JJ Seaward, NLL Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome
Growing up in the small suburb city of Smokey Creek in Ontario, Kiel Matisz had cemented his legacy as a professional lacrosse player and paving his way up to the National Lacrosse League. “Stoney Creek is a suburb of Hamilton, Ontario. Hamilton is a city of half a million people; it is an hour or so from Toronto and an hour west of Buffalo. They call this place the “golden horseshoe” just at the point of Lake Ontario.” Matisz said. Growing up as an athlete, you have to put into consideration the athletic genes that are put into place, for Matisz it was a little different as he had the best of both worlds. “My mom was the athlete of the family, played hockey her whole life. My dad is more of a musician, he tried playing sports when he was younger (baseball) but spent most of the time picking dandelions. My mom pushed it, and they were both very supportive when it came to sports.” Matisz said. He is not the only one who excelled in sports in his family, as his sister also played hockey and lacrosse simultaneously. His sister made it all the way to playing college lacrosse, and is now a recreational and leisure therapist back in Stoney Creek.
Like so many other kids, it often takes exposure to a sport for them to become interested in playing that particular sport. That was no different for Matisz, as his father knew a coworker who had a son who happened to be around Matisz’s age and decided to bring him to the arena, and the rest is history. Matisz fell in love with the sport, and thought that it looked like fun.
One of the main sports that Canada is known for is the sport of hockey. However, a lot of people do not realize that lacrosse is a huge sport that is popular far and wide in Canada, in which both sports Matisz grew up playing, “I played hockey my whole life, and hockey and lacrosse go hand in hand. I started both sports when I was four and decided to quit hockey when I was 16 years old to play lacrosse all year round at that point.” Matisz said.
The sport of hockey as a whole is growing, and recently the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL) has been developed and is home to only four teams; they are the Boston Pride, Buffalo Beauts, Connecticut Whale, and the New York Riveters. Being the son of a mother who was skilled in the sport of hockey, Matisz said, “She thinks the NWHL is good, a lot of times sports end at the college level and one of the things that I always like to say is that playing professional lacrosse is still an avenue to keep me young. It is nice to see that women have this avenue to play professionally outside of their college careers.” Matter of fact, the NWHL is home to the first ever transgender hockey player, Harrison Browne. It is exciting to see this growth because it really shows just how must the world of hockey is developing and will be giving women and transgender hockey players an avenue to play after college.
Growing up in Ontario, you would think that most fans are loyal to the Toronto Maple Leafs as they are an original six team as are rich in history. However, Matisz is a fan of another original six team. “Growing up I was a big fan of the Red Wings, in ’97 they won the Cup with Steve Yzerman, and Brendan Shanahan. I jumped on the bandwagon and I have always had a liking for the Red Wings since then.” Which may surprise some people, but it makes sense. The Red Wings are one of the most loved and highly skilled organizations in the National Hockey League. When conducting the interview, it was a bit ironic considering I have grown up in Colorado and am a die-hard Avalanche fan, and the Av’s and Red Wings have such a rich history.
Heading into his fourth year in the National Lacrosse League (NLL), Matisz is definitely not a rookie anymore, but he isn’t quite classified as a veteran either.
“I wouldn’t consider myself a true veteran, just in the middle of the pack. It is good now, just helping out the young guys and making their transition to the league smooth, and trying to more or less be a leader in the dressing room whether I have a letter on my sweater or not, it is more about trying to lead by example and trying to follow upper management protocol. Trying to do the right things for the guys on my team” Matisz said. When it comes to veteran positions that honor usually goes to players who have eight to ten years under their belt. That does not keep Matisz from helping his own cause though, as he understands that younger players need help to be able to get used to the brand new environment of the NLL. This type of action is practically universal in the world of sports, and does not matter if you are wearing a letter on your jersey or not.
For many players in professional leagues, there is just one game that will pop out in their minds of when they truly know that they have made it, for Matisz it was no different. “Nothing has really stuck out into my mind, but if I had to choose one it would be my first goal in the NLL. More or less, because my first game I played a defensive role and was told by my coach I would play a defensive transition role. Then in Game Two of my career I broke out for a hat trick and played a little bit of offense and ever since then I have been an offensive player. It was just a realization that every game is important, and that is the game that sort of just sticks out to me when it comes to realizing your dreams. (2nd game of his career)” Matisz said.
Originally before being relocated to Georgia, the Swarm resided in Minnesota, when it comes to comparing the two locations Matisz said, “Minnesota had quite a good established fan base, loyal fans and was sad to see us leave there because there were some passionate people there and season ticket holders. Georgia was a hotbed of growing lacrosse and it is huge in the Southeast. Really good for the NLL, but we are still trying to grow our fan base. People don’t know box lacrosse so we are trying to educate them on what box lacrosse is”.
Just like any professional team in any other league, you have to have a rival. The Swarm are no different as they believe they have found on in the New England Black Wolves, “They beat us out of the playoffs last year in overtime. I have a lot of good friends on that team, so it is always for bragging rights. They have the last laugh for now, but we will see what happens next time we face them” Matisz said.
Matisz and the rest of the Swarm will look to take the Saskatchewan Rush’s crown this upcoming season when the NLL begins in early January.
JJ Seaward, NLL Correspondent
Lacrosse is Awesome
Photo Credits: HamiltonLacrosse.com; Zimbio.com; Oursportscentral.com; and Georgia Swarm.