FINNISH LACROSSE ASSOCIATION
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Around midday on September 18, 2024, the players of the first Finnish women’s box lacrosse national team began arriving at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport with large suitcases. Named bags were handed out, and the atmosphere was filled with anticipation and excitement. Soon, they would board a flight to Boston, followed by a 4 hour bus ride to Utica. For most players, this trip would be their first time in the United States. The team had clear rules: each player was responsible for their roommate the entire journey. "We were on edge until the last minute, wondering if the uniforms would make it," said team captain Suvi Onne when sharing the bags with uniforms to everyone. The first-ever women’s box lacrosse championship match in history (Finland vs. Canada) was an unforgettable experience for the entire team. It felt both like a privilege and an earned opportunity to play in the tournament, considering the significant effort made by the coaches, staff, and players to assemble the team in such a short time. "When our national anthem started playing before that first game, the entire national team project became tangible—'we’re really here, and now it’s time to play,'" recalled team vice-captain Katariina Bitter. Bitter had the honor of delivering the first cross-check in women’s box lacrosse championship history when she stripped the ball from Canada’s Megan Kinna, flooring the Canadian star shortly after the opening whistle. However, what stood out most for Bitter from the tournament was her amazing teammates: "The team spirit was better than I could have ever imagined." The tournament was historic in many ways for both women’s lacrosse and Finnish lacrosse as a whole.
Lesley Hawke is the new head coach of the Finnish women's sixes national team program.
We are proud to start again our men’s program for the Field and Sixes lacrosse. This project is set to cover the next four years of international tournaments in both disciplines, the first being the the Field European Championships in summer 2025. This program will also cover The Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. We welcome all eligible athletes to join our team as we work hard for the honor of representing Finland in lacrosse. Register now for the player pool and sign up for the training camps in early 2025. https://forms.gle/ExTr8E9fUPU855Xy9
The Finnish national team secured a ninth-place finish at the Box Lacrosse World Championships held in Utica, USA. A total of 28 teams competed in the men's division. Despite high expectations heading into the tournament, Finland narrowly lost to Israel by one goal, missing out on a top-8 spot. In the placement games, Finland achieved satisfying victories over Australia and Germany, ultimately securing 9th place in the final standings. Although the team finished lower than in previous championships, considering the expanded tournament and the overall higher level of play, this ninth-place finish can be seen as an excellent result for Finland.
The Finnish national box lacrosse team has been selected and will face Switzerland in their first match on September 21st. All tournament games, held in Utica, USA, will be streamed live, making it easy to follow the team’s performance. Finland will start the tournament with three consecutive game days: after Switzerland, they will face Greece, and in the final group stage game on Monday, September 23rd, Finland will meet Japan.
Coach Positions Open for Finland's National Men's and Women's Sixes Lacrosse and Men’s Field Lacrosse Teams
The World Lacrosse Box Championships at Utica, New York. September 13-22nd 2024
This year the Finnish men’s national league is completely renewed. The changes have been prepared and finetuned with all of the team representatives. Even though everything had to be done with a tight schedule, everythings is ready for the leagues start this Saturday June 13th, 2020. For this season we’ve really stirred the pot and the teams were formed by drafting players from a huge player pool. This was inspired by the Premier Lacrosse League that launched last season and was a great success. In addition to these new teams, we are playing a so-called hybrid league, in which we play both box- and field lacrosse. The winner of regular season will go on to pick which one is played in the finals. We strongly believe, that the decision made will increase the competitive level of the league and we will see closer and closer games throughout the season. See you out there! Full game schedule here . Regards, Tuomas Tilkanen Commissioner Mens National Lacrosse League
The roster for the men's field lacrosse team, that will represent Finland in the upcoming EC in Poland in July, has been announced. More information on the team can be found here .
Tracey Kelusky, the head coach for the Men’s National Box Lacrosse Team, will be part of the coaching team for the Men’s National Field Lacrosse team in the European Championships 2020. Kelusky has been involved in the Finnish Men’s National Lacrosse Teams since 2015. He coached the National Box Lacrosse team in the European Box Lacrosse Championships in 2017 in Turku, Finland and as his recent achievement he steered the National Team to a historical sixth place in the World Indoor Lacrosse Championships 2019. Kelsusky has an extensive history in lacrosse and as a coach. He played as a professional in the North American league, NLL for 14 seasons. Besides winning the NLL Championships twice, Kelusky holds several personal rewards and was named to the NLL Hall of Fame in 2016. Kelusky has played for Team Canada and won silver at the World Lacrosse Championships in 2002 and gold at the World Indoor Lacrosse Championships in 2003. He’s been an assistant coach with the New England Black Wolves and is currently acting as offensive coach with the Philadelphia Wings. "Glad to assist Pentti in the upcoming Euros. The plan has always been to have a Finnish coach in place and it will be nice to still be a part of it." Tracey Kelusky comments. The tryout camp for the 2020 European Championships are held in two parts. The first one is on January 4th, 2020 in Masku, Finland and the second one on January 26th in Nurmijärvi, Finland. The 23-player roster will be published after the tryouts in February 2020. Finland will attend the European Championships in Wroclaw, Poland as the defending bronze medalists from 2016 European Championships in Hungary. The head coach of the National Team for the 2020 EC is Pentti Pekkonen, with Mika Wickström and Tracey Kelusky serving as assistant coaches. More information about the tryouts: https://www.lacrosse.fi/en/news
Finnish Lacrosse Association
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