Canadian U-9 Lacrosse Coach Receives Travesty of Game Penalty for Unacceptable Reaction to Opposing Player

Sometimes, games are heated. The competition gets to the team and causes the players and staff to act in ways they never would have. We’ve seen examples of the same happen across sports, whether in a heated knockout game or a historic rivalry between two neighboring giants. There’s generally a lot at stake – pride, history, legacy, glory and so much more.

While escalated words and actions in those competitions are rather understandable, we have no idea what led to this Under-9 lacrosse game going as off the rails as it did. The battle involved two travesty of game penalties and also resulted in one of the coaches brandishing his middle finger at an 8-year-old. Yes, you read that right.

How It All Began

This was clearly one result in Whitby that the Ontario Lacrosse Association didn’t see turning out this way. So much happened in this game between Whitby Warriors and the Six Nations, it’s almost impossible to cover in one piece but we’ll try. Aside from the two travesty of game calls, the game involved four other penalties being conceded. Moreover, officials ejected a Whitby player and a fan from the game.

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The game was rife with tough tackles and underhand tactics from the Warriors. In one instance, a Six Nations player, Grayson Powless, was tackled to the ground and then kicked while he was down. Surprisingly, this wasn’t one of the many penalties conceded by either team on the day. Powless’ father shared a video of the incident, even taking it to the event authorities for some clarification.

On the incident, Powless stated: “You don’t kick, you play with your heart.” He also added that his teammate and cousin, Takota Monture was also on the receiving end of some shocking behavior. “This guy went up to him, like yelling at him, and he gave [Takota] the middle finger. Then [Takota] started crying,” Powless said. The official also penalized Monture for retaliating to violence from his opponents.

How Lacrosse Authorities Reacted

The Whitby Minor Lacrosse Association condemned and apologized for the “detrimental conduct of these individuals.” The statement did not identify any of the violators. However, further investigations into the matter are currently underway. In a statement, OLA has said it “has no tolerance for the behavior witnessed in the videos of the Whitby and Six Nations U9 Championship game.”

While the coach received a “making a travesty of the game” penalty, a mark of gross misconduct, it is unclear if any other action has been taken. Still, the Warriors were barred from attending the official award ceremony and were handed their own silver medals in a separate part of the field.

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