The Rules of Lacrosse Interview with Director Joanne Storkan by Elizabeth Dunning

From its rich, Indigenous history to the growing of the game internationally from its North American roots, to its future status of an official men’s and women’s Olympics sport, beginning in 2028, The Rules of Lacrosse covers the A to Z of men’s lacrosse. Featuring interviews with some of the greatest names in the sport and its biggest supporters, including Oren Lyons, Gary Sundown, Louis Delisle, Garylord Powless, Dean French, Teiotièntaron ‘River’ McComber, Wayne Gretzky, Seymour Knox IV, Johnny Mouradian, the Buffalo Bandits, and many more!

ED: What inspired you to make a documentary about lacrosse? Do you play? (I read that you’re from California and that your kids played some lacrosse at a prep school.) Are you a part of a Native community?

JS: Well, the “Native” community I was raised in was all Italians from the same part of Italy who settled South of San Francisco where I was born! The only game they played was Bocci Ball! Seriously, both my kids played in high school and college. Just a few years ago my kids would have to travel far to play with other high schools; now every school in California seems to have lacrosse as their spring sport.

The documentary came about by accident; I was a screenwriter writing a teen, coming-of-age film, like the Karate Kid, only on the field of lacrosse. I got the idea watching my son struggle from being a football player to adjusting to the rules of lacrosse! I interviewed a man named Tom Ryan, because I wanted to interview a player who was a non-Native and who played on a Native team.

ED: How much did your vision change throughout the production process? Will you please walk me through your process from concept through completion?

JS: So, as I said, my goal was to write a screen play; I was a screen writer then and I had an agency in LA representing me. But before that I was a high school teacher, so I was always interested in that coming-of-age genre. After interviewing Tom many times, he happened to mention he had just finished a short documentary on is experience playing lacrosse, which was titled “Stir It Up.” I watched it and I was very impressed! I told him that if he could add another 20 minutes, I was sure we could get in on PBS. The Indigenous part was so fascinating, especially Oren Lyons from the Onondaga Nation. Tom didn’t have the time to do that, so we formed a partnership. But for several reasons we couldn’t expand his film, so we either had to give up the project or do an entirely new film, which we ended up doing.

ED: Are you and your family avid watchers of field or box lacrosse? How did making this film affect your relationship with lacrosse?

JS: So, while making this film I met a Mohawk Coach from Kahnawake and I got side-tracked making a documentary about him. So I got a bit behind in the lacrosse doc, though they have some footage in common. But it ended up being a longer process, which also introduced me more to the box game. I wouldn’t call my kids avid followers of lacrosse, but I guess I count myself as “lacrosse-eyed” over the game.

ED: How did you select and engage your interview participants? While conducting these interviews with some of lacrosse’s most well known role models and icons, did any stories make you emotional, or change the way that you saw the game?

JS: Honestly, all the “famous” people came about purely by weird coincidences. Probably the one interview that truly changed my perception of the game was the one with Wayne Gretzky. During a “who was the best box lacrosse player to have ever played” argument, he made the point that stats don’t tell the whole story of what makes a great player. (For example, he said he was NOT the best ice hockey player.) I had to rethink my entire take on the film, which ended up making it a much longer endeavor but I believe a better film and more accurate. We discuss this issue in the movie, “Stats Don’t Tell the Whole Story”.

ED: Any memorable moments from the production that you’d be willing to share? Anything that makes you smile immediately when you think about it now? Oh, wow, well, so many, really.

JS: My favorite times were filming on Reserves and Reservations. It’s hard to describe because it is such a cultural experience, not like going to a football or baseball game in any city. Filming at the University of Maryland and Peterborough were also amazing because the passion of the fans was palpable.

ED: What was a challenge that you faced while making this film? How did you resolve it?

JS: Time and distance. We are a small, indie company on the West Coast, so we had to find cameramen, etc. that lived in other parts of North America as well as travel there myself. Also, I couldn’t always “talk the lingo” of lacrosse, so I often times felt a bit intimidated.

ED: What are you hoping that the audiences take away from this documentary?

JS: For me, the most important thing is the Indigenous History; we made a short documentary about this aspect of our movie, which has won us lots of awards, and I think that is because many people don’t know the ancient history of the game. Also, I am glad I didn’t focus on just the field game, the one I was most familiar with, because box lacrosse is also fascinating. I am glad to see that the box game is growing in popularity.

ED: If you could change one rule in box or field lacrosse what would you change? And why?

JS: Hmm, well, the women’s game is so different from the men’s, and sometimes it’s hard for me as a woman to understand the level of violence, especially in the men’s box game. We cover this issue in the film. In fact, my son, who was a football and lacrosse player in high school and college, only had one serious injury in his playing career, and that was in a college lacrosse (field) game.

ED: What’s next for you? Will you be making more documentaries about the native culture?

JS: I have several Native documentaries besides THE ROOTS OF LACROSSE; DIRT MCCOMBER; LAST OF THE MOHICANS; MOLLY OF THE MOHAWKS. I had some ideas for Native reality shows that struck me while visiting and shooting on Reserves. Not sure if I can make them happen or not.