This article appears in the December “Best of Lax” edition of US Lacrosse Magazine. Don’t get the mag? Join US Lacrosse today to start your subscription.

At 10:30 a.m. on July 22, the day of the gold medal match between Canada and the United States, clouds began to hover above the championship pitch at the Federation of International Lacrosse Women’s World Cup in Guildford, England.

After the U.S. coaches and players reviewed the scouting report, midfielder Ally Carey had a realization as nerves surfaced.

“There was no question of whether the storm was coming,” she wrote in her player blog recounting the day. “It had hit.”

The skies opened up and a downpour was inevitable. The rain only got stronger as Team USA trudged forward through the mud to the pitch at Surrey Sports Park.

“The storm hit on Saturday, but what we didn’t realize was that storm was inside of us, emotionally,” Carey continued. “We made history.”

The significance of that moment also struck U.S. assistant Amy Bokker. She described it as a “whirlwind,” the journey leading to Team USA’s climactic 10-5 victory over Canada to secure its third straight World Cup gold medal.

“The World Cup ended in that rainstorm,” Bokker said. “While all that was going on, I never felt tired. I felt energized by what was happening around our game and our sport.”

The ride wasn’t over. The U.S. team joined Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Japan and Poland to compete in the ensuing IWGA World Games in Wroclaw, Poland — where lacrosse made its debut in the international multi-sport event seen as a significant steppingstone to the Olympics.

Team USA defeated Canada again for the gold, but the summer of 2017 was about more than medals hanging around their necks. Bokker most vividly remembers the moments that happened off the field, like the clinic U.S. and Canada coaches put on for first-time Polish players.

“Our mission going into the World Games was to share our sport and show the world that we should be an Olympic sport,” Bokker said. “That’s not to say we weren’t focused on winning a gold medal at the World Games — that’s true — but I think it was way bigger than us. It was about getting our sport on the Olympic stage. I come back to Stanford and there is a wall dedicated to our Olympians. It reminds me that that’s what I want for our sport.”

U.S. head coach Ricky Fried, whose tenure with the national team ended with three World Cup gold medals (one as an assistant in 2009) and now the World Games title, echoed Bokker’s sentiments.

“You can never discount the World Cup, because winning the gold is the highest achievement in our sport,” Fried said. “As for pushing the game forward, playing in front of IOC members certainly demonstrated what lacrosse is all about. This summer served as a steppingstone, moving the sport forward to accomplish one of the ultimate goals of being an Olympic sport.”

Global Awakening

The U.S. women’s national team toured Europe for 25 days and came home with two gold medals. But there was plenty more to celebrate in international lacrosse this year.

• Italy finished in 11th place in its World Cup debut, headlining a group of first-time participants that also included Belgium, China, Colombia, Mexico, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

• Host England returned to the medal stand for the first time since 2005.

• The Haudenosaunee women traveled to England using their native passports, infamously denied by the U.K. government in 2010 (Iroquois men) and 2015 (U19 women).

• Poland earned a standing ovation from the home fans after making its international debut against the U.S. in the World Games opener in Wroclaw.

• The FIL awarded Israel the bid to host the 2018 men’s world championship, the first time since the competition’s 1967 inception it will be held somewhere other than Australia, Canada, England or the U.S.

• Qatar became the 58th FIL member nation, the first from the Persian Gulf. Greece also joined the FIL.

• The Mercer Island (Wash.) boys visited Russia with 550 pounds of gear (and US Lacrosse Magazine staff writer Matt Hamilton) in tow — the first American team to make such a trip.

• The Jamaican lacrosse movement and continued growth in Uganda shows the sport in good hands with Fields of Growth.