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Pro lacrosse article

Discussion in 'Writers' Workshop' started by DGRollins, Mar 20, 2007.

  1. DGRollins

    DGRollins Member

    I wrote this on deadline this weekend for an Aboriginal publication. I would appreciate feedback.

    Thanks in advance...

    Start:
    There may be no better place to play lacrosse in North America than Six Nations, say two members of the defending NLL champion Colorado Mammoth.

    “I wouldn’t be the same player, I wouldn’t be the same person, if it wasn’t for my time in Six Nations,” former Six Nations Arrows and Chiefs defender John Gallant said.

    However, for goaltender Chris Levis, playing for Six Nations was about more than just sport. Growing up in Windsor, he says he didn’t have a full appreciation of his Aboriginal heritage.

    “Growing up in the city you don’t realize it (your heritage),” he said. “You don’t have any reference to it.”

    However, playing in the heart of lacrosse country provided him with an epiphany.

    “When I came to Six Nations it was the first time I saw kids in the street with lacrosse sticks,” he said. “It made me realize just how important it is to the people and their lifestyle. It was a real eye opener to me.”

    Levis says the experience changed his outlook on life. He moved from Windsor and spent almost three years living on the reserve. He came for lacrosse, but he grew to love the area and stayed long beyond the lacrosse season.

    “It was a amazing,” he said. “The culture, the people, you never would have that anywhere else in North America.”

    Gallant, who played four years for the Arrows and two for the Chiefs, in a non-native. A native of Brantford, he says playing in an Aboriginal community was an experience that he feels privileged to have had.

    “It’s part of their heritage and part of their history,” he said. “I was lucky enough and I feel honoured that the people of Six Nations and Oshweken allowed me into their lifestyle.”

    Although both men now live in Western Canada during the NLL off-season and play their summer lacrosse for the Victoria Shamrocks, they remain connected to Six Nations. Both say they are exited that they will be returning to the community next week when the Mammoth holds a practice at the ILA.

    When Gallant returns, he will be doing so as a first-time all-star. As a six-year veteran of the NLL he says he appreciated being named to the Western Conference all-star team last month—especially since he plays a defensive-first style that sometimes gets overlooked.

    He isn’t sure he would have become an all-star without Six Nations.

    “I think that without the coaching staff and the players on Six Nations, both with the Arrows and the Chiefs, I wouldn’t be the player I am today,” he said. “I was lucky to play with some great players.”

    Levis hasn’t yet developed into an all-star. He has served in mostly a backup role for the Mammoth this season. Still, he says, the last 12-months have been good to him as a professional athlete.

    Colorado captured its first NLL championship last year and has a league-best 10-1 record in 2007.

    “The last 12-months have been pretty good, yeah,” he said. “As a team we’ve really come together—fought through some adversity. I think we’ve shown that last year wasn’t a fluke.”

    Indeed, the Mammoth have clearly been the top team in the NLL this year. Their 10-1 record puts them 2.5 games up on second place Arizona in the West and is a game ahead of Rochester in the overall standings. The Mammoth boast the second best offensive record with 142 goals scored and the league’s third stingiest defense, allowing only 114.

    They are the only team to have clinched a playoff berth, having done so more than a month prior to the end of the season.

    Colorado is in Buffalo for a game Saturday.
     
  2. dawgpounddiehard

    dawgpounddiehard Active Member

    I think it needs a nut graph showing where you're going with this story... i.e. your angle.
     
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