YORTON - The Men’s World Championships for field lacrosse recently wound up in San Diego.
While 30 countries participated, there weren’t any surprises on the medal podium.
The United States which typically dominates the field game edged Canada by two goals in the gold medal final, and the Haudenosaunee topped Australia to win the bronze.
But dig down just a bit past the medal winners and you find some definite surprises.
Coming off a bronze medal win in 6v6 lacrosse at the World Games in Birmingham, Al. last summer Japan went 6-1 with a team made up of players from their country (no U.S. or Canadian players with family ties to Japan on the roster.
And Jamaica surprised everyone with a great showing as well, coming out of virtually no where to finally lose out in pursuit of a medal facing Canada.
Interestingly the man behind lacrosse in Jamaica – the sport association president is a Canadian.
Calbert Hutchinson actually lives and works in the small community of Baker Lake in Nunavut, although he was born and raised in Kingston Jamaica and spent over 15 years in the education system there.
So how did Hutchinson become involved in lacrosse in Jamaica? It was a question he was kind enough to answer in an interview via email.
“My good friend, Dwight Clarke and I started the Jamaica Lacrosse Association in 2013 before I immigrated to Canada,” he explained. “A development officer from the world body (of lacrosse), at the time came to Jamaica to introduce the sport and based on our involvement with international volunteer groups and education, we were highly recommended, and that's how my journey with lacrosse started.
“I became involved with lacrosse by virtue of my involvement with international volunteers. My organization, LIVE (Local and International Volunteer Enterprise) was responsible for those who came to Jamaica to teach the sport in 2013 and to accomplish the ultimate goal, which was the institutionalization of the sport in our school system, we had to register the association to make it legitimate and I automatically became the president.”
Obviously having only been introduced roughly a decade ago, how did the strong showing in San Diego happen?
“We do have over 19 high schools playing competitive Lacrosse in Kingston, St. Andrew and St. Catherine which is roughly 300 to 400 students (boys and girls) playing lacrosse locally,” said Hutchinson.
“The 2023 Senior Men's team is made up of a combination of diaspora players and players coming out of our local base pool.
“Even one of our assistant head coaches came directly from the island.
“All our players are proud Jamaicans. Most of them however reside in the US and one or two in Canada.”
Obviously massive underdogs against Canada, how huge is it for the sport just to be in a playoff game?
“Making it to the playoffs gave the development of the sport locally a significant boost,” said Hutchinson.
“It also put the world on notice that Jamaica and lacrosse is the perfect match and that we are here to stay, compete and not just show up.
“We are already seeing significant growth in our online player pool sign up, our social media followers are through the roof and local awareness is at its highest.”
But, there are hurdles to clear to.
“The biggest barrier we face is getting equipment into the country to meet the growing demand among elementary and high schools,” said Hutchinson.
But, Hutchinson also sees bigger things ahead for Jamaican lacrosse.
“We are definitely looking towards the 2028 Olympics but before that, we will be hosting the PALA (Pan-American Lacrosse Association) Sixes Cup in Kingston Jamaica for the first time ever (Nov. 9-11),” he said. “We have 14 countries confirmed and over 24 teams.”
