Box Championships
In May, World Lacrosse announced that the 2024 Box Championships would be held in Utica, New York, United States. The sixth edition of the men’s box championship will take place as well as the first-ever women’s box championship. World Lacrosse just announced the fields for both competitions.
Breaking Barriers
In May, the announcement of the first ever women’s box championship was a historic development.
In June in San Diego, there was the first-ever all-woman officiating crew at a men’s championship.
In October, women’s lacrosse was approved for its first-ever inclusion in the Olympics.
In November, Cristina Vélez became one of the first women to lead a men’s team at an international event when she helmed Brazil at the PALA Sixes Cup in Kingston, Jamaica.
Olympic Inclusion
In October, lacrosse as a sport was first recommended to the IOC as a new sport for inclusion in the 2028 Olympics by LA28 before the IOC ultimately approved the new sport proposal. The approval marked the return of men’s lacrosse to the Olympic Games for the first time since 1948 and the first-ever appearance of women’s lacrosse.
World Lacrosse launched its New Era campaign to celebrate a watershed moment in the global growth of the sport.
Men’s Championship
The 2023 World Lacrosse Men’s Championship took place in June and July in San Diego, America’s Finest City, with 30 teams participating.
The United States took gold, marking its first back-to-back championship since 2002, and its youngest player Brennan O’Neill earned the honor of tournament MVP.
Multiple teams claimed or tied their highest-ever finishes in their history at the men’s championship, including Japan, Jamaica, Mexico and Hong Kong, China.
U20 Women’s Championship
In August, World Lacrosse announced the logo for the women’s junior championship that will be held in Hong Kong, China.
The icon for the tournament was designed to have a symbolic meaning of Hong Kong, China and Asia.
ELEVATE28
In October, World Lacrosse joined USA Lacrosse, alongside Athletes Unlimited, the Intercollegiate Men’s Lacrosse Coaches Association, the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association, Joe Tsai Sports, the National Lacrosse League and the Premier Lacrosse League to launch ELEVATE28. The mission of ELEVATE 28 is to double U.S. participation in lacrosse by the end of the decade.
Member Growth
2023 was the biggest year of growth in World Lacrosse history as it added 12 new member nations, including 10 new nations in the Africa Association of Lacrosse, in Benin, Botswana, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Malta, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Togo, Uzbekistan, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
World Lacrosse has now doubled its overall membership 45 to 91 members in the last decade.
Sixes
Sixes featured in competitions around the World in 2023, including Super Sixes in Canada and Hong Kong, three EuroLax Sixes Cups in Portugal, Belgium and Greece, and the PALA Sixes Cup in Jamaica.
Sixes, lacrosse’s fast, physical, athletic and thrilling discipline will be the format of lacrosse in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
