Hawai'i Lacrosse - Est. 1989

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2004 Don Gladstone Award Winners

Matt Cone  &  Harry Mazaheri

The Don Gladstone Award was established in 1992 in memory of Don Gladstone. Between 1992 & 1999, the award was given to the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. Since the year 2000, the award has been presented to individuals who have selflessly dedicated a great amount of their lives to the promotion and enjoyment of lacrosse. In the inaugural 1991 Hawai'i Lacrosse Invitational, Don played defense with the Haole Lacrosse Club from British Columbia, Canada. He was a stellar field and box lacrosse performer and an outstanding individual. He played on the Richmond Outlaws Junior A box lacrosse team at age 24, and twice went to the Canadian championships. Don died suddenly in the summer of 1992. The Hawai'i Lacrosse Club is extremely proud to carry on Don's spirit through the annual presentation of the Don Gladstone Award. For nearly one decade, Matt Cone and Harry Mazeheri have selflessly dedicated their lives to the growth of lacrosse.  The Hawaii Lacrosse Club is thrilled to celebrate their tremendous contributions by presenting them with the 2004 Don Gladstone Award. Biography:  Matt Cone by Harry Mazaheri & Mark Tarone Since moving to Seattle in the ‘90’s, Matt Cone has been tremendously involved in the enormous growth of lacrosse in Washington State.  His contributions have been nothing short of amazing.  Over the last decade, he has lead the men’s post collegiate league in the Pacific Northwest, headed the Washington Chapter of US Lacrosse, developed one of the best lacrosse websites (WALAX.com) and  started & coached a successful high school lacrosse program.  Matt even developed the Hawaii Lacrosse Club’s first website in 1997 and managed that site for several years.  Matt’s contributions thus range from actions at a grassroots level all the way up to being the guiding hand in the development of lacrosse throughout the Northwest.  Few people in the world have dedicated so much of their time to the growth of our sport, and few have had such great success.  One of his most recent contributions to lacrosse has been as an ambassador for the sport in Europe.  For the past year, he and his family toured Europe and shared their lacrosse experience with a great number of developing programs.  Matt will be maintaining his link to European lacrosse via the ’06 World Games.  During those games, Matt will be the head coach of the Danish National team ! While his recent contributions to lacrosse in Europe are both interesting and inspiring, his early contributions to international lacrosse should not be overlooked.  For many years, Matt has played a key role organizing teams and playing in tournaments throughout the world, including helping bring teams to the Hawai’i Lacrosse Invitational for nearly a decade.  His support of such international tournaments has helped grow the game both in America and abroad. Mahalo nui Matt for helping give the great game of lacrosse a very Bright Future !!! Biography:  Harry Mazaheri by Tom Ryan Crease Monkey:  I had just boarded a 747 at the Newark (N.J.) Airport and was settling into my coach seat for a 12-hour flight to Honolulu for the 2000 Hawaii Invitational Tournament when I noticed our Crease Monkey Team organizer Harry Mazaheri appeared anxious as he talked on his cell phone. The flight attendant was trying to get him take his seat because the plane was ready to back away from the gate, but instead he walked over and handed me his first-class ticket. His wife Jodi had just gone into labor, and he was going back to meet her in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He assured us that he would fly out and meet us the next day in Maui, but we weren’t holding our breath. We were excited for Harry but also a bit stunned and a little disappointed that we had just lost our leader. The next day, we flew from Honolulu to Maui in order to celebrate Halloween in Lahaina. Lo and behold, Harry made it to our remote villa on Maui before the festivities had even started. Apparently after leaving the plane Harry rented a car and drove from Newark to Lancaster to see Jodi and his newborn son Harry, Jr. No more than 36 hours later he was in Hawaii wearing a two-foot black afro to complement a sweet Harlem Globetrotters costume.  Since then Harry has fallen onto hard times with his self-proclaimed "lame" costumes.  So along with the Don Gladstone Award, Harry has been nominated as the pre-tournament favorite for Most Improved Halloween Costume.  We will have to wait and see. Harry started the Crease Monkeys lacrosse team in 1998 and has been there for us every step of the way since, regardless of what gets in his way. He has helped build the Crease Monkeys into a championship club team and has spread the game to places previously untouched throughout the world.  It is hard to believe that the team has only been around for seven years. Roots:  Harry Mazaheri grew up in Pennsylvania and played goalie at Conestoga Valley High School.  He is a 1978 graduate of Washington & Lee.  After attending law school, he hit the working world full throttle, devoting his life to work from 1985 to 1997. He was living in New York City but frequently traveled for months on end to other countries such as England and New Zealand. It was at this time of perpetual work when he realized that he missed being around lacrosse. He participated in the original Vail Tournament that year but was limited to the occasional club game in the spring. In 1998 back in Lancaster, Harry started what is now the Crease Monkey Empire. On a road trip to Baltimore, he and a couple teammates came up with the name for their club team. Apparently "crease monkey" is a term used in some parts of Canada for a lacrosse goalie & the rest is history. Community Kokua (Support):Harry’s goal is to give something back to lacrosse by helping to grow the sport. At the club level, this is not completely altruistic though. Bringing together good people to travel the world and play lacrosse is quite a fun endeavor.  However, it also helps spread interest in the game by exposing fledgling lacrosse areas to some of the world’s top players.  Such exposure helps generate excitement for the game in developing areas.  This excitement draws new people to lacrosse and also motivates current players in these areas to strive for greatness. The Crease Monkeys are tremendously popular in Japan, but they have taken teams all over the world. A 2001 fall trip had the team stopping in England and Ireland, and playing in what might have been the first lacrosse game in the Netherlands. Tournaments in Lake Placid, N.Y. and New Orleans were traditional stops. "Yeah we have some great players," says longtime Crease Monkey Kevin Finneran, "but more importantly we get a mixture of people from all over the country and the world who love the game." This travel and involvement in the game helps 40-something Harry retain his youthful enthusiasm.  Two hip replacements in the past few years have curtailed his play between the pipes.  These days Harry does mostly facilitating. Harry is active in youth and high school lacrosse and is both the league commissioner as well as the President of the Central Pennsylvania Chapter of US Lacrosse.  Seven years ago there were eight high school teams in the area. This year there are 32 boys’ and 24 girls’ squads. The Crease Monkey Summer Camps completed their fifth summer of operation in Central PA in 2004. Harry serves as director of U.S. Lacrosse’s Post-Collegiate Clubs Counsel. The Crease Monkeys started as a group of Lancaster-area club players and has grown to include youth, club and elite teams that play all over the world. Harry Mazaheri’s love for the game is unparalleled, and his efforts to support lacrosse at the youth level are admirable. There are Crease Monkeys youth and adult teams across the US from the Baltimore area, to Salt Lake City to Seattle. Mahalo nui Harry for helping bring lacrosse to the four corners of the globe (including Central Pennsylvania of course) and for putting a smile on so many faces while doing so !!!