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Men's Lacrosse:
The International Lacrosse Federation (ILF) World Championship began as a four-team invitational tournament that coincided with Canada's centennial lacrosse celebration in 1967. The Mt. Washington (Md.) Lacrosse Club represented the United States and won the tournament. Seven years later, Australia celebrated its lacrosse centennial, and the U.S. fielded an all-star team to compete in a similar international invitational tournament. It was here that the concept of holding a world championship tournament every four years was born. The U.S. has captured eight ILF World Championships and finished second twice, including the most recent event in 2006. Prior to losing to Canada in the 2006 championship game, the Americans had not lost a game since the 1978 final, a 17-16 overtime setback to Canada. The winning streak spanned 38 games through seven ILF tournaments.
Team USA fields a National Team and a U-19 Team. They compete against teams from the 30 different countries from across the world including Canada, Ireland, Germany, Japan, Slovakia, Poland, and South Korea to name a few. The 2010 Games will be played in Manchester, England.
Women's Lacrosse
The International Federation of Women's Lacrosse Associations (IFWLA) was formed in 1972 to promote and develop the game of women’s lacrosse throughout the world. Inaugural members were Australia, England, Scotland, Wales and the United States. The number of member countries has doubled as lacrosse has spread.
The IFWLA World Cup started in 1982 as an international lacrosse tournament that is held every four years, except in 1989 when it had only been three years since the 1986 IFWLA World Championship. The first World Cup was hosted in Nottingham, England. The United States team has won every World Cup except 1986 and 2005 where it finished second behind Australia. The 2005 IFWLA World Cup was hosted by US Lacrosse in Annapolis, Md., while the 2009 World Cup, now under the direction of the FIL, was in Prague, Czech Republic.
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