‘Getting the sport out there’: Tyler McDonald wins Canada Games women’s box lacrosse gold

Lynden’s Tyler McDonald took home the first-ever gold medal in women’s box lacrosse with Team Ontario at the 2022 Canada Summer Games in Niagara.

McDonald and Team Ontario defeated British Columbia 2-1 in the gold medal game on Aug. 12 — making history.

“There are no words to describe the feeling when the buzzer rang and we won,” she said. “It was very emotional.”

“It wasn’t even about winning gold, for me,” she continued. “It was about getting the sport out there and being noticed.”

In an interview prior to the start of the games, the 17-year-old McDonald said she was hoping to increase interest in women’s box lacrosse, noting there is a push to have the sport included in the 2028 Olympic Summer Games in Los Angeles.

“I’m looking forward to getting the sport represented and trying to encourage other young athletes to attempt the sport, like I did,” she said. “It’s Canada’s national sport — it definitely should be in the Olympics.”

McDonald, a Dundas Valley Secondary School student, comes from a lacrosse family, as her grandfather John Roberts played professionally in the National Lacrosse League, while her brother Zach plays junior-A lacrosse with Burlington and was drafted to the Arena Lacrosse League with the Paris RiverWolves — the top minor professional league.

She currently plays for the Burlington Chiefs U22 girls team, which recently took home a bronze medal from the provincial championships in Whitby. While McDonald grew up playing boys rep box lacrosse with the Hamilton Bengals, they were unable to field teams after COVID-19, so she moved to girls box lacrosse in Burlington. She still plays girls field lacrosse in Hamilton.

Following the Games, McDonald said she thinks they were successful in getting women’s box lacrosse noticed, as she heard a lot about the sport from other athletes and spectators at the event. She said she hopes to be a role model for younger players and help grow the game.

“There were a lot of people excited to watch lacrosse,” she said. “That means that they’d tell their friends, ‘You should hear about this sport lacrosse’ and then it gets down the line and you have another kid joining.”

She said one of the best parts of the Games was connecting with other athletes from across Canada and learning what they have to go through to play their sport.

“I would say the biggest takeaway was definitely learning about other athletes — where they came from, what sports they’re doing, how they got to do this,” she said. “Some people have been training their entire lives and others picked up the sport a year ago and were able to compete at a national level.”

At the end of the Games, McDonald was given a traditional Haudenosaunee wooden lacrosse stick by one of her coaches, Mekwan Tulpin. The stick was handmade by Daniel “Bo” Henhawk from Six Nations.

“It’s very special,” McDonald said of the stick, noting it combines the spirit of the animal used in the leather, the spirit of the tree the shaft was made of and the spirit of the player who puts their heart and soul into the game . “All of those three spirits combine to make good medicine — because lacrosse is called the medicine game.”

While the stick cannot be used in games, McDonald said it is doubly special because it is the kind of stick her grandfather used when he played professionally.

“It was very good experience, overall — and very exciting.”

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