An Altruistic Move: Irish Team Leads Path for Iroquois National team to Play

The World Lacrosse Games will be held in Birmingham, Alabama in 2022 and were set to run with the Iroquois Nationals. Since then, Ireland Lacrosse has voluntarily withdrawn from the games, thus vacating its spot in the event for the Iroquois Nationals.

The idea first came from Aaron Cahill from Syracuse, who is also a member of the Irish National team. Cahill sits on the team’s board of directors and he decided to reach out to the team’s Public Relations Director, Catherine Conway as soon as it was announced that the Iroquois Nationals had been excluded from the games:

“We brought this topic to push Ireland to make a decision, do what is the right thing to do for not only the Iroquois Nationals but then also the sport of lacrosse as well.”

Cahill’s reasons are very personal, having grown up in Syracuse and having played at Onandaga Community College:

“It is the game of the Indigenous people and the Medicine game and in the ways Ireland can stand with the Iroquois Nationals is to take this right action and pull out of the world games so then the iroquois Nationals can compete on the world stage and be able to proudly support their culture as well.”

Catherine Conway also serves as an assistant Coach on the Irish Women’s National Team:

“You can’t have an international lacrosse event without the Iroquois, because without the Iroquois Nationals and The Haudenosauneeon the women’s side to giving up the Medicine Games to be able to play, we wouldn’t be there. So, to us, it was a no-brainer in terms of equity and justice in hosting one of these event s that they should be there.”

The World Games 2022 will be held in Birmingham, Alabama from July 7-17, 2022.