Byran Halona (Oneida/Navajo): An Assistant Lacrosse Coach at Marian University (WI)

By Dan Ninham (Oneida)

This is a story of how a young man with a dream of providing his community with tools to help the youth succeed and achieve great opportunities though lacrosse. 

“Sheku kyat^  Lasahk^sl^tha ni yukyats: Hello friend, my name is ‘He knocks off the frost’ and was given to me because I was born on the first frost of the year. My family calls me Saki (Sug·e), and my friends call me ‘B’. My full name is Byran Halona.”

“My nations are Oneida and Navajo,” said Byran. “With my Oneida side, I am of the Bear Clan through my mother’s lineage and with Navajo, I am Cliff Dwellers and Honey Combed Rock through my father’s lineage. Currently I am an active community member within the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin where I work as a youth advocate.”

“My athletic career truly begins when I fell in love with the game of lacrosse in middle school,” said Byran. “It eventually led to high school where I joined summer club teams Team WI, now Team Sconnie, and Golden Eagles Lacrosse in Milwaukee. My coaching career began my junior year with volunteering with the Oneida Community Lacrosse program as a U11 coach.”

“My senior year I committed to Lincoln Memorial University (LMU) in Tennessee on an athletic scholarship. That didn’t end my coaching career but allowed me to grow and understand the game even more from both perspectives. Junior and senior years we played against numerous ranked opponents and made the conference playoffs. While coming home for breaks I continued to coach and helped the Oneida Nation High School earn a berth in the state tournament to compete against schools 10x the size of Oneida Nation HS. Eventually continuing down to the coaching path led me back to Team Sconnie and being a voluntary assistant at Marian University in Fond du Lac, WI,” added Byran. 

“My tribal core values fall in line with a lot of our oral teachings, traditional government, and teachings from elders,” said Byran. “In the Oneida culture we are a matrilineal society where a lot of our best interest for our people come from the women. They were the decision makers, always looked seven generations ahead and back, and were selfless. I was taught this from an early age from all my aunties, grandmas, and most importantly my mom.”

“In conjunction learning the origins and teachings that were passed down with lacrosse as a medicine game that could heal your people ceremonially. It would also celebrate health in the recreational setting that taught me to be appreciative of the game. Learning these helped me as a player but even more so as a coach because the game is very important but only a small piece of the bigger picture.”   

“One of the most important lessons I was taught my freshman year in college was learning how to learn,” said Byran. “Coming off an MVP season my high school year it humbled me real fast once I got to college but presented me with the ultimate opportunity to learn. Every day when I had an open mind, I saw a lot of things I didn’t know that eventually led me to asking a lot of questions to seek what I didn’t know.”

“To understand patience, have the mentality to learn, and get better every day even if it was only by small steps. This was the ultimate lesson that was taught to me and it has been one of the best tools I have in life is the ability to have an open mind and have the ability to learn even if its from a toddler all the way to an elder,” added Byran. 

“Who has positively influenced me?” asked Byran. “Everyone on my path has had a positive impact! Even when negative people cross your path you can associate a positive lesson with them. Most of the people who have had a huge impact on my career athletically and even professionally are lacrosse related.”

“I’ve coached Byran during his high school lacrosse career,” said Curt Summers, Oneida National HS Lacrosse. “From the first time he has stepped on the field, he was a leader. His ability to see the field and where he needed his teammates to be always amazed me. As a coach, field IQ is one of many things that you try to instill in your players, Byran had that naturally. He was able to relay a lot of things to his teammates if I couldn’t get certain things across to them. Very helpful to a new coach at the time.”

“When his time was up playing high school ball he was able to land a spot on an NCAA D2 lacrosse program at LMU. He was scouted during his tenure with a summer travel team with Team Sconnie. He would come home for summer and we would be in the middle of our high school and our youth season. He would share what he learned from playing at the college level. This is where we were able to enlist him to come help us out with coaching at the youth level and high school level. He pretty much took it from there. He was able to help the summer travel team, Team Sconnie, that he played for and returned as one of the coaches after he graduated from college,” added Curt. 

