Last week, World Lacrosse announced three of their upcoming World Championships would be postponed and moved back a year to allow more time for the world to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
The decision was made at the annual World Lacrosse General Assembly and means the Men’s World Lacrosse Championship will be moved from 2022 to 2023 while the Men’s World Indoor Lacrosse Championship and the Women’s Under-19 World Lacrosse Championship will both be moved from 2023 to 2024.
A decision will be made regarding the Men’s Under-21 World Lacrosse Championship and the Women’s World Lacrosse Championship in December where it is likely these tournaments will either be cancelled or postponed as well.
Although absolutely necessary to curb the rate of coronavirus infections around the world, the postponement and possible cancellation of World Championships does present a significant and unique challenge to talent & performance programmes both here in England and across the globe.
England Lacrosse National Performance & Talent Development Manager, Jane Powell, believes that, after a year devoid of World Championships and potentially another one just around the corner, she, and the England Lacrosse Talent & Performance team, has a number of key issues to deal with.
“After a difficult last 10 months, the motivation of players in our National Squads is still exceptionally high but all players need to have a goal on the horizon and until World Lacrosse have their board meeting in December we don’t fully know at this stage what the decision will be.
“Preparing and peaking at the right time are key priorities for our coaches and support staff and until we know those dates (for the Men’s U-19 and Women’s World Lacrosse Championships) we will not be able to put in place the key markers of fitness targets and match preparation around that.
“As a governing body, we are already seeking out potential match opposition to help test and prepare our teams in lieu of a World Championship in 2021.
Despite World Lacrosse taking the decision to postpone many of their upcoming World Championships, the European Lacrosse Federation (ELF) are still looking to go ahead with their Men’s European Lacrosse Championship next summer, something Jane says is quite difficult to prepare for at this stage.
“As far as the senior men are concerned, we are preparing as best we can for the European Championships scheduled for July 2021 but with a restriction on numbers at practice and overseas based players and coaches not able to contribute it is an uphill climb.
“During the national lockdowns, we have also had to shut down any practices and training as under UK Government guidelines we fall outside of the definition for elite sport; this has been a tough call on the players but they continue to be motivated via online Zoom team meetings and individualised training programmes.
“The squad continues to develop as best they can but it is certainly not an ideal scenario - when you consider the size of a men’s squad it is important to train at the level and intensity that you need to play at and with a maximum of 30 people which includes coaches, medical staff and sports science support we have yet to get the whole squad together”.
Many nations around the world are in the same situation as the England National Squads and Jane has been working tirelessly since March to ensure the Talent & Performance programme continues to function, enabling the best players in England to fulfil their potential.
“As a governing body and management teams of each of the squads, we have met via Teams video calls on regular occasions and we are monitoring the players and situation daily to check on the well being of all.
“We hope everything gets back to something like normal soon and we can restart our top-level training and matches as quickly as possible to ensure our National Squads are able to compete with the best in the world once again”.
In addition to the decision to postpone some World Championships made at the General Assembly, World Lacrosse also approved the World Lacrosse Official 6v6 rules, raised the upper age eligibility of age group tournaments to Under-20, removed restrictions on the number of teams who can compete at Under-20 and 6v6 World Championships, and voted that no World Championships will exceed 10 days in length.
The full details of day two of the World Lacrosse General Assembly can be read HERE.