NLL Toronto Rock

Be a Part of Indigenous Heritage Night

Published on April 15, 2022 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Toronto Rock News Release


Oakville, ON - The Toronto Rock will host Indigenous Heritage Night on Saturday when they take on the Halifax Thunderbirds at FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton, ON in National Lacrosse League action. This special night is also the Rock's annual charity game, raising funds for a Smilezone Foundation project at the Gané Yohs Community Health Centre in Six Nations, ON.

The game will be broadcast from coast to coast nationally on TSN3 at 7pm ET.

The fundraising main event is the Game Worn Auction which includes the jerseys, shorts, and helmets the players will wear on Saturday. The auction began earlier this week and will continue to run online until Tuesday, April 19 at 8pm ET. The jerseys were designed by Indigenous Artist Tracey Anthony of Vision Artworks from Six Nations, ON.

Fans will have several additional ways to support the annual fundraising efforts including purchasing a mystery autographed lacrosse ball or by making a donation to the Smilezone Foundation at the Toronto Rock Team store located at section 115 on the FirstOntario Centre concourse. Core Entertainment will also donate $1, for every pair of tickets sold, towards the evening's fundraising totals.

The Smilezone Foundation will focus on the transformation of specific spaces within Gané Yohs Community Health Centre. The updates include repainting, modernizing the building's technology and the creation of artwork by Smilezone artist, Linda Holmes and team, and murals created by a local Six Nations of the Grand River Artist, Arnold Jacobs.

Indigenous Heritage Night will honour the roots of the game of lacrosse and will celebrate many aspects of Indigenous culture.

Prior to the game, Haudenosaunee Dancers, will perform in the traditional style of the 'People of the Longhouse' followed by Indigenous singer Mary Nawegahbow who will perform O Canada in English, French and Anishinaabemowin.

To begin halftime, fans will be entertained by traditional dancers and singers from Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. This will be followed by a Wooden Stick Game between the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe.

There will also be several stops around the concourse for fans on Saturday:

Smilezone Foundation: Section 112 - Mystery Autographed Lacrosse Ball sales and Smilezone Foundation information

Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation: Section 112 - Every Child Matters masks and hand sanitizers will be available

Six Nations Minor Lacrosse: Section 116 - selling balls for the postgame Ball Toss to raise funds for local lacrosse

Iroquois Lacrosse Program: Section 117 - Wooden Lacrosse Stick display

Ontario Native Literacy Coalition: Section 119/120 - Selling the book "Akhwatsirehko:wa - My Big Family"

City of Hamilton Indigenous Relations: Section 120/121 - Information on City resources for Indigenous people

Indigenous Sport & Wellness Ontario: Section 124 - Information about ISWO programs and services

Six Nations Tourism: Section 101 - Information about Six Nations of the Grand River Reservation

Tickets for Saturday's game are still available however the lower bowl is sold out with the exception of a small number of single seats. To accommodate the demand for tickets, the Rock have opened several sections of the upper bowl at FirstOntario Centre.

A Rock win on Saturday night will clinch a first-round home playoff game for the team to be played on the weekend of May 6-8 at FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton, ON.

For more information on Toronto Rock tickets, please contact a Toronto Rock account executive by phone at 416-596-3075, by email at tickets@torontorock.com or visit torontorock.com.

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