“Shortly after that, I heard he was asked to help coach at Marion College in Fond du Lac, WI,” said Curt. “With his talent and love for the game he has a long career in lacrosse if he chooses. I know he has goals and my hope for him is that he continues working with youth. He has a special connection with them and works well with them.  It takes a special type of person to coach and he is that person.”                                               

“Byran is an amazing guy,” said Ryan Kuhn, former LMU head lacrosse coach during the 2014-18 seasons. “One of my favorite players I’ve had the chance to be around.” 

“I recruited Byran as a scholarship lacrosse player at Lincoln Memorial University. Early on in the recruiting process it was clear he was a very talented player, but there was more to him than just being a talented athlete. He’s everything you would want out of a student-athlete. He was an accomplished student who always strived to be the best version of who he was on the field and in the classroom. He also comes from an amazing family. His mother is such a tremendous lady and Byran is such a huge role model to his little brother Jamison. I still remember them coming to LMU on his recruiting visit and seeing how close they are as a family,” said Ryan.

“As a young man he always had a clear vision of what he wanted to do,” said Ryan. “He wanted to play lacrosse, get his degree, and give back to his community in any way he could. He’s always had tremendous pride in his heritage and lacrosse has a lot to do with it. Coaching is a great fit for him because it allows him to connect with his players on a deeper level. He’s such a genuine person and I know that wherever he coaches he will find success.” 

“Byran was the ideal player as he always did what was asked of him and put forth more than 100%,” said Carroll Kennedy, head lacrosse coach at Lincoln Memorial University. 

“Byran would coach summer club and travel lacrosse teams and would always speak of the experience with such pride. He held coaching the next generation of Oneida in such high regard. He would use his experience to help them navigate the lacrosse landscape. Having Oneida Nation players represented in the under 19 tryouts for this years world games certainly shows how far lacrosse has come in the Oneida community,” added Carroll.

“We came to adding Byran to the Marian University staff in a roundabout way,” said Bob Leary, head coach of the Marian University lacrosse team. “We were recruiting a number of boys from the Oneida community, and his name came up repeatedly in casual conversations. It was clear that he was a role model to this group of players.”

“Knowing that he had recently graduated from Lincoln Memorial, I reached out to one of the assistants whom I had coached years earlier. He had nothing but good things to say about Byran,” added Bob.

“Over the summer I got to know him while playing box lacrosse in Oneida, he is a fierce competitor and has a great lacrosse IQ,” said Bob.

“We offered him a spot on our staff and we are fortunate to have him at Marian.

He is a mentor to our players, a constant reminder of the importance of earning your degree. His knowledge of the game was good coming in and he is a eager learner, constantly getting better. He is going to be a fantastic head coach in the future,” added Bob. 

Marian University assistant lacrosse coach Sam Kennedy said: “We wanted Byran to join the staff here at Marian before he even graduated college. He came highly recommended from club and high school coaches all over central Wisconsin. He joined the staff right out of college and the boys built an instant rapport with him. He brought a young and exciting perspective to our midfield and goalies. During games he runs the substitution box and has made our team much more efficient in scoring and defense.” 

“Byran prides himself on small victories and doing all of the little things,” said Sam. “He is very detail-orientated. This is why he was such a successful student athlete at Lincoln Memorial. His experience as a college lacrosse player has also helped make him be a better mentor to the boys on the team. Byran places a huge premium on education and schoolwork. He does a good job helping boys succeed off the field too.”

“Throughout the different stages of my life and in my career, each played a vital role in my development and guidance in crucial moments,” said Byran. “All my teammates at LMU and all my players I have coached over the year have had a huge impact as well. Riding the peaks and mitigating the valleys when we could. Everyday I am grateful for where I am, and I couldn’t have achieved it without these people in my life.” 

“Being successful means I have positively impacted someone else’s life and was able to contribute back to my people and community,” said Byran. “This was my goal in my recruiting profile when I was in high school looking at different programs across the country and it is still my goal til this day. How I am achieving it to this day is by doing a job that helps me practice self-care and allows me to reach out to our community’s youth.”

“Learning how your mind, body, and spirit works that allows you to understand what you are seeking can help you find your path in life even when the world feels stacked up against you,” said Byran. “Knowing who your supporters are during hard times that support you in a positive way is key to getting through rough times whether that is athletically, academically, or life in general.”

“There will always be a time where life will through a curve ball. Faster alone but further together!” added Byran.