Frank McCormick

Tawaarathon, the Indian name for lacrosse, was popularly played in Glengarry from the 1880s to the 1920s when interest declined until the later revival of box lacrosse. The sodded, lengthy field game was played by fleet of foot, durable athletes, skilled and cunning with a lacrosse stick. Frank McCormick was that caliber of player.

At the Glengarry Sports Hall of Fame induction dinner in Maxville September 12th,1990 a niche will be carved for Frank McCormick in the midst of several other lacrosse greats already enshrined from the Glens.

Frank McCormick was the elder son of Rory McCormick and his wife the former Ann Amanda Geelan. He was born at their pioneer home near McCormick’s Post Office. Frank lived his life on his parental farm now the Glengarry Golf and Country Club and then historic Tomb’s Mill homestead; now the home of his son Cameron and his family.

Frank McCormick was a talented, natural born mechanic and equally gifted in field stone masonry as evidenced by several Glengarry home fire places and monuments. Before bilingual was a common word, Frank was trilingual, Gaelic, French, and English; thus rated among the few Glengarrians in that distinguished category.

In his youth, Frank McCormick excelled in football (soccer) playing with a formidable Lochiel team of older players. That was before World War One suspended all games until 1919. The Lochiel team of that era played home games at “Joe Charlie” recollection among the players with Frank were – Hector McCormick; Duncan (later Father) McPhee; J.J. MacDonald; Dan Weir; Johnny Gauthier and Jerry Gagnier.

Frank McCormick gave baseball a brief whirl when sport resumed with a few Third of Kenyon players supplementing the Lochiel nine playing at Johnny Cuthbert’s, Eigg Road. Greenfield were the opposition but the game faded in favor of lacrosse and football.

Lacrosse was Frank’s forte as a home (attack) player in the 12-man (later 10) game that was a Saturday afternoon feature attraction in Alexandria at the long gone Fairgrounds opposite the monastery.

Frank McCormick was a rangy, six-footer and roamed near the opposing goal positioning for a pass. With the ball he could pivot on a dime around the defence and be in scoring position. In a football comparison; getting the ball to Frank was similar to Alouette’s Sam Etchevery rifling a pass to “Red” O’Quinn or Ottawa’s Russ Jackson firing to Bod Simpson; either would catch the ball and score; that was the class of Frank McCormick. He was rated by his peers among Glengarry’s all time great lacrosse players. Frank’s tenure in the realm of lacrosse was the last decade of the field game following the cease fire of World War One. The hockey pattern of box lacrosse at Chisholm Park, now Alexandria town hall, was a survival effort.

Frank and Alexandria’s best years were 1924 winning the championship and defeating in exhibition play England’s touring Oxford-Cambridge team. They repeated in 1926 winning the Laplante Cup emblematic of the United Countries lacrosse championship.

Again in recollection among Frank’s team mates were – Lawrence Weir; Fergus McRae; Alex Campbell and Hall of Fame colleagues; Dave Lalonde; J. Alex Macdonell; Ben Villeneuve; Jeo Marcoux; Jerry Gagnier and club president J. J. MacDonald.