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Gwich’in lacrosse player Thomas Hoggarth’s ‘love of the game’

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At press time, Gwich’in athlete Thomas Hoggarth is confident about his prospects.

That means he and the Iroquois National Team will likely leave the 2019 World Lacrosse Men’s Indoor World Championship in Langley, B.C. with a trophy.

Hoggarth is Tetl'it Gwich'in and the great-grandson of the late Peter and Mary Kay of Fort McPherson. He started his lacrosse career at five, when he “was given a stick and played ever since,” he said.

He's the first Gwich'in to win three Mann Cups, and, with the Buffalo Bandits, to play in the National Lacrosse League. Now, with his eyes on the tournament, he said he never forgot his roots in Fort McPherson, despite growing up in Peterborough, Ont.

Thomas Hoggarth sits in the stands at the the 2019 World Lacrosse Men’s Indoor World Championship in Langley, B.C.
Photo Courtesy of Thomas Hoggarth

Before all his success, Hoggarth began playing competitively at 16 for “the love of the game,” he said.

For him, that joy is the competition and the teamwork driving a well-functioning team. As a result, his experience playing hockey was a natural fit with high-calibre players he encountered in competitive lacrosse.

Since then, he’s played clear across Canada, but this tournament is his first time on the world stage. It’s also a new level of competition: he’s never faced other countries before, only other provinces. He said he prepared for that challenge by “always playing at a top level.”

In that process, he learned more about the competition that goes behind Lacrosse at its higher levels -- its faster pace, and the consequent work ethic that requires.

“Always be at the top of the game, always push at being the best,” he said. “Always chasing the high, always trying to be the best.”

He doesn’t think of the pressure underlying that level of self-expectation and personal stakes. “We just go out and play our game, and that’s what happens,” he said.

Though it was one of the stronger teams, he said he was confident facing off against the U.S. He was already acquainted with a number of the better players from previous games, and the Iroquois’ roster was stronger.

In reality, Canada will be the team’s biggest competition. “They’re built like us and one of the top two teams in the league.” Though, he said, the Iroqouis are a younger, faster team, which may give them the edge.

“This year, we really put the pieces together. We’re younger, we’re a faster. I think in transition, we’ll run them pretty good,” Hoggarth said.

Though that will be the challenge, he cautioned against going easy or resting when playing against a weaker team, saying all the competitors can be dangerous at the tournament.

“You got to take everything seriously because there are the best players in the world here,” Hoggarth said.

That leads him to  “stick to my game plan and just try to figure out what I can do to make it better for those around me.”

He carries that philosophy to his roots in Fort McPherson. Hoggarth hopes youth in the community will take up lacrosse, and continue his success, potentially at future tournaments.

“Hopefully they pick up a stick too, and follow in my shoes,” he said.