(March 7, 2023) – The Haudenosaunee Nationals are proud to announce the 23 men who will represent the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and compete at the World Lacrosse Men’s Championship in San Diego, California this June.
The Nationals are one of five teams which make up Pool A for the World Championship, joined by the United States, Canada, Australia, and England. They will face each team during pool play, with the first contest being against England on Friday, June 23 at 4:00 p.m. PT.
General Manager Darcy Powless worked with Assistant General Manager Tom Mariano, Head Coach Lars Tiffany, and Assistant Coaches Scott Marr, Vince Longboat, and Chris Doctor to narrow down the roster to the 23 players who will give the Nationals the best chance to win a gold medal in San Diego. A competitive training camp brought players from as far as Arizona and Wisconsin to Buffalo, N.Y. for a chance to represent the Haudenosaunee.
“It was good to have that variety of players out to broaden our team and broaden our name,” Powless said, “spreading it more for the Native players that they are loved and can participate and play with our guys.”
Familiar names will once again represent the Haudenosaunee on the world stage, with plenty of young players with collegiate and professional experience making the roster for the first time.
Attack
Brendan Bomberry, Thomas Hoggarth, Kyle Jackson, Zach Miller, Tehoka Nanticoke, Jakob Patterson, Austin Staats, Randy Staats, Larson Sundown, Lyle Thompson
Midfield
Blake Gibson-McDonald, Stone Jacobs, Brooker Muir, Kason Tarbell, Jeremy Thompson
Defense
Ron John, Jacob Piseno, Jerry Staats, Oakley Thomas, Jerome “Hiana” Thompson, Zed Williams
Goalie
Warren Hill, Jack Van Valkenburgh
The roster was designed with positional flexibility and athleticism in mind. Most of the 23 players can play offense or defense, giving the team plenty of depth. With the lack of a shot clock in the series, the athleticism needed defensively to play long shifts and still come up with huge defensive stops is paramount.
The Nationals will spend the time ahead of competition in June communicating and prepping, but with everyone playing professional or collegiate lacrosse, opportunities for practices together will be few until those seasons are over. However, the games the players are participating in now will help keep them sharp for San Diego.
“The best benefit of us is we are such a smaller community of players,” Powless said. “... Right now, we know everybody on the list is playing somewhere, so that’s a huge bonus. Nobody’s sitting at home just waiting for practice. Everyone on this list is up and busy, they’ve got their sticks in their hands. It’s just a matter of fine-tuning everything.”
The international competition features 30 nations and runs from June 21 to the championship game on July 1. Games will be played across three venues at San Diego State University and the University of San Diego, with marquee matchups taking place at Snapdragon Stadium.