Dan Ninham
Special to ICT
Chip George has a ringside seat like few others at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy.
Tapped to be a volunteer for the Olympics, the retired teacher has been working at the women’s and men’s hockey games keeping track of shots.
“It’s been great watching the best hockey players in the world,” said George, Mohawk from Akwesasne, also known as Tehaonkohton (He digs things up).
“We’ve worked three of the U.S women’s hockey games,” he said. “They have a very strong team. The men’s games we’ve worked have [National Hockey League] players as well as national players that help form very formidable teams.”
International credentials
George’s journey to the 2026 Winter Olympics began with athletic team development for a few decades back home on the Akwesasne Mohawk Territory in Canada.
“I traveled with The Mohawk Express basketball team, winning many championships in Indian Country,” George said. “A member of the 1998 Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse team that competed in the World Games of 1998 in Baltimore. Played Senior B Box Lacrosse winning the President’s Cup in 1997 with the Akwesasne Thunder. Played two seasons of Senior A box lacrosse.”
The international athletic credentials helped him gain the recent milestone.
“While watching the closing ceremonies of the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, I looked up the upcoming Winter Olympics site,” said Chip. “I was very happy to find out it was in Milan, as my family hosted an incredible young lady from Milan as an exchange student 18 years ago. I contacted her prior to applying to ask to stay with her. She was happy to host me.”
The process was slow, but worth it.
“Applications opened in the fall of ‘24,” George told ICT via email. “I didn’t hear anything for months. In May of ‘25, I received an email asking if I could join a Zoom call interview in June. I thought it went well. I received my acceptance in October ….
“I think what helped me was the fact that I’ve volunteered at two Men’s Lacrosse World Championships (Denver ‘14 & San Diego’ 23) and one Women’s World Championships of Lacrosse (‘22 Towson, MD) and the FISU World University Games in Northern NY in ‘23,” he said.
The assignment of game-day duties was specifically statistics-minded. A number of volunteers were working with each other, with the reward being able to do quality work with the most elite hockey players in the world.
“I was assigned to the Rho Hockey Arena for my stay,” George said. “I’m inputting all shots for one team throughout the game. I work with a ‘spotter’, and together, we record all shot attempts as: Shots on Goal, Missed shots, and blocked shots. Coaches and broadcasters use this information on the spot. We’ve mostly worked the women’s hockey but we’ve done two men’s games as well.”
A lifetime of teaching
George was born in Syracuse, New York, the middle of three sons. He has dual citizenship, and lives and works in Canada, though the border with the U.S. runs through Akwesasne.
George earned a bachelor’s in math and education at SUNY Potsdam and a master’s in educational administration from Penn State University.
Chip George, Mohawk from Akwesasne, right, gets a snapshot at the 2026 Winter Olympics, where he is working as a volunteer with the men’s and women’s hockey teams. Credit: Photo courtesy of Chip George
Now 60, he spent 31 years as a teacher working entirely on the Mohawk territory, first as a math and science teacher for 7th and 8th graders for 15 years, and then the last 16 years with a program that helps high school-aged students and adults earn their high school diplomas.
“I retired in 2023, and the next day, drove cross-country to San Diego where I volunteered at the men’s World Championships of Lacrosse as a penalty box timer,” he told ICT.
He recently has been working part-time at an elementary school focusing on helping Mohawk students with classwork and assignments. He also began volunteering recently with the Oherokon “Under the Husk” program, which helps Akwesasne youth reconnect with their culture and environment.
George and his wife of 41 years have four adult children, three daughters and a son. Over the years, the family hosted four Rotary exchange students, from Italy, Belgium, Germany and Spain. His family was not able, however, to join him in Italy for the Winter Olympics.
Beadwork for Snoop Dogg
During his time at the Olympics, George has been caught up in the exchange of pins, a common practice for teams in international competitions.
“Many of us have been collecting and trading Olympic pins from all over the world,” George said. “It has been fun and challenging trying to track down specific pins.”
Chip George, a Mohawk from Akwesasne who is working as a volunteer at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, displays the Snoop Dogg pin he got from the media personality in exchange for his own beadwork that he brought to the games. Credit: Photo courtesy of Chip George
Before he left home for Italy, George worked on beadwork projects so he could take his own offerings to the Winter Olympics.
“This past winter, I started to bead lanyards, keychains, etc.,” he said. “I made a few to bring as gifts. Two of these were a U.S. flag design. I joked with the family that [it] was earmarked for Snoop Dogg if I see him.”
And he did.
“While visiting the Duomo of Milan, I saw Snoop Dogg standing inside the broadcast center located near the Duomo,” he said. “He was looking out over the crowd of people through the tinted window. I held up the USA keychain and pointed to him, signaling it as a gift for him. Five minutes later, his representative came down with a pin and we traded. It was very cool.”
A wooden lacrosse stick was also a popular offering in the international arena, he said.
“I know lacrosse is a budding sport here in Italy, with their women and men’s teams working hard to improve as they qualify for larger tournaments and possibly the Olympics,” he said.
“I messaged the women’s team representative online and asked if anybody would want a wooden stick, as a friend of mine, Evan Cree of Traditional Lacrosse, makes them in Akwesasne,” he said. “One person ordered a stick and I decided to bring three sticks with me. One will be a gift to my host. The other will be a gift to the women’s team to use as a fundraiser.”
An opportunity to observe lacrosse games in Italy couldn’t be passed up, he said.
“I saw on their Instagram that there were a couple of men’s games being held in Bologna, Italy, on one of my days off,” he said. “I decided to take the train down to watch them play. It was entertaining. They have a long way to go, but the love of lacrosse is there and each of these teams is trying to grow the game in Italy and attract new players, coaches, referees, etc. It is nice to see.”
Looking ahead
His experience as a volunteer for the Winter Olympics equates to lifelong friendships.
“I have been working closely with five others on the Shots Operating Team,” George said. “We have become good friends. One is from the United States, one from Slovakia, one from France, and two Canadians. We have spent many hours inside the rink, but also hours touring Milan and seeing many of the sites.”
“It has been great making new friends,” he said, “and I’m sure we will keep in touch.”
He is hoping to repeat the experience. His oldest daughter has been accepted as a volunteer with the FIFA World Cup, and he’s waiting to see if he is accepted.
His son, 26, now lives in Los Angeles, where the next Olympics will be held.
“I hope to volunteer,” he said.
The post How Snoop Dogg got Indigenous beadwork at the Winter Olympics appeared first on ICT.
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