THE CENTRAL FIRE Play like a Thompson.
That phrase will resonate for generations. Play like a Jimerson.
That phrase could have its own meaning. Jimerson and her mother, Claudia, were teammates for the 2013 World Cup squad that advanced to the quarterfinals. “And for once,” she wrote, “it felt like people wanted to watch us play.”
Claudia Jimerson, then Claudia Jezioro, was a Division III All-American at Fredonia who was a captain for last summer’s Haudenosaunee team. Her husband and Alie’s father, Ryan, whose father is Onondaga Chief Norman Jimerson, encouraged her to keep playing. “You don’t quit playing because you get old,” he
told her. “You get old because you quit playing.” Claudia Jimerson appreciated the subtle acceptance of her husband’s words, especially since his father opposed the idea.
“Onondaga Nation are the faithkeepers. They are the central fire. They’re the center of the confederacy,” Claudia Jimerson said. “Everything we do surrounds the Onondaga Nation.”
A Publication of US Lacrosse
Seeing the Jimersons succeed in lacrosse, however, had the family’s patriarch acknowledging that the women’s game is different. “He’s seeing it is taking my daughter places. It took her to Germany and Florida. It took us to Washington. She’s going to college now. Good things are happening for her because of that,” Claudia Jimerson said. “He’s a faithkeeper in our longhouse, he belongs to the medicine game and he supports his granddaughter.” Jacobs also has a daughter, Ashlee, who wanted to play lacrosse. She explained to her father how she enjoys the camaraderie, travel and life lessons. “I had to come to the conclusion of making a change because my daughter wanted to play,” Jacobs said. “I felt that in this day and age, yes, women should be able to experience the same things as men do. I used my spirituality to resolve that question.”
But Onondaga leaders remain embattled even over the non-medicine version of the men’s game. ”Understanding the development of the sport and where it comes from while honoring our tradition and culture is part of what we do,” Powless said.
August 2014 >> LACROSSE MAGAZINE 51
Alie Jimerson (top and bottom left) competed alongside her mother, Claudia (top and bottom right) in the 2013 FIL World Cup despite lingering perceptions in their Cayuga community that women should not play lacrosse.
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