Sport Lacrosse Headquarters Ashkelon, Israel | Founded 2010 Coach William Beroza | |
Affiliation European Lacrosse Federation Federation of International Lacrosse | ||
Lacrosse in Israel is a minor sport, with 700 players as of June 2015.
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Israel Lacrosse Association
The Israel Lacrosse Association (ILA) is the official governing body of lacrosse in Israel and is a member of the Federation of International Lacrosse and the European Lacrosse Federation. It was founded to develop and promote lacrosse within Israel and strives to offer lacrosse to Israelis of all ages. Israel Lacrosse was founded in 2010 by Scott Neiss who previously served as an Executive for the National Lacrosse League, along with William Beroza and Howard Borkan. It was officially recognized by the Federation of International Lacrosse in April 2011.
Israel Premier Lacrosse League
The Israel Premier Lacrosse League (IPLL) is the premier lacrosse league in Israel, which debuted in 2015. The league competes during summer months only, in an attempt to attract players from abroad to participate.
Teams
The IPLL had four teams in the 2015 season before expanding to six in 2016, which were:
Fields
There are six stadiums used by the IPLL which are:
2015 season
The 2015 season was the inaugural season of the IPLL. Barak Netanya LC won the IPLL Championship with a win over Haifa LC, with Bryan Hopper winning the EL AL Player of the Game award. A total of 16 games were played, with each team playing eight games.
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2016 season
The 2016 season of the IPLL was their second season. Tel Aviv LC decided to suspend operations for the 2016 season, however Ashdod LC, Kiryat Gat LC, and Be'er Sheva LC joined the league for the 2016 season. A total of 22 games were played, with each team playing either seven or eight games.
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Tournaments
Israel has both a men's and women's national team, which competes at both European and World levels.
European Lacrosse Championships
In 2016, Israel won the Silver Medal, placing second in a field of 24, England won the gold 7-6 in regulation play. This was Israel's first medal in international play.
World Lacrosse Championships
Israel qualified for the Men's 2014 World Lacrosse Championship in Denver, finishing in 7th place.
Shabbat Policy
The ILA has a consistent position of not playing or scheduling games on the Shabbat. Israel Lacrosse released a statement saying: “As a new sport to Israel it is imperative . . . we cannot ignore that reasonably large percentage of our nations’ people, our teams’ players and our associations’ members would be offended if we took the field on Shabbat.” The organization has stated that the policy is a national identity issue, not a religious issue.