The National Lacrosse League may have delayed the start to its regular season until April but that hasn’t slowed down Kyle Jackson.
To say the 27-year-old forward, the only Halifax Thunderbirds player who lives in Nova Scotia year-round, has kept busy during the COVID-19 pause would be an understatement.
In the nine months since the pandemic forced the league to suspend the 2019-20 season, Jackson has developed a virtual reading program for local elementary school students, has created a workout and training app, hosts his own podcast and helped lead the Boston Cannons field lacrosse team to a Major League Lacrosse championship in the summer.
Most importantly, he became a first-time father in September when he and his wife Dana, the Thunderbirds’ media and community relations coordinator, welcomed daughter Taytum.
“The little one definitely puts a bright light on this whole spin of things this year,” Jackson said in a recent interview. “It’s been busy but great.”
Jackson’s importance to the Thunderbirds can be measured both on the court – he had tallied eight goals, including four on the power play, and 25 points in 11 games last season before the league was shut down in March – and in the community as the team’s director of lacrosse development and promotions.
It’s a role the Sarnia, Ont.,-raised Jackson holds in high regard.
“I like being in the community as much as possible,” said Jackson, a University of Michigan grad who was the first player in school history to be selected in the NLL Entry Draft. He remains the Wolverines’ all-time leader in goals (88) and points (113).
“I like creating a unique culture around lacrosse and making sure people feel inclusive when they come to our events.
“I don’t think it’s that tough juggling both jobs. It’s hard but at the same token, it’s really not.”
One of his responsibilities was to visit local schools, usually with another Thunderbirds teammate, and teach kids the origins of lacrosse and the fundamentals of the sport.
“We would show them how to pick up the ball and cradle it, keeping it in the stick, things like that,” Jackson said.
But the shutdown last spring forced Jackson to step away from the in-person school program and find an alternative.
“Since we couldn’t get into the schools, we transitioned and developed a virtual reading program where I would read to kids in schools.”
Jackson reads Akhwatsirenhó:wa – My Big Family, a compilation of lacrosse stories developed by Six Nations athletes Brendan Bomberry of the NLL’s Georgia Swarm and Brennor Jacobs.
“It encompasses everything lacrosse and I’ll read it to different classes about the origin story of lacrosse and how it’s an inclusive and medicine game,” said Jackson, a member of Aamjiwnaang First Nation.
If that wasn’t enough, Jackson has helped develop an app which focuses on workouts, stretches and individual one-on-one sessions which are lacrosse specific.
“Making sure people are healthy, active and fit on a regular basis, that resonates with me,” Jackson said
And he hosts a podcast titled Coffee with Kyle.
“It started off as a podcast where my wife and I would jump on and talk about things that were interesting to us and what we were going through as a newlywed couple and a young family,” Jackson explained. “Among our friends, we were the first to get married and the first to have kids. So we didn’t have much to fall back on. We had to do a lot of research on our own.
“But now that has transitioned to me doing it on my own on a regular basis, talking to people virtually and occasionally bringing in guest speakers like fellow lacrosse players. I just try to have conversations with different people that interest me and interest other people.”
While community-minded Jackson has been preoccupied, that’s not to say Jackson the player hasn’t let his off-season training slide.
In July, he joined his Cannons teammates in Aanapolis, Md., where the entire MLL regular season and playoff schedule was played over nine days. It was the first North American sports league which incorporated the bubble format.
The Cannons played five regular-season games and two playoff matches, culminating in a 13-10 victory over the Denver Outlaws in the championship final.
“It was very quick, action-packed, very, very intense and not a lot of down time,” Jackson recalled. “The MLL set us up perfectly in a hotel and everyone was as safe as possible. We were fortunate to come out and win a championship.
“It sucked we weren’t able to celebrate as we’d normally would. But it was great to experience that. It was quick, it was super intense but definitely worth it at the end of the day.”
Even a truncated summer league is invaluable for off-season training and fitness. But now that he’s in lockdown, Jackson has been utilizing home workouts.
Dan Noble, the Thunderbirds’ athletic performance coach, posts weekly workouts so that the players can stay on top of their training until the team reconvenes (hopefully) for training camp in March.
“I’ve been super into jump roping and I do a lot of body weight at home and a lot of resistant band work,” Jackson said.
“I’m trying to stay close to home and make use of the space that I have. I want to make sure I’m not putting myself, my daughter, my wife in jeopardy by going out in the community. As a member of the Thunderbirds, I want to make sure we’re representing ourselves the proper way and not put my family at risk and ultimately the Thunderbirds at risk.”
The NLL is targeting the April 9-11, 2021 weekend for a start to its 35th season.
Under the league’s current plan, teams would report to individual training camps – some virtual and some in-person – under strict guidelines in mid-March, with all teams beginning game play in April.
“I like that they’ve put something out there,” Jackson said. “It allows the players’ to have a specific date in mind that they know they have to be ready for and ultimately prepare as best as possible for a few months.
“The worst-case scenario would’ve been, ‘OK we’re going to start next week and you guys have to get ready.’ Obviously that’s not realistic. The league themselves has done a tremendous job of making sure the players will be as safe as possible and be ready for that April start date.”
It was March 12 when the 2019-20 NLL season came to a halt. The Thunderbirds, in their first season in Halifax, owned an 8-4 record and were in sole possession of first place in the North Division.
“When I think back then, it was insanity,” Jackson said. “I think anyone would be lying if they knew it was going to last this long.
“When it shut down originally, it was for two weeks and everything would be back to normal. I believed that and I thought we would get back to a season. Knowing it’s going to be a full entire year before we get back to training camp, it’s just crazy.”
