1904 Winnipeg Shamrocks Lacrosse Team Roster:
Elie Blanchard, W. Brennaugh, George Bretz, William Laurie Burns, George Cattanach, George Cloutier, Sandy Cowan, Jack Flett, Benjamin Jamieson, Hilliard Laidlaw, H. Lyle, William F.L. Orris, L.H. Pentland.
The sport of lacrosse is one of the oldest in the history of the province. In fact, lacrosse holds the distinction of being the only non-winter sport team in Manitoba history to capture Olympic gold. The 1904 Winnipeg Shamrocks did just that when they went to St. Louis to compete in the Games. Lacrosse has been a demonstration sport three times at the Olympics (1928/32/48) and was featured in an exhibition tournament at the 1984 Games, but it has only been a full medal sport twice in its long history (1904 & '08, with Canadian teams winning on both occasions).
In 1904, the Olympic Games in St. Louis struggled with poor attendance. The sport of lacrosse featured only three competitors: the Winnipeg Shamrocks representing Canada, a club from St. Louis A.A.A. representing the host nation and the Mohawk Indians from the Brantford, Ontario region, who could be argued to have represented both Canada and the First Nations people of that area. The Shamrocks captured gold with 6-1 and 8-2 victories over their respective opponents, with the Americans settling for silver and the Mohawks the bronze.
The 1904 Winnipeg Shamrocks Lacrosse team is also a member of the Manitoba Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
