COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, USA – World Lacrosse today welcomed Brazil as its newest member to the international lacrosse community.
Brazil becomes the 22nd member of the Pan-American Lacrosse Association and the seventh member from South America alongside Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay.
World Lacrosse CEO Jim Scherr said: “I am thrilled to welcome Brazil to our World Lacrosse family, a significant step in our continued development of the game in South America. I am excited to see how competition and collaboration within PALA progresses even further with the addition of Brazil, a country with exceptional success across a wide range of international sports.”
Brasil Lacrosse President Manuel Elbio Aquino Sequeira said: “Being part of World Lacrosse means broadening the sporting horizons of a country famous in the world of competition. Sport is in Brazil’s DNA and the future of sport in the country lies with newer disciplines such as lacrosse, which broaden inclusion and appetite for competition. We look forward to building a robust lacrosse network over the coming years, joining the thriving international community that already exists for the sport.”
PALA now has added two members in the past two years in Uruguay and Nicaragua. The region hosted its first ever continental qualifier for the upcoming 2023 World Lacrosse Men’s Championship in 2022 in Colombia, and Peru will make its second appearance at the championship. PALA is also set to host a Sixes Cup in November in Jamaica.
Overall, World Lacrosse has added seven members in 2023 across three continents, and 13 members since the start of 2022. Brazil’s addition was preceded by a cohort of six members in March in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Malta, Sierra Leone and Togo.
The recent growth for World Lacrosse has spanned across five continents, with at least two new members in the past two years from Africa, Asia and South America. In the past decade, World Lacrosse has nearly doubled its membership with 41 new nations joining the existing community of 45 members.
