COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The World Lacrosse Board of Directors convened today via video conference for its monthly meeting, during which it took the following actions.
The Board of Directors unanimously approved a recommendation from Management that the World Lacrosse Men’s U19 World Championship, originally scheduled for July 9-18, 2020, in Limerick, Ireland, be rescheduled and reformatted, as follows:
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The World Championship now will be held in the summer of 2021 in Limerick, Ireland. The exact dates are to be determined;
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The event age eligibility will be raised to U20, with certain dispensations still allowed. The lower age for eligibility will remain 16 years old;
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National Teams that had not originally entered the event for 2020, but have an interest in doing so for 2021, will be considered by World Lacrosse.
The Board expressed its appreciation to Michael Kennedy, Chair of the Limerick Organizing Committee, the leaders of World Lacrosse member National Governing Bodies, and the athletes, coaches and families who have been preparing to compete in the World Championship for their ongoing flexibility and commitment to the event.
The recommendation to reschedule the event for 2021 and to adjust the age classification was made following consultation by Management with member-National Governing Bodies and Continental Federations, which included individual consultation, a written survey for participating countries and two virtual “Town Hall Meetings”.
The Board of Directors confirmed there will be no change to the date for the 2021 World Lacrosse Women’s World Championship, which will be held as scheduled from July 7-17, 2021 in Towson, Maryland, USA.
U19 men's coach Nick Myers expressed his excitement upon hearing the news.
"Grateful, thankful and excited for more time with this staff and group of men," he said. "We appreciate the World Lacrosse board making a decision to keep games and the players that had been selected to compete. We are also thankful for USL support during this challenging time. They have been unwavering with their support for this team. We will continue to build our connection with our group and look forward to representing Team USA next summer in Ireland."