The Ottawa Black Bears made an impact in the local community on Thursday, delivering more than 30 sets of lacrosse sticks and gloves and two full sets of goalie equipment to the Algonquins of Pikwàkanagàn First Nation, located just over an hour east of Kanata.
The equipment — donated through a partnership with Their Opportunity, a national children’s charity that delivers & subsidizes local sport for development & community engagement programming — accompanied a learn-to-play lacrosse clinic for the youth of the community delivered in part by Black Bears forward and assistant captain Reilly O’Connor.
Along with O’Connor were Adam Gardner, the founder and director of Next Level Lacrosse, and Asennnaienton (Frank) Horn, a proud Kanien’keha:ke (Mohawk) from sister communities of Kahnawake and Kanesatake in Quebec and the Indigenous Advisor for Their Opportunity.
“I love the power of sport,” O’Connor told a group of more than 20 children from the community before the clinic began. “It’s given me the greatest memories of my life. It’s given me a lot of the best relationships of my life. So, hopefully today, we can create some of those memories. We can create some of those relationships. But first and foremost, we want it to be fun.”
O’Connor, Horn, and Gardner led the group, comprised of children ranging from four years old to teenagers, through a series of drills, with rapid improvement observed and many smiles and laughs spilling from faces young and old throughout the evening.
“My mom and dad met in the longhouse many moons ago and eventually got married. Growing up [in the city], I always knew who I was because of my families stories,” Horn told the children. “One of those stories that we had that was important to us was lacrosse. My brothers and I played lacrosse with old wooden sticks, and it was nice to just play this afternoon like I was 15 years old again. It’s a special memory for me, what this sport means to me and what this sport means to us as Indigenous people.”
The visit came a day before the Black Bears hosted the Creator’s Game Night, which honoured the Indigenous game of lacrosse. Before the game, children from both Pikwàkanagàn and the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation (located two hours north of Ottawa) joined Black Bears players on the turf at Canadian Tire Centre for a special visit.
