FIL World Championship THOMPSON AND


THOMPSON (and Thompson and Thompson)


Even when the Iroquois played the U.S. in pool play on its home soil, you could say the crowd was at least 50-50 in whom they supported. The Thompsons road show pulled into Denver and headlined for two weeks. They were followed for autographs in the hotel and spent 20 minutes after every game doing the same thing. Co-Tewaaraton Award winners Lyle and Miles, who made their name to a wider audience at Albany in the spring, were joined by older brothers Jeremy and Jerome. And their father, Jerome Sr., was an assistant coach. “We’re just the roadies,” Iroquois assistant coach Marc Van Arsdale said.


Of the four brothers, Jerome — who goes by “Haina,” short for his native name, Susquehanna — was the most under-the-radar heading into the tournament, having not played the field


the simple English phrases made elegant by the Ugandans. “Short call,” means a quick trip to the bathroom for relief. (You can guess what “long call” means.) Boston sees the fans outside.


He orders the players to line up in single file and slaps hands with each of them as they pass. “Today is for Africa,” he says each time. After short call, Pato muses


about spreading the game in Uganda. He’s close to completing his degree at MUBS (Makerere University Business School), where he studies business and nutrition. “There is a little rugby in lacrosse, the physicality,” he says. “The most exciting thing about lacrosse is the friends, the family. At the dorms, you see kids coming to practice with their parents. That rarely happens in Uganda, that parents give their full support.” Pato is 26. He is from eastern Uganda. Asked if he has any family — a loaded question considering Uganda’s violent past and current struggle with poverty and disease — he glances toward the ground.


A Publication of US Lacrosse


game since leaving Onondaga Community College in 2009. He didn’t make it to Syracuse, like Jeremy did, after running into academic trouble. Jerome hoped with a good performance in the world games, he’d get back on the radar of MLL and NLL front offices.


“It feels good to be playing lacrosse. I love playing it, and playing it at a high level,” he said. “I’ve always grown up thinking I’m going to play at the highest level. That’s still my goal. It’s good to be out here playing against world- class players.”


The future appears bright for the Iroquois program, which took bronze for the first time ever, beating Australia.


A young core includes the Thompsons, Denver sophomore attackman Zach Miller, Syracuse junior goalie Warren Hill and Syracuse junior attackman Randy Staats. Lyle Thompson, the NCAA single-season scoring record holder, has a year left at Albany.


“We’re just the roadies.” — Iroquois assistant Marc van Arsdale


“No,” he says. “No I don’t.” And he leaves it at that. “Sports has the ability to


unite people,” Pato says, the conversation swinging back to lacrosse. “Most of us come from different tribes and speak different languages. Lacrosse gives us a chance to bond.” The team regroups in the tent.


Boston stands in the middle. “We’ve conducted ourselves


as ambassadors for Uganda, as ambassadors for Africa. And today, we take the next step. We play our first game,” he says. “Think about the days we were out there at MUBS. Some of you sacrificed jobs, time with your families, Saturday nights out with friends. Everyone has given up something. Show them you come from the toughest place, and that it makes the toughest men.” Outside the tent, a familiar


refrain: “Wakey wakey.” Uganda’s procession to Field 8


includes crossing paths with Israel, a fellow first-time participant that just defeated Sweden. Like Ireland,


September 2014 >> LACROSSE MAGAZINE 37


Keneth Keith “Lubes”


Lubangakene (left) and Castro David Onen (below) both fled northern Uganda as children.


Lubes only recently reunited with his mother. Onen became a baker, a job he quit to play for Team Uganda.


“We can go home with our


heads up and show what we accomplished,” said Iroquois general manager Gewas Schindler, who played for the Nationals and now heads its organization, which will host the 2015 World Indoor Championships. “We’ve got a ton of young guys, and they’re going to be here in four years together again. They’re not even in their primes yet.” — Corey McLaughlin and Sean Burns


Israel has many American-born players, but 12 of the team’s 23 players now live in the country in the middle of a bloody conflict with Palestinian militants in Gaza. The two teams have struck something of a kinship.


“Behatslacha,” one Israeli player


says. It’s Hebrew for, “Good luck.” ***


It’s 17-0 in the third quarter,


and yet the fans remain — perhaps a few hundred in the grandstands.


©SCOTT MCCALL (JT)


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