NorthStar Lacrosse Program a Success

The 2010 Iqaluit lacrosse camp – held from August 23-27, 2010 – was a resounding success. A few months ago, midget-aged Nepean Knights player Noah Hoselton approached the Nepean Minor Lacrosse Association about helping launch a lacrosse camp in Iqaluit, Nunavut to combat teen suicide among Inuit. The association jumped on board to offer its help by supplying equipment and jerseys and support to get the camp up and running.

The idea began when Hoselton saw a YouTube video about how the introduction of lacrosse to the community of Kugluktuk, Nunavut stemmed a series of teen suicides. He was struck by the idea that if it worked in Kugluktuk, then it would make sense to introduce lacrosse to all Inuit communities. A dream was born.

Noah asked former Nepean Knight and current NLL professional player Jeff Zywicki – and his partners Luke and Caleb Wiles – from ProStar Lacrosse to lead the camp. ProStar, like everyone else, immediately saw the importance of the idea and threw their support behind the project.

Airline First Air agreed to help the program, dubbed “NorthStar,” by sending personnel and equipment to Iqaluit. “But, even with a couple of weeks to go we didn’t have an agreement with the arena or a confirmed place to stay, ” said Hoselton. That’s when the community in Iqaluit stepped up. The City of Iqaluit agreed to make the AWG Arena, under construction for the entire summer, available to NorthStar. And, Iqaluit’s Royal Canadian Legion sponsored the cost of renting the arena. Next, the Frobisher Inn offered rooms for the NorthStar instructors: Zywicki, the Wiles brothers, and Hoselton.

“Everything came together in the last minutes,” Noah explains. “We were beginning to think that we’d have to run the camp in a playground. But the community stepped up. It was amazing.” The camp was up and running using equipment donated by the Nepean Knights and the NLL Washington Stealth. NorthStar opened to 25 children ranging in age from 6-15 years old. The camp was infectious. The kids were beaming. They loved the game and even cut lunch breaks short just to play more lacrosse. By the end of the camp, the kids were begging for NorthStar to return next summer.

“It was an amazing experience,” says Noah. “It was an incredible place and the kids were great. It was important for us to be there. Statistically speaking, one or two of the kids we met will commit suicide. They were great kids and I really hope that lacrosse can help them and give more meaning to their lives, like it does for mine. I truly hope it helps and that we go back.”

Future plans include returning to Iqaluit next summer and expanding the program to other northern communities. Teen suicide among Inuit is among the highest in the world. As Noah says: “Camps like NorthStar are important and give a whole new meaning to the expression ‘Lax for Life!’”