Lacrosse players in N.S. hope Olympic inclusion will boost sport

A professional lacrosse player in Halifax hopes the sport will grow in Nova Scotia after it was announced last month that it will be added to the 2028 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

Halifax Thunderbirds forward Clarke Petterson said the historic moment could build a greater foundation for the sport in Atlantic Canada.  

"I think as soon as that was announced it kind of became every lacrosse player's goal. Like OK, boom, I want to play in the Olympics," Petterson said. 

Petterson, 26, who is originally from Ontario, was drafted by the Thunderbirds in 2020 and represented Canada last summer at the world championships in San Diego. Now he's thinking about 2028.

"I was talking with my mom and joking around like, 'Hey, am I still going to be playing in my prime?' Is it realistic? Who knows? Why not set that goal and do what you can to achieve it," he said. 

Additional sports added to the 2028 Games by the International Olympic Committee are baseball, cricket, flag football and squash.

Lacrosse was first played in the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis, then in London in 1908, and was a demonstration sport in Amsterdam in 1928, Los Angeles in 1932 and in London in 1948.

The sport dates back centuries and was originally played by the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, an Indigenous group in Upstate New York and Canada that includes the Mohawk, Seneca, Oneida, Cayuga, Onondaga and Tuscarora.

While the Haudenosaunee have fielded teams for the world championships, they are not recognized by the International Olympic Committee. The IOC told the New York Times that only national Olympic committees recognized by the organization can enter teams in the Games.

Cody Jamieson, 36, captain for the Thunderbirds and Mohawk from Six Nations Ontario,