WALES LACROSSE THRILLED BY OLYMPIC INCLUSION FOR LA28
It has been announced today that Lacrosse will make its debut at the modern Olympic Games in 2028, after this morning’s vote by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Mumbai, India. Lacrosse is one of five new sports to be introduced in Los Angeles and marks a historic return for a sport that last featured as a full sport in the London Olympics of 1908.
In 2028, men’s and women’s lacrosse will be competed in sixes, an incredibly fast-paced, compact version of the sport developed out of the traditional field lacrosse and box lacrosse. Not only does it offer an accelerated, open style of play with quick transitions and non-stop, high-scoring action, but it also offers an easier entry point to the sport for new players, making it ideal as a platform for growing the sport around the world.
Reacting to the announcement, Ben Taylor, CEO of Wales Lacrosse, commented:
“This is absolutely fantastic news. It has been a long-held objective of the sport to return to the Olympic fold and all credit to World Lacrosse who have done a brilliant job of managing the process and orchestrating a cohesive campaign to demonstrate why lacrosse should have a place at the top table.
“Lacrosse is played all round the world in more than 90 countries. It’s played by men and women, as well as mixed lacrosse that has its own rules, so it is a really accessible sport for everyone. It is the fastest growing university sport in the UK and every Welsh university has an active lacrosse club. On the international stage, the Welsh men’s and women’s teams are regularly in or around the top ten in the world.
“We can now look forward to lacrosse being showcased on the world's biggest sporting stage and inspiring new people to discover what it's all about. Obviously at the Olympics it will be a GB team, so for us in Wales the challenge is to harness the forthcoming surge in exposure to get more people playing in universities, more clubs setting up, more schools taking an interest and more people getting to love this amazing sport. As ever with volunteer-led sports, that means we need more coaches, more umpires and more volunteers to make it all happen, but we have amazing people driving this sport forward and I’m sure we will be up to the task.”
Wales is delighted to be hosting the annual Home Internationals tournament from 4-7 April 2024 at Cardiff University’s Llanrumney sports complex. Wales, England and Scotland will be joined by guest teams from Czechia, Germany and Netherlands, for an event that will feature men’s, women’s and U20s competition. It will be a great way to kick start the growth of lacrosse across Wales.
For further information, please contact Ben Taylor at: ceo@welshlacrosse.co.uk