Where will the 2024 World Lacrosse Box Championships be held. When are the 2024 World Lacrosse Box Championships scheduled for. How many teams are expected to compete in the men’s and women’s tournaments. What venues will be used for the 2024 World Lacrosse Box Championships. Who won the gold medal at the 2019 World Lacrosse Box Championship.
Utica, NY Awarded 2024 World Lacrosse Box Championships
In a groundbreaking announcement, World Lacrosse has officially awarded the hosting rights for the 2024 World Lacrosse Box Championships to Utica, New York. This prestigious event will mark a significant milestone in the sport’s history, featuring both the sixth men’s tournament and the inaugural women’s championship running concurrently from September 13-22, 2024.
The decision to host both tournaments simultaneously demonstrates World Lacrosse’s commitment to gender equality in the sport. Jim Scherr, CEO of World Lacrosse, expressed enthusiasm about this development, stating, “We very much look forward to the first world championship in women’s box lacrosse, which brings us to a fully equitable slate of events across genders.”
Expected Participation and Venue Details
The 2024 championships are anticipated to draw up to 30 men’s teams and 10 women’s teams, showcasing the world’s top box lacrosse talent. This significant turnout highlights the growing global interest in the sport and promises an exciting competition for fans and players alike.
Two primary venues will host the tournament:
- Utica University Nexus Center: A state-of-the-art, 169,440-square-foot facility featuring three playing surfaces
- Adirondack Bank Center at the Utica Memorial Auditorium: A 3,956-seat multi-purpose arena, which will host key matches including the opening night and gold-medal games
The proximity of these venues, connected by a skyway and operated by Mohawk Valley Garden, ensures a seamless experience for athletes and spectators.
Strategic Location and Cultural Significance of Utica
Why was Utica chosen as the host city for this prestigious event? The selection of Utica as the host city is no coincidence. Located in Central New York, Utica sits at a strategic crossroads, offering convenient access for teams and fans from multiple nations.
Key advantages of Utica’s location include:
- Proximity to Canada, Haudenosaunee territory, and major U.S. cities
- Close to several indigenous communities, honoring lacrosse’s cultural roots
- Easy access from cities like Boston, Montreal, Ottawa, Philadelphia, and Toronto
This location not only facilitates logistical ease but also pays homage to the cultural significance of lacrosse in the region. The Central New York area is often referred to as the “cultural home of lacrosse,” making it an ideal setting for this global championship.
Historical Context and Tournament Growth
The 2024 event will be the sixth edition of the World Lacrosse Box Championships, a tournament that has seen significant growth since its inception in 2003. Notably, this will be the first time the United States hosts the main event, although the Onondaga Nation hosted the tournament in the Syracuse area in 2015.
How has the tournament evolved over the years? The progression of the championships reflects the sport’s growing popularity:
- 2003: Inaugural tournament
- 2007: Second edition
- 2011: Third championship
- 2015: Hosted by Onondaga Nation
- 2019: 20 teams competed in Canada
- 2024: Expected participation of up to 40 teams across men’s and women’s divisions
This steady growth underscores the increasing global appeal of box lacrosse and sets the stage for an even more expansive and inclusive event in 2024.
Reigning Champions and North American Dominance
The 2019 World Lacrosse Box Championship, held in Canada, saw intense competition among 20 teams. The results highlighted the continued dominance of North American teams in the sport:
- Gold: Canada
- Silver: Haudenosaunee
- Bronze: United States
These three North American powerhouses are expected to field formidable teams in the 2024 championship. Their rosters will likely feature a wealth of professional talent, drawing players from the National Lacrosse League (NLL) and Premier Lacrosse League (PLL).
The inclusion of professional players adds a high level of skill and excitement to the tournament, promising spectators world-class lacrosse action. It also raises intriguing questions about how other nations will compete against these star-studded lineups and whether we might see any surprises or upsets in the 2024 edition.
