Sports This Week: World event upcoming for women's lacrosse

YORKTON - When the 2024 World Box Lacrosse Championships hit the floor Sept. 20-29 in Utica, New York, it will be an historic event for women involved in the sport.

The event is scheduled to be the first double championship featuring the best men’s and women’s lacrosse athletes from around the globe competing for world titles.

On the women’s side 10 nations will compete in the inaugural women’s box championship: Canada, Australia, Ireland, Germany, Finland, US, England, Haudenosaunee, Hong Kong / China, Netherlands.

Twenty-eights national teams make up the field for the men’s box championship. 

“This has been a long time coming. A ton of women have worked extremely hard to make this happen,” said Troyhann Santos, who will coach Canada’s women’s team at the championship.

Santos, who has family ties to the Gorlitz-area in east central Saskatchewan, said the championships are certainly a positive step for “gender equality”.

“It’s been a long time coming, and it’s surprising it happened,” she told Yorkton This Week.

Santos said while it might not be widely recognized the women’s side of box is growing.

“There’s not a lot of organized teams or leagues for women, but it’s growing,” she said, adding the growth might be most significant in Canada and the U.S., but other countries are advancing in the game too. “. . . It’s growing in popularity.”

At the championship Santos said there will be a mix in terms of skill among teams.

“There’s going to be some weaker teams because they don’t have the experience,” she said, adding Canada, the U.S., and Haudenosaunee go in as favourites. “. . . But, there might be some surprises.”

As for Team Canada the selection process is under way with Lacrosse Canada having already announced the 48 athletes that will be attending the final tryout for the Women's National Box Lacrosse Team.

The selections were made following tryouts in Oakville, Ont., and Langley, B.C..

“Everything seems to be going well,” observed Santos.

The 48 women be in St. Catharines, Ont., July 2-3 for the final tryout.

Most players are from Ontario and B.C., with Alberta and Manitoba also on the list, said Santos, who said interest was high with more than 100 hopefuls at each of the initial try-outs.

The final cut down “will be a tough one,” said Santos, noting they can only take 23 players to New York. “The last 48 players are great at this level.”

Once the roster is set the team will need to jell quickly.

“There’s not a lot of time,” said Santos, adding they will head south a week before the championship and cram to set things for the championships.

The team has one goal at Worlds to capture the first gold ever handed out in the sport at the top level.

“We’re here for one reason, and that’s definitely to win gold,” she said. “Box has always been our game. Now we just have to go out and prove it.”