Sidney Jamieson ’64 coached the NCAA Division I Bucknell University lacrosse program for 38 years, while also acting as a catalyst for advancing the Native American presence on the international lacrosse scene as the Iroquois National Team coach in the 1980's.
A 25-year member of the Bucknell University football coaching staff, Jamieson grew up in Youngstown, N.Y., and graduated from Lewiston-Porter Central High School.
At SUNY Cortland, Jamieson competed as a defensive back and wide receiver for four years on the football team, played lacrosse for three years and baseball for a season. He worked for two years as a residence hall counselor. He earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education.
He joined the Bucknell staff in 1964. Over the years, his lacrosse teams captured seven conference titles in three different leagues — the Mid-Atlantic Conference, the East Coast Conference and the Patriot League. His 1996 squad finished unbeaten, while his 2001 Bison team was the first in school history to qualify for the NCAA Division I Tournament.
Jamieson was voted the U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) National Coach of the Year in 1996. He was selected Patriot League Coach of the Year in 1996, 2001 and 2005. He coached 16 All-Americans and 13 North-South All-Star Game participants at Bucknell. He coached the victorious North squad in the 1998 North-South All-Star Game. He served as secretary of the U.S. Lacrosse Coaches Association from 1993-96.
He won the Burma-Bucknell Bowl, presented for “outstanding contributions to intercultural and international understanding.” In 1994, he took the Bucknell squad on a two-week tour of Japan to compete in the International Lacrosse Friendship Games.
From 1983-86, Jamieson coached an international team of Native Americans from the U.S. and Canada. He led the team to the 1984 World Lacrosse Games, a part of the pre-Olympic cultural events of the Summer Olympics, that year at Los Angeles. The following year, he coached the Iroquois National Team during a 10-day tour of Great Britain with the English National Team. In 1990, as the team’s executive director, he assisted in its participation at the World Lacrosse Championships in Perth, Australia.
A frequent lecturer to Native American youth on the subjects of education, self-motivation and self-esteem, Jamieson served on numerous campus committees at Bucknell, where he continues to work as a fundraiser. For decades, he has presented at lacrosse camps and to professional lacrosse organizations across the nation.
Jamieson received the Gen. George M. Gelston Award in 1985 as the person who most represents the symbol of the game of lacrosse. In both 1986 and 1996, he received the Howdy Myers Memorial Award as collegiate lacrosse’s Man of the Year. He was inducted into the Pennsylvania Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2003 and the Bucknell University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005. A monument honoring his service to Bucknell football and lacrosse stands in the university’s stadium.
In 2005, Jamieson was presented with both the Iroquois Nationals Award, for his lifetime commitment and extraordinary contribution to the “Creator’s Game,” and the Spirit of Tewaaraton Award, one of lacrosse’s most prestigious tributes “given to an individual who has honored the tradition of the sport.”
Jamieson and his wife, Linda, have three sons: Kevin, Steve and Mark.
UPDATE-March, 2015: Jamieson is the director of Lacrosse Program for Native Vision developed through a cooperative effect with John Hopkins American Indian Health Services and the NFL Players Association. The goal of the program is to help teach health, welfare, nutrition, education, decision making skills, goal setting, and relationship building with Native American Athletes who live on Reservations Communities.