Organizational Structure and Local Impact
The success of any major sporting event relies heavily on effective organization and local support. For the 2024 World Lacrosse Box Championships, a robust organizational structure has been put in place:
- Host: Mohawk Valley Garden and Oneida County
- Support: World Lacrosse and USA Lacrosse
- Organizing Committee: Led by Robert Esche, former NHL and Olympic goaltender
Robert Esche, who serves as president of Mohawk Valley Garden and the American Hockey League’s Utica Comets, brings valuable experience in sports management to the organizing committee. His involvement underscores the crossover appeal between ice hockey and box lacrosse, potentially attracting new fans to the sport.
How will hosting this event impact the local community? Oneida County Executive Anthony J. Picente Jr. highlighted the positive effects, stating, “The investments the county has made in the Adirondack Bank Center and the Utica University Nexus Center continue to pay dividends.” This suggests that the championship will not only bring immediate economic benefits but also leverage and justify recent infrastructure investments in the region.
Women’s Tournament: A Historic First
The inclusion of the first-ever women’s World Lacrosse Box Championship alongside the men’s tournament in 2024 marks a watershed moment for the sport. This development raises several important questions:
- How will the inaugural women’s tournament impact the growth of box lacrosse globally?
- What challenges and opportunities does this present for participating nations?
- How will the tournament structure accommodate both men’s and women’s events simultaneously?
While details about the women’s tournament structure and participating teams are still emerging, its mere existence represents a significant step forward in gender equality within the sport. It provides a new platform for female athletes to showcase their skills on a global stage and could inspire a new generation of women to take up box lacrosse.
The concurrent hosting of both tournaments also presents unique logistical challenges and opportunities. Organizers will need to balance scheduling, venue allocation, and media coverage to ensure both tournaments receive appropriate attention and resources.
Implications for the Future of Box Lacrosse
The 2024 World Lacrosse Box Championships in Utica represent more than just a single event; they have the potential to shape the future of the sport in several ways:
- Global Expansion: By bringing together up to 40 teams from around the world, the championships could catalyze interest in box lacrosse in new markets.
- Gender Equality: The inclusion of the women’s tournament sets a new standard for gender parity in international lacrosse competitions.
- Professional Development: The involvement of professional players could lead to increased professionalization of the sport internationally.
- Cultural Recognition: Hosting the event near traditional lacrosse territories reinforces the sport’s cultural significance and could lead to greater recognition of its indigenous roots.
- Infrastructure Legacy: The use of newly built facilities like the Utica University Nexus Center could inspire other regions to invest in similar multi-purpose sports complexes.
As the lacrosse world looks forward to this landmark event, it’s clear that the 2024 World Lacrosse Box Championships have the potential to be a pivotal moment in the sport’s history. The combination of top-tier competition, gender inclusivity, and cultural significance makes this an event that could resonate well beyond the lacrosse community, potentially attracting new fans and participants to this fast-paced and exciting sport.
Preparing for Success: Challenges and Opportunities
Organizing an event of this magnitude presents both challenges and opportunities for the host city and the lacrosse community at large. Some key considerations include:
- Infrastructure Readiness: Ensuring all venues and supporting facilities are prepared to host an international event of this scale.
- Accommodation and Transportation: Managing the influx of teams, officials, and spectators from around the world.
- Media Coverage: Maximizing exposure for both the men’s and women’s tournaments across various media platforms.
- Community Engagement: Involving the local community to create a welcoming atmosphere and build excitement for the event.
- Legacy Planning: Developing strategies to leverage the championships for long-term growth of lacrosse in the region and beyond.
How are organizers addressing these challenges? While specific details are still being finalized, the involvement of experienced partners like Mohawk Valley Garden and the support of World Lacrosse and USA Lacrosse suggest a comprehensive approach to event management.
The championships also present unique opportunities:
- Showcasing Utica: The event will put Utica on the global sports map, potentially attracting future sporting events and tourism.
