SIX NATIONS — Lacrosse is a sport that encapsulates more facets of Haudenosaunee culture than just one: it is a spiritual and physical medicine game, it is a way to show athleticism and an outlet for sportsmanship and teamwork. It is Canada’s national summer sport and will be making a reappearance at the Olympics.
With the ever growing range of the game, it is oftentimes easy to overlook the accomplishments that happen throughout the throes of the sports entirety. Lacrosse inadvertently shows that the accomplishments of singular individual can set an example of how players can achieve personal goals within the sport.
Today, the accomplishments of Delaney Maracle have been recognized with him taking on an academic and athletic scholarship offer with a university in the U.S..
“I coached him in minors and watching him come about, he really wasn’t one of the top players coming up through the minor system, but he worked hard at it and he kept at it,” said his uncle, Chad General.
After moving back from British Columbia, General said that he saw Maracles development, commitment to the game, and to helping his family, and wanted to highlight that things are never too late.
“He’s been developing himself, working hard and improving with pick up games and playing with different people. He’s travelled to Europe for lacrosse and he’s done a lot on his own and funded his own trips,” said General.
“This is just another step for him in getting to his dream of playing pro-lacrosse,” he said. “It just shows that good things still happen out there.”
In his early starts, Maracle explained that he was usually on the two or three team instead of the one team for the Six Nations Minor Lacrosse League, but appreciated the experience more as it allowed him to learn and play the game at a pace that was beneficial to him later on. While in the age range of the minor system, Maracle moved to London with his mother and played in the London Blue Devils circuit. This was the start of his travelling through the sport.
“I have been playing lacrosse for pretty much entire life and lacrosse is really big in our family,” he said, explaining that an uncle helped played and went on to win consecutive Mann Cups.
“I play for my family and for my little brother, he can’t play the game so I don’t do it for the fame or money, I just do it for him.”
Maracle then moved to play in Czech Republic and Istanbul in Europe as an International player. He also played in Las Vegas, Nashville and Iowa in the U.S., where he was scouted by the St. Ambrose University to play for the Fighting Bees. It seemed like it was meant to be as the university campus is only a five minute walk from where Maracle was living in Davenport.
“I was out [in Iowa] playing summer lacrosse because here wasn’t much going on in Canada for lacrosse at the time. One of the coaches approached me there,” he said. “It kind of hit me all at once.”
Still in the deciding stages, Maracle is looking at attending for the winter semester and recollected that he had various opportunities to play in the U.S., previously, but he held true to his familial duties and focused on his family. He will be moving to play for the Fighting Bees as an attack player, and he suspected that his scholarship offer came from the videos of his high lights from the Istanbul Sultans and the Colorado Jagged Mountain games.
“I was just very happy to play instead of being cooped up from Covid,” he said.
Out of his family, Maracle is one of the only young mean to continue to carry the game and the handwork and determination he has put in will open for a promising University career.
