4 The Future Foundation provides clinics, equipment to indigenous, underserved communities
Albany Times Union
by Mark Singelais
ALBANY – Former University at Albany lacrosse great Lyle Thompson said he still has the wooden stick he used growing up on his Onondaga Nation reservation.
The stick cracked when he was 12 years old, reaching for a pass thrown for his father at a cookout. He cried in front of his family.
“It still means a lot to me because, one, to reflect back, I know the route it’s given me, the opportunities it’s given me,” Thompson said. “I personified the stick. I considered it my best friend. I would sleep with it. I would take it everywhere with me, laundromat, grocery store, wherever it was, it was by my side and I didn’t just see it as a stick. I see it as a being and I had a deep connection with that thing.”
Despite lacrosse’s profound Native American origins, Thompson said the sport still very much caters to the wealthy, who can afford to attend the top camps and buy the best equipment.
“The people who play are very privileged,” Lyle Thompson said. “It’s hard to access with the expenses of sticks and equipment.”
With that in mind, the four Thompson brothers, Lyle, Miles, Hiana and Jeremy, founded the 4 The Future Foundation with the stated mission of “creating programs for indigenous and underserved communities where lacrosse meets culture.”
They offer free clinics that often include equipment for young people in underserved areas. They take requests for appearances at https://www.4thefuturefoundation.org/speaking-engagements
Lyle, Hiana and Jeremy Thompson conducted a clinic last Saturday at UAlbany’s John Fallon Field. Then they met again at MVP Arena that night when Lyle, who wears No. 4, and Jeremy’s Georgia Swarm beat Hiana’s Albany FireWolves in a National Lacrosse League match.
“I grew up with this game and it’s given me so much, so my biggest passion now it just giving back,” Hiana Thompson said. “I’ve been fortunate with this game taking me a lot of places, doing a lot of things. For me, just being able to pass this game on to the next generation is something huge and something I really love doing .”
After he finished his sparkling UAlbany career in 2015, Lyle Thompson and his brothers worked lacrosse camps that he described as “big money makers,” catering to wealthier customers. But then the opportunity arose to do clinics for Cherokee communities in Colorado and Montana.
“They didn’t have the fund to pay us to be there and we felt guilty taking that,” Thompson said. “We just wanted to grow the game in those areas and that’s what they wanted, too. They wanted to be able to understand a game that their ancestors once played and is now a modernized game.”
The 4 The Future Foundation purchases and also accepts donations for lacrosse gear, helmets, goals and face masks to give to children.
“We just want to see people playing this game and growing it from the grass roots, which is the younger generations, the 5-year-olds, the 4-year-olds,” Hiana said. “Get a stick in their hands.”
Perhaps one of those players can be the next Lyle Thompson, second in NCAA Division I history with 400 points. Thompson twice won the Tewaaraton Award, awarded to college lacrosse’s top player. He shared it with Miles, his UAlbany teammate, in 2014 before winning it outright in 2015.
Lyle Thompson will play for the Haudenosaunee national team at the world championships in San Diego from June 21 to July 1. UAlbany head coach Scott Marr will serve an assistant. Thompson, Jakob Patterson, Tehoka Nanticoke and Ron John are former Great Danes on the roster, while current UAlbany midfielder Jake Piseno and goalie Jack Van Valkenburgh will also play.
“Representing our people and indigenous people as a whole is always a big responsibility,” Lyle Thompson said. “But to compete against the world’s best and have an opportunity to beat Canada and U.S. is our goal and that’s what we look forward to.”