- Cultural Exchange: With teams from various countries participating, the championships offer a platform for cultural exchange and international goodwill.
- Youth Engagement: The presence of world-class athletes could inspire local youth to take up lacrosse, contributing to the sport’s grassroots development.
- Economic Boost: The influx of visitors is likely to provide a significant economic boost to local businesses and the hospitality industry.
By successfully navigating these challenges and capitalizing on the opportunities, the 2024 World Lacrosse Box Championships have the potential to leave a lasting positive impact on Utica, the sport of lacrosse, and the global sporting community.
Senior Men’s Indoor – England Lacrosse
The England Indoor (Box) lacrosse team are the reigning European Champions after their 1st place finish at the 2022 European Box Lacrosse Championship. They are also ranked 4th in the world following their performance at the 2019 Men’s World Indoor Lacrosse Championship.
Search begins for England Women’s Box Lacrosse Team Head Coach & Team Manager
England Lacrosse to create England Women’s Box Lacrosse National Team
We’re part of the team, are you? England Lacrosse is ready to support UKAD’s Clean Sport Week
Utica, New York awarded 2024 joint World Box Championships
Two wins and a loss for England in Prague at E-Box 2023
England to take on Norway, Switzerland, and Germany at E-Box 2023
OPRO renew long-standing 20-year partnership with England Lacrosse
Canada box lacrosse star, Megan Kinna, to host coaching clinics this weekend
England Lacrosse sign new 3 year deal with Net World Sports
Unbeaten London Knights defeat Steelheads to win inaugural SBL Winter Box League
ANTI-DOPING
All our Box Lacrosse athletes support clean sport and follow our anti-doping strategy which can be viewed HERE.
Click on a player to find out more about them!
GOALKEEPERS
DEFENCE
ATTACK
Coaching STAFF
WORLD LACROSSE AWARDS 2024 BOX CHAMPIONSHIPS TO ONEIDA COUNTY
May 2, 2023
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado – World Lacrosse today announced that hosting rights to the 2024 World Lacrosse Box Championships have officially been awarded to Utica, New York, in the United States, where the sixth men’s and first women’s tournaments will run concurrently from September 13-22 of next year. Up to 30 men’s and 10 women’s teams are expected to compete in the 10-day world championship event.
Hosted by Mohawk Valley Garden and Oneida County with support from World Lacrosse and USA Lacrosse, the tournament will feature the top box lacrosse players in the world competing for their national teams. The Utica 2024 Organizing Committee is headed by former NHL and Olympic goaltender Robert Esche, who serves as president of Mohawk Valley Garden and the American Hockey League’s Utica Comets.
The Utica University Nexus Center – which opened in November 2022 – will serve as the main tournament hub, featuring three playing surfaces within the state-of-the-art, 169,440-square-foot facility. The Adirondack Bank Center at the Utica Memorial Auditorium (known as the ‘Aud’) – a 3,956-seat multi-purpose arena and home of the Utica Comets – will also host a full slate of games, including the opening night and gold-medal matches. The two venues are connected via skyway and are operated by Mohawk Valley Garden.
Utica is in the Central New York region, which is conveniently located on the doorstep of three nations – Canada, Haudenosaunee and the United States. It is close to several major cities, including Boston, Montreal, Ottawa, Philadelphia and Toronto, and is in the heart of several indigenous communities.
World Lacrosse CEO Jim Scherr said: “We are delighted to award these championships to Central New York, the cultural home of lacrosse and a key region for box lacrosse. We very much look forward to the first world championship in women’s box lacrosse, which brings us to a fully equitable slate of events across genders, and we are thrilled with how capable and eager the organizers are to host both championships.”
