The Aleš Hřebeský Memorial is held by Lacrosse Club Custodes Sokol Radotín to honor its former player who died in the autumn of 1993. Today the Aleš Hřebeský Memorial is the most prestigious
box lacrosse
Box lacrosse, also known as boxla, box, or indoor lacrosse, is an indoor version of lacrosse played mostly in North America. The game originated in Canada in the 1930s, where it is more popular than field lacrosse. Lacrosse is Canada's official ...
event in Europe with teams from 15 countries participating.
Aleš Hřebeský
Aleš Hřebeský was born on July 1, 1972, and was among the most gifted LCC players. Moreover, he was a keen
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
player,
gymnast
Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sh ...
, and
cycle-ball player. On November 30, 1993, he died of the injuries caused by a drunk driver who hit Aleš while he was waiting at a bus stop.
History
The tournament used to be the traditional opening of the Czech lacrosse season at the end of March. All teams played on a usually muddy field dried with layers of shavings and sawdust.
The 8th tournament in 2001 was breakthrough. Thanks to a generous grant from the Municipality of
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
, and the effort of LCC members, the arena was refurbished and an artificial surface was laid. The Grand Opening was a part of the Aleš Hřebeský Memorial which included a first – teams from abroad (the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
and even
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
) participated for the first time. It was the first tournament ever in the history of world box lacrosse with participants from more than two countries. The Champion that year was LCC Sokol Radotín. The next year, two American teams participated and a few professional players played on Team Rebel won the tournament in 2002–04. The winner of 2005 and 2006 annual was LC Jižní Město.
In 2007 for the first time a team from the homeland of lacrosse,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
took part. Green Gaels from
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
came. Their young team remained unbeaten and gained the trophy. The 2007 annual was also a good preparation for the Czech national team before the World Indoor Lacroose Championship held in
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...
, Canada in May 2007. For the first time a lacrosse match was broadcast on TV in the
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
, with Czech TV Sport Channel broadcasting the All Stars Game.
From 2001 to 2004 the main sponsor – HBA – gave the name to the tournament: HBA Cup. The partner of the 2005 annual Memorial was ICV. JIMI-Dlouhý Ltd. was the general partner of the tournament in 2006 and 2007. S&S vzduchotechnika played this role since 2008.
A record number of 16 teams took part in 2008. Also for the first time the tournament started on a Thursday. Several Rebel players including Bill Curtiss who brought the Rebel team as the first overseas team to the tournament appeared in ambitious Megamen
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. They won the trophy in the first live TV broadcast from the tournament. All matches were available live on the internet at bwin website and you could bet on results there, too. Megamen dominated in 2009 again.
In 2010 an eruption of the Icelandic volcano
Eyjafjallajökull
Eyjafjallajökull (; ), sometimes referred to by the numeronym E15, is one of the smaller ice caps of Iceland, north of Skógar and west of Mýrdalsjökull. The ice cap covers the caldera of a volcano with a summit elevation of . The volcan ...
stopped the air traffic over Europe just prior to the Memorial, meaning that Megamen, Nova Scotia Privateers and the US Team could not fly over. Canadians Love You to Death and Green Gaels were lucky to get to Radotín and Green Gaels repeated their victory from 2007. Also other players journey from
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
and
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
was very adventurous and complicated and the organizers highly appreciated they will to get to Prague for the tournament.
In 2011 the Memorial was the last practice for many players for the World Indoor Lacrosse Championship held in Prague one month later.
Jim Veltman
James Edward "Scoop" Veltman (born March 8, 1966) is a Canadian former lacrosse player who played for the Toronto Rock, the Ontario Raiders, and the Buffalo Bandits in the National Lacrosse League. Veltman won three NLL championships with the Ba ...
, a lacrosse legend, who to Prague as a Czech national team coach, accepted an invitation to play for Love You to Death and lead his team to the champions title, gained in the over-time of a great final against Megamen.
The 20th annual in 2013 hosted a team from Canadian British Columbia for the first time, also
French and
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i lacrosse players took part in combined squad. An entirely
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
team made their debut in the tournament and
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
was represented as well. Home LCC Radotín celebrated the jubilee tournament with the highers number of teams in history and gained the trophy after 12 years.
In the 21st annual in 2014 there were 20 teams competing, representing 14 nations. For the very first time a native
Iroquois
The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...
team – Kahnawake Rapids – took part in the tournament with several Iroquois national team players in their squad. In a very competitive tournament they stayed undefeated and gained the trophy.
The highest possible number of teams – 21 – arrived in 2015. There were three newcomers: Regina Heat from
Saskatchewan, Canada
Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...
, and new countries represented –
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
and
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
. Pioneers reached the title in their third visit to Radotín.
The 23rd annual welcomed a new team from Switzerland. Another newcomer – Team Alberta – gained the tournament trophy in the breathtaking final game against home Custodes. Albertans won in the sudden death overtime.
Champions
References
External links
Aleš Hřebeský Memorial
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ales Hrebesky Memorial
International lacrosse competitions