The Grizzlies Lacrosse Club is using teachings from its recent losses during the regular season to prepare them for playoffs next month.
Co-coach of the Arena Lacrosse League team Tewanee Joseph said the Grizzlies are looking to come together over the next couple of games and rise up before the playoffs.
“You win games, you lose games. Sometimes you start strong, and then you’ve got to go through a dip, and then you come up again. And that's our team right now, we started very, very strong.”
The Grizzlies are coming off a three-game losing streak; however, they are sitting steady in second place with five wins and five loses, with two regular season games to go.
Joseph said with each game, players learn about each other, and although “we’re going through a bit of a dip right now, we're on the rise.”
The team is playing a fast-paced game heading into the playoffs, and Joseph added that with that, the players get a chance to be across both ends of the floor.
“[With] our last two games, our goal is to really connect with each other, and find that rhythm. There’s a certain rhythm in the game, and when you're in that rhythm, then you're playing the game at the very highest level.”
A new team in the inaugural All West Division of the National Lacrosse League development league, Joseph brought young guns into the team with veteran players who are leading the way.
“The players are learning through each game … you're always going to ebb and flow,” he said, adding that when the team gets pressed for a quarter or two, it’s a learning moment for them all.
“All of those are what we call teachings in our culture. And it's those teachings that are going to allow us to handle playoffs, because everything intensifies. So, we're drawing all those teachings.”
Proud of what the team and staff have already done, Joseph said the league has been able to create a space to showcase the best of who the players are.
Joseph’s uncle, Elder Dennis Joseph, who is the team’s cultural ambassador, has also created an environment of trust, where players and staff can come together and connect, not just about the Creator’s game.
“We all connect with the players. And we talked to them, not just on game day, or not just at practices, but off the floor as well. We want to share these teachings … and that's what helps us create that space of trust.
Right from the “get go,” Joseph said Indigenous values were talked about in the creation of the team and the division.
“We talked about Indigenous values, which are really family values, family values that are universal to everyone. We were talking about connection, talking about respect, humility, and those are the values that we have as Indigenous peoples, but they're also to all people as well.
“In our longhouse culture, we are about family. And that's what the Grizzlies are -- we're a family. [Bringing together] people from different places. We're sharing the teachings of the game and learning together, and then having [the players] go out and perform the game for the Creator.”
Charlie Carey is the North Shore News' Indigenous and civic affairs reporter. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.
