HAUDENOSAUNEE — The Iroquois Nationals have announced the dates of the open and invitational team selection camp for the Federation of International Lacrosse World Indoor Lacrosse Championships (WILC) to be played at Onondaga Nation and in Syracuse, N.Y., from Sept. 18 to 27, 2015.
Potential candidates for the Iroquois Nationals roster – which will ultimately be trimmed to 23 spots – are invited to attend a two-day camp on Thursday June 25 and Friday June 26 at the new state-of-the-art Community Center at Cattaraugus.
On June 25, the Iroquois Nationals coaching staff will be holding a true “open” tryout session from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., offering any Haudenosaunee lacrosse player the opportunity to be evaluated and move forward in the tryout process. At the conclusion of the session, a catered meal will be provided to participants. Players whom the coaches and evaluation staff deem worthy will be asked to participate in the remainder of the tryout.
Friday morning will begin the main camp with the first session running from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. The second session is from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Friday afternoon, between the two main sessions, the Iroquois Nationals will be hosting a free youth lacrosse clinic to support the Newtown Minor Lacrosse Association. A one-hour session will be held from approximately 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Friday. Boys in minor lacrosse are invited to attend. The clinic will be followed by an autograph session with the prospective Iroquois Nationals players and past members of the team trying out for the 2015 squad.
Involving young Haudenosaunee players and community members is a priority for Iroquois Nationals General Manager Landon Miller and his staff as they work to build the team and improve upon the Nationals silver-medal finish four years ago in Prague.
“I want to make sure that we are giving back to our youth through this journey,” said Miller, who is on the Iroquois bench for the first time around. “That’s very important for the Iroquois Nationals as an organization and so we will use opportunities to do so as much possible throughout this process.”
For the first time, the WILC event is being held on Haudenosaunee lands. The WILC will be the first men’s international sporting event held on native lands. Thirteen different nations will be competing for the WILC championship at Tsha’hon’nonyen’dakhwa’ — Onondaga Nation Arena — and Syracuse University’s Carrier Dome.
Player tryout registration for the Iroquois Nationals 2015 team must contact Landon Miller by email at iroquoisnats@gmail.com.
For more information on the Iroquois Nationals, visit IroquoisNationals.org. To see the full details of the WILC 2015 event visit wilc2015.com.
Iroquois Nationals Open and Invitations Tryouts Schedule for WILC 2015
Location: Cattaraugus Community Center, Irving, N.Y. – Cattaraugus, Seneca Nation
Thursday, June 25
• Open Tryout – 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Friday, June 26
• Invitational Tryout Session Part 1: 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
• Youth Lacrosse Clinic: 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
• Iroquois Nationals Autograph Session: 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.
* Invitational Tryout Session Part 2: 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Original Article on IroquoisNationals.org: Iroquois Nationals announce try outs for the 2015 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship
2015 World Indoor Lacrosse Website: https://wilc2015.com/
About the Iroquois Nationals
The Iroquois are the originators of the modern day game of Lacrosse. Shrouded in time, Lacrosse was played among the Confederacy long before the coming of the Europeans to the shores of North America. It can be said that when the Europeans first came to America, Lacrosse was one of the most popular and widespread games played across the continent and with many variations. The long stick game played internationally today belongs to the Iroquois.
The Iroquois, also known as the Six Nations, represent the indigenous people that originally occupied extensive lands in what is now New York State, southern Quebec and Ontario, Canada. Stretching from the Hudson River and Mohawk Valley through to the northern and central Great Lakes region, a confederacy was formed and it brought together the Cayuga, Oneida, Onondaga, Mohawk and Seneca tribes into the first League of Nations in North America. The Tuscarora joined the Confederacy in the mid-1700s to become the sixth member nation.
The Iroquois name for themselves is ‘Haudenosaunee’ which means “People of the Longhouse”. The longhouse symbolizes a way of life where the Six Nations Confederacy live under one common law, think with one mind and speak with one voice. That law is called “Gien na sah nah gonah” the Great Law of Peace. The alliance of the Haudenosaunee created the first United Nations in this land, thus we maintain the oldest, continuously operating form of government in North America. We have lived in northeastern North America for thousands of years. The people of the Six Nations currently residing in New York and Canada remain sovereign and independent. The Iroquois people identify themselves as citizens of their respective nation and travel internationally under their own passports.
Historical evidence indicates that the Iroquois had a significant role in the development of democratic principles in North America and the ideas and concepts of the Iroquois form of government influenced the thinking of Benjamin Franklin, who was instrumental in the development of the American Constitution. All the nations of the confederacy speak dialects of the Iroquois language. The people of the Confederacy belong to any one of the nine family clans (Turtle, Bear, Wolf, Deer, Beaver, Hawk, Heron, Snipe or Eel) of the Haudenosaunee and share many common beliefs and traditions under the Great Law. In 1987, the Congress of the United States unanimously passes Concurrent Resolution S.76, recognizing the contribution of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) to the democratic principles of the Constitution of the United States.
Today, approximately 70,000 plus Iroquois people reside in eighteen communities in the states of New York, Wisconsin and Oklahoma, and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec.
Website: https://iroquoisnationals.org
