As some may know, a group of Alliance students participate on a local lacrosse team. The team was started in April of 2015 by Alliance local, Edison Rednest.

“The lacrosse program came about because of a grant from the Snow Redfern Foundation. It’s a Native American game that nobody was doing in our area, so I decided to pick it up,” said Rednest.

The team is composed of students aged Pre-K to 12th grade. Every one of the members is one of different cultural, racial, and social backgrounds, coming together to pla and create a beautiful representation of the community. The members of Alliance Lacrosse are extremely dedicated, playing year round. They meet to play whenever they can. When the weather cooperates, the team practices on the grass in Central Park. During the winter, they head indoors and play in the YMCA and have been practicing there around three times a week.

When asked why he joined the team, Alliance freshman, Waylon Cash said, “To interact with friends and to be a better athlete.”

This weekend, a group of the high school aged players of the team will be competing in the 2017 Clash at the Cook Tournament in Lincoln, Nebraska. The tournament will feature teams from the Nebraska area and abroad. Attending this tournament will be team captain, Harley Hill, Alphonso Americanhorse, Waylon Cash, Dante Dubray, Ross Dunn, Kyson Hill, and Weghlyn Hill, along with three kids from the Pine Ridge Reservation and four more from the Winnebago Reservation. They will depart at 8 AM on Friday, their first game being at 7 PM that night. The second game will be at 8 AM on Saturday, with games at 5 PM and 7 PM to follow. They will play in four guaranteed games with 20-minute running halves in each and a four minute halftime in between. Tournament seeding will be set after the teams complete their four games, where they will be seeded in the tournament depending on how many games the team wins or loses. The tournament was limited to 12 spots given on a first come, first serve basis.

Aside from playing the game, Alliance Lacrosse will also be attending a college game at the Cook Pavilion free of admission fees, where they will watch University of Nebraska Men’s Club Lacrosse go head on with a yet to-be-announced opponent. Exclusive Nebraska Lacrosse team apparel will be available for purchase. They also will have the opportunity to tour the UNL Campus.

Team member and Alliance High School Junior Ross Dunn says he is most looking forward to “getting to play against another actual team for the first time. I want to see how far ahead or behind I am from the other kids.”

Alliance Lacrosse is the only only team in the tournament who is not an established high school team; however, the boys will be representing Alliance High School.

Despite this, Dunn says, “I still feel pretty good. We are playing against the top three teams in Nebraska, but I’m still pretty confident that we can keep up with them.”

All games will be streamed online, using Facebook Live! We, at the SPUD, along with the community wish Alliance Lacrosse good luck!