(June 12, 2012)… “You win by design, not by chance,” said Knighthawks Owner and General Manager Curt Styres. Those were the words of the lacrosse architect, who has built winning franchises from Junior “A” to the professional level.

Styres’ latest professional milestone was assembling a team that won the 2012 National Lacrosse League Championship. He added the Champion’s Cup to the 2009 MLL Championship with the Nationals, four straight Ontario Championships with the Six Nations Arrows and the 2007 Minto Cup.

Styres, who by trade is a skilled iron worker, has shown he can build winning lacrosse teams just as well as he constructed buildings and arenas. He began that mission in 2003 with the Arrows, and that model he absorbed from the NCAA led to championship banners and championship-caliber players like Cody Jamieson, Sid Smith and Craig Point to name a few.

His latest project has the same mission in mind, but the process is starting with players much younger than the 17 to 21-year-olds. Styres has moved to the Bantam level to groom the 11 to 12-year-old Six Nations players. With the assistance of coaches Jason Johnson and Matt Atkins, combined with the expertise of Strength and Conditioning Coach Matt Green, the kids are introduced to the finest coaching, conditioning, fitness and nutritional programs.

“Arrow Express Sports is throwing their hat into the ring at the Bantam level,” said Styres. “The plan is to produce players for the NCAA, Junior and, hopefully, professional levels.”

On Sunday, Six Nations showed the results of Styres’ mission by capturing the Bantam Division gold medal at the 20th Annual John “Gus” McCauley Tournament in Brampton, Ontario. Six Nations was one of 10 teams in the 11-12 year-old division.

Styres coached the Six Nations team to a 3-0-1 record in Pool “B” play, which spanned June 8-9. In the round-robin, one of the victories was against Guelph, who was coached by Knighthawks Ontario Scout Chris Driscoll.

Six Nations advanced to the Finals with a hard-fought 7-5 win over Kitchener, which was took a stop and an empty-net goal to secure the victory. Players that were cited as a result of their exemplary performance tournament were Austin Staats, Travis Longboat, Tehoka Nanticoke Hill and Styres’ son, Bo. In the championship game Sunday, June 10th, Six Nations defeated Orangeville 6-2. Orangeville was coached by Toronto Rock General Manager Terry Sanderson.

“It’s good to play against that kind of competition and against a guy that does his homework and puts a lot of effort into preparing for a game,” said Styres.
The tournament began 20 years ago to honor lacrosse legend John “Gus” McCauley, and to help grow and promote lacrosse in Ontario. The event, which is run by the Brampton Minor Lacrosse Association, has since grown to be one of the largest, most competitive and sought after invitational tournaments in the province.

Over 60 teams competed this year, representing communities such as Brampton, Centre Wellington, Guelph, Halton Hills, Kitchener-Waterloo, Midland, Mimico, Oakville, Orangeville, Owen Sound, Peterborough, Six Nations, St. Catharines, Toronto and Whitby. The John “Gus” McCauley Tournament featured players from the Paperweight to Intermediate Divisions (ages 5 to 21).