General Assembly Approves Introduction of New, 6 x 6 International Disciplines
Peterborough, Ontario, Canada — Sue Redfern has been re-elected to a second, four-year term as President of World Lacrosse, the international federation for men’s and women’s lacrosse.The election took place here today on the final day of the organization’s General Assembly.
Under Redfern’s leadership, World Lacrosse is undergoing significant growth and change, including an increased emphasis on membership support and development, the introduction of new international disciplines for lacrosse, the recruitment of a full-time professional staff, and the introduction of a new name and brand framework.In November 2018, World Lacrosse achieved a significant milestone when the International Olympic Committee granted Provisional Recognition to the international federation.
“I am deeply honored to have the privilege of serving as President during this unprecedented period of growth and change for our international federation, and I thank the General Assembly for its confidence in allowing me to continue doing so,” Redfern said.“I am committed to finding new ways to further involve our National Governing Bodies and Continental Federations in the leadership of our sport.I am also committed to working with the Board of Directors to support the needs of our current members and to responsibly identify new member-National Governing Bodies as our sport continues to grow around the world.”
In other election results for the Board of Directors, Don Blacklock was re-elected and will serve a second term, for four years, as Technical Director, and Ron Balls was re-elected to a one-year term as Secretary General in order to complete a maximum of 12 years of continuous service on the Board.
Delegates and guests at the 2019 World Lacrosse General Assembly
The General Assembly authorized the creation of new international disciplines for men’s and women’s lacrosse, 6 x 6, as proposed by the Blue Skies Working Group, and empowered the World Lacrosse Technical Committee to draft and circulate playing rules for the new disciplines by December 31, 2019, so that further trials can be conducted by World Lacrosse members and related stakeholders, and draft rules can be further refined.Final rule sets will be considered by the membership at the 2020 World Lacrosse General Assembly.The General Assembly also confirmed the new 6 x 6 format will be utilized for men’s and women’s lacrosse at the 2021 World Games in Birmingham, Alabama.
The General Assembly approved the creation of the World Lacrosse Governance Working Group, the purpose of which is to examine ways to continue strengthening the World Lacrosse governance structure in order to ensure the highest standards of efficiency, effectiveness and transparency.
Michael Kennedy of Ireland also updated delegates on preparations for the 2020 World Lacrosse Men’s U19 World Championship, which will be held July 9-18, 2020 in Limerick.19 teams are expected to compete in the event, which would make it the largest Men’s U19 World Championship ever staged by World Lacrosse.
Kim Rogers of the United States provided an update on preparations for the 2021 World Lacrosse Women’s World Championship, which will be held July 7-17, 2021 in Towson, Maryland.
Beth Stone provided a summary of the highly successful World Lacrosse Women’s U19 World Championship, which was held August 1-10 at Trent University and Fleming College in Peterborough.The event was the largest Women’s U19 World Championship ever staged by World Lacrosse.
The General Assembly also took action on a series of proposed rule changes for international indoor and women’s lacrosse, a complete summary of which will be published in the coming days on the World Lacrosse web site.
