OHSWEKEN — At least in lacrosse circles the number 88 points directly towards Six Nations and Cody Jamieson.
In his sixth season as a pro, all of them with the Rochester Knighthawks, Jamieson was a big part of the 2012 to 2014 three year run as NLL’s Championship Cup winning teams and innumerable hi-light real goals. This past summer, Jamieson served as ambassador for the North American Indigenous Games.
Jamieson has been plagued with injuries the past two seasons missing last year’s NLL season entirely, he is confident he will be ready when the Knighthawk’s season begins. How many more training camps are left for Jamieson is anybody’s guess but one thing is for sure. His heart will always be ready.
Jamieson’s familiar No. 88 has been taking on another meaning as well. He started the Teameights Foundation, and when he is not on the field or in the gym, Jamieson is speaking at schools and events with a strong message he believes that needs to be said.
Growing up on the Six Nations reserve, Jamieson is not unfamiliar with the tragedy of young lives wasted by drugs and suicide. But rather than accepting that as just the way it is on the Rez, Jamieson decided to use his considerable profile to help break the stigma of suicide and how easy it has become the “normal way out” for far too many young people.
“I know how much my teammates have meant to me over the years, helping be get through tough times,” he says. “They become like family, and I want young people to know that I would be their teammate too.”
Jamieson carries an anti-bullying message to area schools to encourage kids to join his team and find a teammate themselves and look out for one another. When speaking, he uses his lacrosse stick to teach life tools.
“I didn’t have a lot of friends growing up,” he says. “So, my lacrosse stick became my best friend. It was always ready to play, and would always be there for me after a bad day.”
Now 30 years of age with a wife and three kids of his own, Jamieson doesn’t get as much time to travel with the foundation and play lacrosse, but when that day comes and he has to hang it up, his old friend will still be at his side as they continue to teach life lessons and self-confidence to another generation.