High school stars Sadie Martiesian and Paul Boghosian spent 10 days teaching Armenian kids the game they love.

“Sadie and I live, breathe and eat lacrosse,” Paul said when we chatted Monday afternoon.
But for Sadie – a soccer, basketball and lacrosse superstar at Wheeler School – and Paul – a hockey and lacrosse standout at La Salle Academy – the trip to Armenia was as much about self-discovery as it was demonstrating a behind-the-back pass.

“I went to the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan with my grandparents. That was something special,” Sadie told me when we spoke last week. “I’m happy I took the trip at this time in my life. Hearing my grandfather talk about his family, his stories – walking through the Garden of Trees, seeing the Eternal Flame – we just stood there a while and watched.”

Sadie, from Cranston, is a confident, effervescent 18-year-old bound for Lafayette College in Easton, Pa., later this month, but her voice turned soft and halting as she recalled that special moment in that special place with her grandfather, Terrance Martiesian.

Most Armenians in the United States and Canada are second- and third-generation descendants of survivors of the 1915 genocide during which Ottoman Turks deported or killed an estimated 1.5 million Armenians.

From the end of World War I in 1918 to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Armenia was a minor Soviet republic. Today, Armenia is a democratic nation of 2.8 million citizens — about the combined population of Maine and New Hampshire — that welcomes the support of the Armenians scattered across the globe known as the diaspora. 

Among them are Canadian-born Armenians like Father Shnork Souin, pastor of Sts. Sahag and Mesrob Armenian Apostolic Church in Providence, and Johnny Mouradian, a Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Famer. 

Fr. Souin, in 1993 a new parish priest in St. Catherines, Ontario, read about Mouradian in a local newspaper. A multi-sport athlete and fan himself, Souin located Mouradian, invited him for coffee that turned into a four-hour dinner and eventually convinced Mouradian to accompany him on a youth mission to Armenia in 1994.

“I didn’t really know Armenia. That trip opened my eyes,” Mouradian told me during a phone call. “We stayed with a family that was so poor they ripped up the wooden floor to keep warm during the winter. We had to use an outhouse. I said, ‘Wow! This is us?’”

Fr. Souin recalled “those kids had nothing.”

The two Canadians became close friends, talked of introducing lacrosse to Armenia, and in 2023 co-founded the Armenian Lacrosse Federation. They raised $40,000 and last summer ran four camps. “We put 500 sticks in the hands of kids,” Fr. Souin said.

This summer they operated seven camps. Fr. Souin knew of Sadie’s and Paul’s lacrosse experience and invited them to be instructors. “Last year Paul was the first kid to email me. He wanted to donate $100,” the priest said. “Sadie’s family is very much a part of our community.”

Sadie and Paul took a six-hour online language course this summer and a two-hour in-person session when they arrived in Yerevan, the capital. 

“You’ve seen Yerevan,” somebody warned the American teens. “Don’t think that’s what Armenia is like.” 

Their first stop was Yeghegnut, a village of around 2,500 people about 25 miles southwest of Yerevan.

“Oh, this is what she means,” Sadie said. “When we got there a woman was walking cows in the street. It’s a poor town. The school was older. The kids weren’t as disciplined. They were a little all over the place. They wanted to play soccer. It was a culture shock.”

The next stop was Akhtala, 115 miles north of Yerevan and home of a 10th-century monastery.

“They have a soccer school there. The coach was great. He got involved, played with the kids. In this village the kids had the most respect for the coach and the priest. It was something special to see,” she said.

The final camp was at Metsamor, a larger town of about 8,000 (2016) and home of the only nuclear power plant in the region.

“Many of the kids spoke some English so we were able to converse a little more. We bonded over music and movies,” Sadie said. “They were shocked at how many sports I play. ‘Girls can play all these sports?’”

Soccer and basketball are common in Armenia, but most of the kids Sadie and Paul encountered were eager to try lacrosse. Water breaks were brief because they wanted to keep playing.

Sadie and Paul had plenty of experience to share. Sadie was a two-time All-State selection when Wheeler competed in the Rhode Island Interscholastic League and two-time All-State after Wheeler switched to the New England Prep School Athletic Council. She was the Independent Schools Athlete of the Year in 2023, the Eastern Independent League girls lacrosse Player of the Year in 2024, and captain of Wheeler’s 2024 team. She scored 364 career goals, the Wheeler record. She also played soccer and basketball.

Paul, an attack or midfielder depending on the need, played on Rhode Island’s perennial state lacrosse championship teams at La Salle and also starred for the Rhode Island Bulldogs club team.

Their approach with the Armenian kids was simple: have fun.

“The way I connected with them was to act like a kid. The way I taught them how to cradle was to tell them to run after me. Overall the kids had fun. It’s just about having fun,” Paul said.

Asked for two takeaways from their experience, Sadie and Paul each offered one in common.

“Don’t take anything for granted,” she said.

“Never take anything for granted,” he said. “I wanted to try my hardest even if I was tired. It’s all about the kids. They are the next generation to bring growth to the country. Armenia is not a third-world country, but it’s not a first-world country either.”

Sadie found music “connects people in many ways, even in the smallest villages where kids don’t speak English. Everyone likes Shakira over there. J Lo. They like Marvel movies.”

Paul found himself noticing the kids who want to improve.

“Not everyone is going to embrace the game from the start,” he said. “I tried to find someone who saw an opportunity. Some of the kids want to get out of there and live in America. You can see the drive in the kids who want to be better.”

Fr. Souin and Johnny Mouradian have a big goal for Armenian lacrosse: the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. Sixes, a version of lacrosse with a goalie and five field players competing in a faster game on a smaller field, will be part of the Olympic program in four years. Much remains to be achieved: formation of national men’s and women’s teams; sanctioning from World Lacrosse, the sport’s international governing body; the International Olympic Committee determining the size of the Olympic field; and support from the diaspora, which may provide a nucleus of players.

“It could be a great opportunity for players like Sadie and Paul,” Johnny Mouradian said.

“I think it’s doable. A hundred percent,” Sadie told me. “Johnny is a very driven man. This is something he really cares about.”

She and Paul would like to return to Armenia.

“Maybe next year do this again,” she said.

“I plan on trying to go back next year,” Paul said. “This summer and next are my last summers at home before I have to get an internship and become an adult.”