This week Ryan and Nick sat down with Cornell ’91, 5x Iroquois National Player and 2x coach, and Japanese Movie Star Scott Burnam.
SCOTT BURNAM IS MORE THAN A LACROSSE PLAYER
The movie Star
So in the early 2000’s, Scott, an accomplished field lacrosse player somehow found his way on a plan to shoot a few scenes in a Japanese film called “Drugstore Girl“. The movie is about a Japanese girl who loves ends up homeless but happens to love lacrosse. A group of men that help her navigate the streets see he passion for lacrosse and as a sign of respect learn the game, ultimately, and I know how crazy this sounds, challenging a group of Iroquois players to a game. Scott and a group of friends traveled to Japan to shoot scenes for the movie.
To watch the movie, which has a respectable 6.0 rating on IMDB, you can try buying a DVD or VHS on amazon/ebay!
The Player
Is it amazing that Scott Burnam was in a Japanese movie? Yes. However, what’s more amazing to me is that he played in 5x world championships for the Iroquois nationals. A Cornell ’91 graduate, Scott went on to play in the world games 5x, coach the Iroquois U19 team 2x, and eventually take on the role of GM. We look forward to seeing Scott’s involvement in the Iroquois program moving forward.
Big Red
While he grew up heavily involved in the Syracuse lacrosse program (his brother Mark played there), Scott ultimately chose to play for lacrosse legend Richie Moran at Cornell. At Cornell he happened to be teammates with two very notable people: Maryland Head Coach John Tillman, world famous author and motivational speaker Jon Gordon (author of the Energy Bus among others).
Olympic Dreams
Like many lacrosse fans and advocates Scott is looking forward to possibly seeing lacrosse in the Olympics in 2028. He is a fan of the new Sixes discipline and appreciates what it means for developing nations, and how it translates very well for the Iroquois nationals style of play. We also discuss the importance of the Irish national teams decision to withdraw from the games in Atlanta to make room for the Iroquois team.
