Costa Rica became a member of World Lacrosse in 2008 and the organization was founded by two brothers in 2006, and they built up the organization by themselves.
After importing equipment and growing large enough of a player pool, Costa Rica participated in the 2014 World Lacrosse Men’s Championship in Denver. The team also participated in the 2019 World Lacrosse Men’s Box Championship in Langley, Canada as box was an easier option than field at the time to develop.
Costa Rica became a full member of World Lacrosse in 2021, and since the advent of sixes has embraced the discipline as its primary development tool for all programs for its accessibility.
“We’ve had 19 years since we started this craziness and we have been growing steadily but slowly,” said Walter Rojas, president of the federation. “We’re very proud of the work we have done expanding sixes lacrosse into our club programs, where our teams are made of lacrosse enthusiasts.”
With sixes, Costa Rica is now up to eight club teams that play in full-gear sixes, but players are only 15 years or older. And because of this age restriction for safety, growing new clubs and teaching players has been a slow process.
But in 2023, Costa Rica picked up ‘Speed Lacrosse’ after a conversation between Rojas and Casey Powell as a new way to spread the game.
This version of the game involves three on three competition on smaller fields with a soft ball and no padding required.
The organization ran with it and was able to bring programs to schools across the country, as principals and teachers love the idea of developing stick skills with minimized injury concerns.
“We touched almost 7,000 students through 48 schools and high schools and clinics in 2024,” said Rojas. “At least in our context, this is a great pathway for development.”
High schools continue to build on sixes play, and schools have started their own competitive teams on their own.
Going forward, Costa Rica would like to see a tournament among high schools with the new lacrosse variant to see how much turnout and excitement it could generate.
The next steps for Costa Rica as it continues to grow are to bring in more equipment, particularly lacrosse sticks, and to support physical educators solely associated with lacrosse.
Rojas believes the untapped potential in participation in Costa Rica, and larger Latin America makes it a massive opportunity.”
“In Latin America, people are still new to lacrosse, but when people get in contact with lacrosse, they fall in love with the sport, particularly enjoying how it’s something new, energetic and equitable,” said Rojas. “There are tons of potential players in the region and we are working to capitalize on this – having the attention of the international public will help us grow.”
While Costa Rica has creatively tackled its challenge for development in recent years, the opportunity for outside investment or philanthropy would help the organization make the most of effectively carrying out its work.
“I will finish with an invitation to all readers to come and see our programs first hand,” concluded Rojas. “We have embraced ambassadors before and can do the same with everyone who visits. We want people to fall in love with not just the sport, but the people and culture and Costa Rica.”
