The Finnish national box lacrosse team has been selected for the World Championships in Utica. The team will travel to the competition on September 18th.
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.
This year, as many as 28 teams are participating in the World Box Lacrosse Championships, resulting in a very intense schedule. After the first three group-stage games, the tournament will move directly into the knockout phase. Finland's group is interesting as, besides the more familiar Switzerland, they will face Greece, a newcomer to the tournament, and Japan, a top country in the field- and Sixes lacrosse. Team captain
Markus Mattila sees Japan as a dangerous opponent: “It is well known that the Japanese are individually very strong, skillful with their sticks, and extremely athletic. In other lacrosse disciplines, we would surely lose, but in box lacrosse, we have the advantage of experience.” Based on a solid team style of play, Finland enters the tournament ranked 6th globally. The tournament schedule and information page can be found here:
https://worldlacrosse.sport/events/2024-world-lacrosse-box-championships/mens-schedule/.
Long Preparation
The Finnish men's national team began preparing in October 2023 with the first National Team camp. The National Team squad practiced monthly in sports halls, and as spring arrived, the training moved to Park field in Turku, which has a rink with a rubber crumb surface needed for the sport. After the training camp at the end of July, the coaching staff made the final selections, and the team has now been announced. National team head coach
Tracey Kelusky believes in his team’s abilities: “Our goal has always been to play our best game every time we step on the floor. For each individual to strive for their best individual performance. In doing so, we collectively take the steps to ensure our team's goals are met. Similarly, we play with the mindset of never being satisfied with any results from the past. We are very excited to participate in this year's world lacrosse championships, as I feel we have assembled our best group to date. We and myself personally are looking forward to the opportunity to yet again put Finland on the map as a top lacrosse country.”
Read more about the team and follow their social media accounts which you can find on the team's page.
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