The competition will be the sixth edition of the event, which dates back to 2003, and will be hosted by the United States for the first time (the Onondaga Nation served as host in the Syracuse, New York, area in 2015). A total of 20 teams competed in the 2019 event in Canada, where the hosts captured the gold medal, defeating the Haudenosaunee in the final, while the U.S. earned bronze. The three North American teams will figure prominently in next year’s championship, and are expected to be nearly entirely comprised of professional players from the National Lacrosse League and Premier Lacrosse League.
Oneida County Executive Anthony J. Picente Jr. said: “We are happy to be hosting the World Lacrosse Box Championships in Oneida County next fall. The investments the county has made in the Adirondack Bank Center and the Utica University Nexus Center continue to draw premier events to our region. We thank World Lacrosse for selecting us for this honor and we look forward to supporting our partners at Mohawk Valley Garden as we welcome thousands of fans from around the world to our community.”
Esche said: “It is an incredible honor to host the World Lacrosse Box Championships in Utica. We are excited to showcase our facilities and all Utica has to offer. Hosting the men’s and women’s championships simultaneously will create an unprecedented atmosphere in the Adirondack Bank Center and the Utica University Nexus Center.”
Utica and Central New York hold a rich lacrosse history, with the game originating in the region. Utica University sponsors men’s and women’s NCAA Division III lacrosse teams, and there are more than 1,000 members of the non-profit Tri-City Lacrosse. The Utica Yeti are the defending champions of the North American Box Lacrosse League’s Upstate Division, and LAXNAI – the world’s largest international box lacrosse tournament – calls Utica home. Four NLL teams are based in New York State, while Syracuse University and the University at Albany headline a rich collegiate lacrosse landscape in the region.
The 2015 World Lacrosse Men’s Box Championship in the Syracuse area was one of the most successful WL championships in terms of attendance and revenue.
Utica was also just announced as the host city for the next edition of the International Ice Hockey Federation Women’s World Championship, which will similarly take place at the Adirondack Bank Center and Nexus Center, and will be staged in April 2024.
Previous
Return to News
Next
Calendar and schedule of athletics competitions, Russia, in December 2021 ★ e-Champs
New Year’s family run |
Moscow Open Obstacle Race Championship |
Cup of Kursk region in high jump |
V Half Marathon “Running Vologda” |
Indoor championship of the Tula region among boys and girls 2007-2008, born in 2009-2010 Add competition |
Championship and championship of the Tula region indoors among boys and girls born in 2005-2006, born in 2004 and older |
Match meeting of the cities of Siberia and the Urals in athletics |
Championship and championship of the Tyumen region in athletics (indoors) |
Cup of the Novgorod region in athletics |
Championship and superiority of the Kaluga region Add competition |
Indoor Athletics Championship of the Trans-Baikal Territory |
Indoor Athletics Championship of the Trans-Baikal Territory |
Republican competitions among young athletes “Starts of the New Year” |
All-Russian competitions in l / a for the prizes of Zelenov N. A. |
Championship and superiority of the Republic of Tatarstan (juniors under 20) indoors Add competition |
Championship of the Udmurt Republic |
Championship of the Udmurt Republic |
Championships of the Udmurt Republic |
Republican competitions in athletics for the prizes of the AU UR “KSSShOR” |
Open individual-team championship of the Pskov region in athletics Add competition |
Regional Festival “IAAF Children’s Athletics” |
Championship SShOR “Grand Prix” among boys and girls |
Championship GBU LO “ShOR in athletics” “Review competition” among boys and girls |
Regional competitions in memory of A. A. Streltsova indoors |
Interregional competitions Memorial in memory of Korolev Add competition |
Championship of the Nizhny Novgorod region among juniors and juniors under 20 years old |
Championship of the Nizhny Novgorod region among boys and girls aged 11-12 |
