Kevin Reed, former champion coach and President of the MBSLA. All events are free and open to the general public.

Since starting Bemidji Lacrosse in the mid 90s, Ninham prepared teams to play with a 10 player field lacrosse roster and needed several more as substitutes. The standardized game has evolved into an inside out approach focused on variations of the indigenous lacrosse game.

“Indigenous forms of lacrosse have been played throughout North America for centuries,” said Ninham. “Among indigenous people the traditional games are considered the Creators Games. The games are played to honor the Creator. Games have also had medicinal purposes but we do not address these aspects because they are private to the indigenous people.”

The North Central Lacrosse program uses indigenous concepts that are unique to the modern game. They are also very cost effective. A single goal post is used at each end of a shorter field without goalies, there are no boundary lines and defender sticks, and game play is 4 vs. 4 with one substitute.

For more information on events or North Central Lacrosse, contact Dan Ninham at 218.368.6430 or coach.danninham@gmail.com