Washington Post
By
A cinder-brick barn lies at the bottom of a hill, off a dirt road in the heart of the Onondaga Nation Reservation just south of Syracuse. Down the road from the local smoke shop, inside the barn, the air smells of wood. A bundle of several dozen wooden lacrosse sticks leans against the back wall, each ready to be carved, straightened, balanced, cut, drilled, sanded, shellacked, netted, inscribed — then, finally, sent across the reservation and beyond.
The craftsman, Alfie Jacques, sifts through a few completed sticks. They are among more than 80,000 he has made across 60 years, spanning the time lacrosse has spread far from its eastern base. He has remained here in the shop, carving out a market for old-fashioned, wooden sticks, even as production for newer versions — some made of carbon fiber, fiberglass or titanium — have boomed.
Jacques, 70, is one of the few remaining stick-makers of his kind. He has plied his trade in Central New York his entire life, traveling to conventions and relying on word of mouth to attract customers. His business has no website, no online ordering form, no social media presence. He is a craftsman who keeps the fastest-growing team sport in the country grounded in roots that go back hundreds of years.