Indigenous lacrosse players battle for 2028 Olympics spot

As lacrosse is set to make its Olympic return at the 2028 Los Angeles Games, descendants of the Indigenous people credited with creating the sport are fighting to compete at the world's biggest event under their flag.

Randy Staats is a top-tier sharpshooter in the National Lacrosse League and one of several Indigenous players on the Halifax Thunderbirds roster, including captain Cody Jamieson and goalie Warren Hill, who play for the Haudenosaunee Nationals.

The Haudenosaunee is comprised of players from the Six Nations, which form the Haudenosaunee Confederacy — formerly known as the Iroquois Nation — and includes the Cayuga, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca, and Tuscarora.

Despite playing in several World Lacrosse-sanctioned tournaments and having their flag waved and their anthem played, they still lack recognition from the International Olympic Committee.

At 31, Staats, who has represented the Haudenosaunee nation at several international tournaments since he was a teenager, said he hopes to be able to compete at the Olympic Games.

"For us, it's about being included in the sport and being recognized as our own," said Staats.

The Haudenosaunee have had issues travelling on their own Haudenosaunee passports at other international tournaments, so this fight to compete isn't new for this group, but the Olympics is a whole other level.

"For us to hopefully get recognized, I think it's going to take a lot," said Staats.

The Haudenosaunee Nationals faced a similar predicament when they attempted to travel to England for the 2010 World Championships, but the British government didn't recognize their Indigenous passports, so the team was left stranded at an American airport and missed competing in the championships that year.

They nearly missed participating in the 2022 World Championships. The tournament was considered a pre-trial for the Olympics and the team wasn't invited to play, but Ireland backed out, offering the Indigenous team their spot.

"Thanks to team Ireland, they stepped back and said, 'They can take our place because it doesn't seem right,'" said TSN lacrosse commentator Pat Gregoire, who believes the Haudenosaunee should be granted status to play at the Olympics.

"Even though the game has been accepted (at the Olympics), it feels like we are still that one step away," said Gregoire. "One step away from making this a full circle moment, by having the Haudenosaunee being able to represent their country, on their passports, with their flag, on the biggest stage."

Recently, U.S. President Joe Biden endorsed the Nationals, acknowledging their ancestors’ invention of the sport of lacrosse, and pushing for their right to compete

"Their circumstances are unique and they should be granted an exception to field their own team at the Olympics," the president remarked.

Staats knows it's a long road to the 2028 Olympics but the Haudenausonee Nationals are committed to getting there, and it's not just to play to game but for the recognition of being a sovereign nation.

"We've always had hoops and stuff jump through and over and back through again," said Staats. "It's always a challenge it seems, if we are going somewhere."

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