In 1932, the Town of Huntsville entered a ‘box lacrosse’ team into the newly formed Tri County League.
This league consisted of teams from Orillia, Midland, Alliston, Bracebridge and Gravenhurst. The was the very first
year for the Town of Huntsville in this new sport of “Boxla” because all that had been played up until then was
field lacrosse. The name of this very first team to represent the town was the “Blackhawks”. The starting
goaltender for this local club was Mr Tan Housser. “Boxla” being a cousin of sorts to the field game, some of its
traditions were carried over to the new game, including the lack of shin guards and facemask for the goaltender!
To protect himself and thwart the oppositions hardest shots, Tan Housser had to rely on a superb set of reflexes.
Through the use of these reflexes Tan was able to have great success in stopping even the hardest of shots
with his goal stick, even if they were headed to the top of the net.
Teamed with a starting lineup that included the Snowden boys, Huffman, Ganton, Millest, Higgs, Bull, Harmon,
Gioletti, Cole, Kohn and sub goalie, Law, the Blackhawks worked their way through the league. One memorable
game saw Huntsville defeat Bracebridge 9 to 5, Huntsville had three men in the penalty box, and Tan Housser
refused to allow a single goal. In the league championships Tan Housser and the rest of the Huntsville Blackhawks
faced a great team from Alliston, losing the first game of a two game total series by a score of 6 to 3. Returning
to the friendly confines of the local arena, the Blackhawks shutout Alliston 7 to 0, with Tan Houser recording the
shutout and leading the Huntsville Blackhawks to their very first indoor box lacrosse championship. (we now know
there were many more to follow).