Sports Briefs - June

Iroquois team prepares for worlds

The Iroquois Nationals will be one of six teams participating in the highest division at the men’s world field lacrosse championships this summer. The tournament will run from July 15 to 24 in Manchester, England.

The Iroquois Nationals, who will feature players from both Canada and the United States, will compete in the Blue Division along with Canada, United States, England, Australia and Japan. A total of 30 squads will take part in the world tournament. They will be split up into seven divisions.

Teams are placed in a division with other clubs that organizers believe are comparably matched. Though those in the Blue Division will challenge for the medals, all teams in all divisions will vie for final placing and spots in higher-calibre divisions at future world events.

The Iroquois Nationals placed fourth at the last world tournament. That event, which was in 2006, was staged in London, Ont.

Iroquois Nationals also just missed out on a medal at both the 2002 and 1998 world tournaments. They placed fourth in both of those events, held in Perth, Australia and Baltimore, respectively.

The Iroquois Nationals will play their first game at this year’s world championships against England on July 15. The team will play five round-robin games, including a match against the Canadians, the defending tournament champions, on July 19.

Saskatchewan to host nationals

The Whitecap Dakota First Nation in Saskatchewan will be the host of this year’s Canadian Native Fastball Championships. The tournament is scheduled to begin on July 30 and continue until Aug. 2.

A maximum of 32 teams will compete in each of the men’s and women’s senior open divisions. Masters divisions will also be contested for both sexes. Both of these categories will have a maximum of eight entries each.

Alberta’s Siksika Rebels won the senior men’s division at the ’09 nationals, hosted by the Alexis Nakota First Nation in Alberta. And a club from Manitoba dubbed Northern Lights captured the women’s senior title.

A pair of Alberta squads won the two masters groupings. The Eagle River Chiefs took top honors in the men’s division and the Bad News Babez captured the women’s crown.

Warriors name coach

A familiar face in the Akwesasne sporting community has been named as the head coach of the town’s new minor professional hockey league team.

Joe Phillips has been named the head coach of the Akwesasne Warriors, which will begin their inaugural Federal Hockey League (FHL) campaign this fall. The Warriors are the lone Canadian franchise in the six-squad FHL.

Phillips previously served as both a head coach and an asssistant coach with the Akwesasne Wolves, a Junior B team. Phillips also spent the past four seasons as the coach of the varsity boys’ hockey team at New York’s Massena Central High School.

Over the years, Phillips has coached his share of high school, college, junior and senior lacrosse clubs. For Phillips, this is actually the second time he has been named as the head coach of a new Akwesasne team. In 2007 he was the bench boss for Akwesasne’s Junior A lacrosse franchise.

Youth and police hit ice

For the second straight year, some Aboriginal youth and police officers from Thunder Bay and surrounding areas squared off in a hockey tournament. The second annual Community Cup Sports Youth Hockey Tournament was staged May 7 and 8 at the Fort Williams First Nation Arena.

The event was organized by the Thunder Bay Police Service Aboriginal Liaison Committee.

The tournament featured about 60 participants on eight teams.

The police officers were representing the Nishnawbe-Aski Police, Anishinabek Police, Thunder Bay Police, Ontario Provincial Police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The purpose of the tournament is to bring Aboriginal youth and various police officers together in the spirit of fun, sport and community.

Rookie impresses

Casey Pierro-Zabotel put up some decent numbers in his first season as a professional hockey player. The 21-year-old, who was born in Ashcroft, B.C. and has Bonaparte ancestry, spent the majority of the past season with the East Coast Hockey League’s Wheeling Nailers.

He played 49 games with the West Virginia-based squad and earned 41 points (12 goals, 29 assists) in 49 games.
Pierro-Zabotel also played nine matches, picking up one assist,  in the higher calibre American Hockey League with the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Pierro-Zabotel had spent the previous two seasons with the Western Hockey League’s Vancouver Giants. He was also a third-round selection by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2007 National Hockey League Entry Draft.

By Sam Laskaris