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Anishnaabe NLL retiree Jeff Shattler gives back with lacrosse academy
By TRT Staff
REGINA – Jeff Shattler continues to be heavily involved with lacrosse despite no longer playing professionally.
Shattler, a member of Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory on Manitoulin Island in Ontario, is doing his best to help others by introducing Lacrosse concepts or delving deeper for those with high aspirations in the sport.
Shattler retired from the pro National Lacrosse League (NLL) in the spring of 2022. During his pro career, which began in 2006, he suited up for the Buffalo Bandits, Calgary Roughnecks, and Saskatchewan Rush.
Shattler was selected as the NLL’s most valuable player when he was toiling for the Roughnecks in 2011, and the league’s playoff MVP in 2018 after helping the Rush win the league title.
Shattler, now 38, is in his sixth year of operating the Sha77ler Lacrosse Academy as part of his post-retirement career. The academy name is a nod to his pro-career, as it utilizes 77, his old jersey number, instead of the two t’s in his surname.
Shattler’s academy is widely successful and it is anticipated to become even more popular in the future.
The academy, based in Regina where Shattler currently lives with his wife and two sons, includes an elite program for young players at various levels. While Shattler also offers private lessons for individuals.
The academy visits schools and Indigenous communities to introduce lacrosse to as many youth as possible, with sticks and balls left behind at the schools or communities so that youth can continue playing the sport afterwards.
But although he’s no longer playing professionally, Shattler returned to playing the sport this spring. At the request of the chief for his First Nation, he launched the Standing Buffalo Fighting Sioux Lacrosse program in 2019.
Shattler opted to join Standing Buffalo, Senior B squad that competes in its five-team Saskatchewan-based league. He is a dominant player for the Fighting Sioux having racked up a whopping 40 points (17 goals and 23 assists) in his first six matches.
Shattler’s contributions via his academy, however, are set to have much longer-lasting impacts.