Championship of Primorsky Krai among veterans |
Championship and Superiority of Primorsky Krai, /indoors/ |
Championship of Primorsky Krai, /indoor/ Add competition |
Regional athletics competitions |
Championship and superiority of the Smolensk region (indoor) |
Championship of the Kurgan region in athletics among men and women, born in 2003 and older and championship of the Kurgan region in athletics among boys and girls born in 2004-2005, born in 2006-2007, born in 2008-2009. |
Sports festival dedicated to the Day of the Disabled “Equal Opportunities Relay Race” |
All-Russian competitions among the combined teams of the secondary school (DYuSSh), SSHOR (SDYUSHOR) – “Metelitsa” Add competition |
Republican competition “Hope of Crimea”, dedicated to the Day of Heroes of the Fatherland |
Cup and championship of the Belgorod region in separate exercises among men and women Dedicated to the 10th anniversary of holding 1 President’s Cup |
All-Russian competition “Memorial of outstanding athletes of the Oryol region” |
Competitions of the Samara region |
District Complex Olympics “World of Equal Opportunities”, dedicated to the International Day of People with Disabilities Add competition |
I stage of the Cup of the Vologda Region in athletics (boys, girls), season 2021-2022 |
All-Russian competitions in athletics “Future stars of the pole vault” |
Regional competitions, for the prizes of the ZMS of Russia “Sergey Shubenkov” |
Inter-municipal competitions, “Run in memory of V. Vasilevsky” |
III International extreme marathon run “Pole of Cold” Add competition |
Physical culture event XXI BIM marathon |
Competitions in the arena “Speed” |
Regional competitions in athletics quadrathlon |
Kuzbass Cup (indoor) |
Regional athletics competition in high jump “V.P. Charushnikov Memorial” Add competition |
Traditional competition “Opening of the season” |
Fun starts “Santa Claus Cup”, Kapotnya |
Non-Olympic Sports Festival |
Indoor track and field athletics championship of the Republic of Mari El among girls and boys under 17 |
XXXXII Athletics Festival, in memory of the hero-border guard A. E. Mahalina Add competition |
Republican indoor athletics competitions among veterans |
Championship of the Republic of Crimea indoors |
Republican indoor competitions |
Indoor Autonomous Okrug Championship among men and women born in 1999 and older, indoor championship of the Autonomous Okrug among juniors and juniors under 23 years old (2000-2002), the final stage of the Cup of the Autonomous Okrug among boys and girls under 20 years old, 2003-2004, 2005-2006, 2007 -2008 years of birth |
All-Russian Tournament in memory of ZTR Yu.M. Krasilnikova Add competition |
Regional competitions “Athletics Festival “New Year’s Starts” |
Regional competitions |
Championship of the Krasnodar Territory among juniors, boys and girls indoors |
New Year’s Tournament |
Winter sports day Add competition |
Indoor athletics championship of the Kirov region |
Championship of the Irkutsk region in non-Olympic disciplines “Opening of the winter athletics season” |
Belgorod region championship among boys and girls born in 2005-2006 indoors |
Open Regional Indoor Track and Field Competitions”23 Memorial G. Ch. Makovetsky” |
The first round of the Winter Cup of the Republic of Belarus Add competition |
Online race as part of the track and field race “Cup of the Governor of St. Petersburg” |
Regional competitions for prizes of OODYUSSH graduates |
Championship and championship of the Amur region in athletics for men and women, born in 2002 and older, born in 2003 and younger |
Winter Championship and championship of the Sakhalin region in athletics |
Cup of the Republic of Crimea for the prizes of ZTU Korneva T. F. in room Add competition |
Republican competition prizes ZTU Korneva T.F. in room |
Indoor Championships, men, women |
Championship of the region indoors, juniors, juniors 21-23 years old, 19-20 years old, boys, girls 17-18 years old, 15-16 years old |
Championship of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, (indoor) |
Championship of the Republic of Kazakhstan in athletics among men and women indoors., Championship of the Republic of Kazakhstan indoors among juniors and juniors born in 2003-2004, boys and girls born in 2005-2006. Add competition |