The University of Wyoming Cowboys Lacrosse Club visited Alliance to play with the Alliance Lacrosse Team and share their skills and learn some tricks from the next generation of lacrosse players.
Edison Red Nest III organized the meeting of the teams, which saw them play two games together. Red Nest explained the event was a positive one for everyone involved.
“We just got done with the modern game, the full pad game, against the University of Wyoming Lacrosse Club,” said Red Nest. “I believe we lost 10-2, but that’s not so bad. Scoring two on a university team, I’m good with that. This came about because I was looking for a game for the high school kids, and the coach, Coach Austin, he was the coach, the last I knew, so I reached out to Cheyenne, and he said, ‘I’m not at Cheyenne anymore, but I’m at the university.’”
Red Nest asked if they could organize a meeting and they stayed in contact. He said they also received a donation from the Family Law Group, which they used to help bring the Cowboys to Alliance.
Byson Taylor, player and current coach, emphasized how excited he was to be able to come to Alliance again, noting he has worked with Red Nest on a lacrosse camp.
“I came out over spring break for a few days, and that was one of the best spring breaks I’ve ever had,” said Taylor. “Just getting out here to grow the game and learn the historical side of it, and that’s really the part of the game I fell in love with, was how to play spiritually, how to play for the right reason. I just try to teach my teammates that back home, and now the younger generation. It’s my favorite part of the game.”
Red Nest said the meeting between Alliance and the University of Wyoming was a historic experience.
“This is unprecedented,” said Red Nest. “This is something that hasn’t happened before, and with any other lacrosse clubs in the area, they’re not playing a competition like this; they’re not having that type of relationship being built, so they’re just staying in their own lane. We want to grow the game, and grow the game means include everybody, use all of the resources, and the people that we know to really help us move forward.
“So, having someone like our players here from the university come and play against our boys, that’s something they can look up to, and really our program is designed around that,” Red Nest said. “The reason we have our lacrosse program is to get our boys and our girls off to college. So, to have college players come in is just inspiration.”
Both Red Nest and Taylor believe the future is bright for a partnership between the Alliance and Wyoming programs.
“For us, we’re just looking to build and to keep going,” said Red Nest. “We had them here this year, and maybe we can have them again next year, and again and again and keep this cycle going. The hope is that maybe some of our boys would be coming back with their teams and play us again. Just thank you to Coach Austin and the boys, and to Byson.”
