The Creator's Game

PABLO — If you haven’t yet heard about the 10Sticks Lacrosse Club, you’ve got some catching up to do. Last year, coach Alex Alviar, a professor at Salish Kootenai College, started a buzz that’s turned into a rumble. He’s aiming to build a social culture and a community centered upon lacrosse on the Flathead Indian Reservation, and in just over a year, he’s well on his way to achieving that goal.

“We are committed to the communal, the cultural, the academic and the athletic excellence of our players as well as that of our players’ supporting family members, supporting friends and supporting organizations here on the Flathead Indian Reservation and beyond,” he wrote in a letter to the online lacrosse community last year. “We aim to showcase the game of lacrosse as a major Native American contribution to the world and as a point of cultural pride for our member athletes, Native and non-Native alike.”

Just three weeks after starting the program in October 2010, the club had put lacrosse sticks into the hands of 87 different kids in Arlee middle and high schools and at Two Eagle River High School. Two weeks after that, another 90 middle school and high school students were playing lacrosse in St. Ignatius. Kids started asking for a competitive club team, so Alviar delivered.

In its inaugural year, the team struggled just to get 10 guys to field a game.

“We just did a whole lot of hustling and made some really important partnerships,” Alviar said of that first year, which 10Sticks ended with a 3-7 record.

This year, the club is starting off with a record of 1-1 after winning the season’s first game against Missoula Sentinel and falling last Thursday to Missoula Hellgate (3-0), by a score of 17-8.

“Overall, I was really impressed with how well we challenged Hellgate’s offense in the first quarter and first half,” he said. “They’re the No. 1 ranked team in the state and we’re the No. 2 ranked team. So far they’ve rolled over every single team they faced, but I think we surprised them.”

Al Plant and Zach Schmitt each scored a goal apiece and Dan Lafranier, aptly donning the No. 1 jersey, dominated the net with six of his own.

“Our boys came away feeling pretty confident at the end of the game — we got to see how we matched up against the best, what we need to work on and how we can aim to beat them,” Alviar said.

It was the team’s first home game and only its second game of the season. Alviar and coach JR Daniels have lots of experience to bring to the table. Both played competitive lacrosse in Michigan in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.

“That scene was dominated by physical strength and speed over finesse with the stick, with heavy, heavy emphasis on defense,” Alviar said. “I think right now, we’re a strong defensive team, looking to build our offensive game as the season rolls on.”

Like many nonprofits, 10Sticks faces financial hurdles, as well as time and resource limitations.

“Anywhere else in the country, a lacrosse league will charge a kid $400 just to play and also will require them to purchase their own equipment,” Alviar said. “Our kids face entirely different social and economic hurdles that the majority of lacrosse clubs do not face, so we charge $20, and provide the gear.”

In 2011, the club won a grant from U.S. Lacrosse, the governing body of lacrosse in the United States. The package included player sticks, protective eyewear, full protective goalie equipment (including gloves, arm guards, shoulder pads and helmets).

10Sticks’ players come from different backgrounds and some are forced to drive nearly the entire length of the Mission Valley to go to practice every day. Since there aren’t many lacrosse teams in Montana, games take place all over the state.

“We have players from Arlee, Mission, Ronan, Polson and Pablo,” Alviar said. “Our long term dream is that every town has its own team and 10Sticks Lacrosse will act as the umbrella league.”

It’s a sign of things to come. In 2010, the state of Montana had two high schools teams — both in Missoula. This spring, there are 10. Even more impressive, 10Sticks has paved the way for Native American lacrosse players nationwide. Lafranier and Plant were the first two Native American lacrosse players – ever – to earn All-State honors.

Alviar, a former high school All-American goalie himself, is dedicated to bringing lacrosse to Native American reservations. At the end of the month, the club will face off against the Nadzitsaga Lacrosse Club, a Native American team from the Paiute Tribe in Burns, Ore. There is even talk of hosting the game at the Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula.

“Our club is unique because we’ve really showcased lacrosse as a Native game,” Alviar said. “It’s called the creator’s game and we use it to bridge all nations.”

Check out the gallery to see more photos from the game and to purchase your favorites: http://www.instantimagegallery.com/iig/a/795/271385;jsessionid=44121AB2F88B9ECF8F8160E105906EDE?state:cat/Catalog=BrO0ABXcgAAAAAgEAByRCb3JkZXIAEG9yaWdpbmFsQ2xpZW50SWRzcgARamF2YS5sYW5nLkludGVnZXIS4qCk94GHOAIAAUkABXZhbHVleHIAEGphdmEubGFuZy5OdW1iZXKGrJUdC5TgiwIAAHhwAAADG3cMAAAJY2F0YWxvZ0lkc3EAfgAAAAADEw%3D%3D