The IIJL World Junior Lacrosse Championship (WJLC) is an annual independent international

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 ...

championship for players aged 20 and under.

History

The first formal Junior competition was held in 2015 in Six Nations, ON. Originally, the Junior tournament was to be held in conjunction with the

World Indoor Lacrosse Championship The World Box Lacrosse Championship (WBLC), formerly known as the World Indoor Lacrosse Championship (WILC), is an international box lacrosse tournament sponsored by World Lacrosse that is held every four years. Since the first tournament in 2003, ...

in Buffalo, NY. However, when Buffalo was removed from the 2015 WILC as one of two host locations - all games moved to Syracuse/Onondaga Nation, the Junior tournament was removed. With flights planned, the Junior Tournament was moved to Six Nations, ON and named the 2015 U19 World Lacrosse Challenge and featured 12 teams, including regional squads from Canada and

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 ...

. Junior national teams from Czech Republic,

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 ...

, and the United States along with German club Deutschland Adler rounded out the field. Canada West won the gold medal game while Iroquois West captured the bronze medal. ''International Indoor Junior Lacrosse'' purchased the rights to the tournament in 2016 and it was rebranded to its current name the IIJL World Junior Lacrosse Championship. Eight teams would compete in the second edition which was again held at Iroquois Lacrosse Arena. Czech Republic and United States returned along with newcomer Ireland. Iroquois West would defeat the Junior CLax All Stars 9-8 in the gold medal game while Iroquois Grand River took bronze on their home floor. After a one-year hiatus the tournament return in 2018 and take place in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

at SaskTel Centre. For the first time in the championship's history each country would be represented by individual teams. Three teams took part (Canada, Iroquois, United States) in the four-day event with Canada winning its second gold medal. The event returned to

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 ...

in 2019 - this time in

Mississauga Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popul ...

at Paramount Fine Foods Centre. The championship doubled in size from three to six countries.

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

would make its debut at the tournament, one of six national teams. The 2021 IIJL Word Junior Lacrosse Championship was a cumulative goal three game series against Canada East and Canada West due to the global pandemic resulting in other countries not being able to travel or restrictions that prevented them from participating. Games aired live on TSN 2 and TSN Direct.

Champions

References

External links

World Junior Lacrosse Championship website
{{Lacrosse topics 2015 in lacrosse Lacrosse of the Iroquois Confederacy World Lacrosse Championship