The Six Nations Arrows Express Jr A lacrosse organization and we are sure the entire Six Nations community are proud to announce that Cody Jamieson, Arrows Express member and 2007 Minto Cup MVP, has been named the Canadian Aboriginal male athlete of the year by winning the prestigious Tom Longboat Award for 2007. The Tom Longboat award recognizes the achievements of gifted Aboriginal athletes. Every year the top male and female athletes from each province and territory win regional awards and then compete for national recognition.
Cody’s achievement follows last year’s winner and team-mate Sid Smith and in doing so he joins a long list of distinguished Aboriginal athletes who have previously won this prestigious award including Darren Zack (an outstanding fastball pitcher from Garden River), Jordin Tootoo of the Nashville Predators and Delby Powless Jr (an Arrows alumni) who won the award in 2003. We are truly honoured to have Cody who excels at lacrosse and is a member of our team to be named winner of this award. Having had Sid Smith win the award last year speaks volumes to Cody’s accomplishments as we are sure it was not easy to name back to back winners from Six Nations and especially to team-mates from the same organization. Being recognized as the male athlete of the year across all sports disciplines is indeed an honour for Cody and the fact that he excels at lacrosse makes the award all that much more special here at Six Nations.
This is not the first award of this nature Cody has won as he was named winner of the 2006-07 David Rowlands Award as the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Male Student Athlete of the Year. Again this was a national award for the entire United States and is across sports disciplines and Cody was the first ever winner named for accomplishments in lacrosse.
Cody will be playing his final year of junior lacrosse with the Arrows Express in 2008 and will be a key component as they start their quest for a fifth straight Ontario Jr. A lacrosse championship and a chance to defend their 2007 Minto Cup championship. Cody would also like to say thank you to all the people who wrote letters of support for his nomination and to all the support he received from his family and friends.
Congratulations Cody on being named the Canada’s Aboriginal male athlete of the year for 2007 and winning the Tom Longboat Award.