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The Stick Maker Alfred E. Jacques is an Onondaga Nation craftsman who continues a long-standing tradition: handcrafting traditional wooden lacrosse sticks. By Ken Sturtz
o watch Alfred E. Jacques make a lacrosse stick is to witness an artist at work. It may seem strange to call someone who makes a piece of sports equipment an artist. It’s hard to imagine the factory workers who churn out football helmets or basketballs as artists. But Jacques is a factory of one and you can’t buy his lacrosse sticks at the local sporting goods store. In a tiny workshop located in a nondescript cinder-block barn on the Onondaga Nation, south of Syracuse, Jacques sits at a bench, meticulously carving a piece of hickory with a drawknife. The air carries a hint of sawdust and the room is filled with sticks in various stages of completion. With each pass, wood shavings land at his feet. When he finishes, the stick is so smooth it almost looks like it’s been machine cut. “I’ve been at it for 60 years; I can make it look really easy, but it’s a lot harder than people realize,” he said. “Everybody would make their own stick if it was easy.” Jacques is among a handful of people who continue to make traditional wooden lacrosse sticks. Making a stick entails a tedious 10-month process that involves hours of cutting, carving, steaming, straightening, sanding and shellacking. The final product is a polished hickory lacrosse stick that shines like bone. 32
55 PLUS – DECEMBER 2021 / JANUARY 2022
Over the years Jacques has gained a reputation as one of the craft’s finest stick makers. He’s known internationally and enjoys something akin to celebrity status in the lacrosse world. Jacques travels and lectures extensively on wooden lacrosse sticks. His sticks are prized by collectors, some of whom travel from other states to purchase sticks and see him work. Jacques doesn’t have a website or social media page for his business and doesn’t advertise. There isn’t even a sign to alert visitors to his shop, tucked away out of sight at the bottom of a small hill, that they’re in the right place. He relies on word of mouth, but says in recent years the internet has made his sticks more popular than ever. In addition to the media coverage he’s received, he says collectors flock to online forums dedicated to wooden lacrosse sticks. OUT OF NECESSITY Each year Jacques produces approximately 200 sticks. He has a waiting list of orders that will take him at least two years to fill. He regularly gets calls from people looking to purchase a stick, but usually turns them away. This year he’s refused at least 75 new orders. After 60 years of making sticks, Jacques says he’s content to take his time and get each one right.
