World Lacrosse (WL), formerly the Federation of International Lacrosse, is the international governing body of

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

, responsible for the men's,

women's A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

, and

indoor Indoor(s) may refer to: *the interior of a building *Indoor environment, in building science, traditionally includes the study of indoor thermal environment, indoor acoustic environment, indoor light environment, and indoor air quality *Built envi ...

versions of the sport. It was established in 2008 by the merger of the previously separate men's and women's international lacrosse associations. Its headquarters are in

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

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 ...

. World Lacrosse has 77 members. It is the only international sport organization to recognize

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

bands and Native American tribes as sovereign nations. The Iroquois Nationals (men) and the Haudenosaunee Nationals (women) of the

First Nations Lacrosse Association First Nations Lacrosse Association (formerly Iroquois Lacrosse Association) is the governing body of lacrosse for First Nations within Canada and Native American tribes within the United States. The First Nations Lacrosse Association (FNLA) overs ...

represent the

Haudenosaunee The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian Peoples, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Indigenous confederations in North America, confederacy of First Nations in Canada, First Natio ...

people of New York and Ontario. World Lacrosse was given provisional recognition status by the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

in November 2018. In May 2019, the Federation of International Lacrosse launched a rebrand and changed its name to World Lacrosse. In March 2022, due to the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

, Russian teams, athletes, and officials were suspended from participation in World Lacrosse events and qualifiers, and it was decided that no World Lacrosse or

European Lacrosse Federation European Lacrosse Federation (ELF) is the sport governing body of men and women's lacrosse in Europe. It was founded in 1995 by the Czech Republic, Scotland, England, Sweden, Germany, and Wales. There are currently 34 member nations. Overview The ...

events would be held in Russia.

Tournaments

World Lacrosse organizes the

World Lacrosse Championship The World Lacrosse Championship (WLC) is the international men's field lacrosse championship organized by World Lacrosse that occurs every four years. The WLC began before any international lacrosse organization had been formed. It started as a ...

, the

Women's Lacrosse World Cup The World Lacrosse Women's World Championship (WLWWC), formerly known as the Women's Lacrosse World Cup (WLWC), the international championship of women's lacrosse, is held every four years. From its inception in 1982, it was sponsored by the gov ...

, the

Under-19 World Lacrosse Championships The Under-19 World Lacrosse Championships (U-19) are held separately for men and women every four years to award world championships for the under-19 age group in men's lacrosse and women's lacrosse. The tournaments are sanctioned by World Lacrosse ...

for both men and women, and 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, ...

Members

Continental Federations

* African Association of Lacrosse * Asia Pacific Lacrosse Union *

* Pan American Lacrosse Association Source:

Awards

Predecessor organizations

International Lacrosse Federation

The International Lacrosse Federation (ILF) was founded in 1974 to promote and develop men's lacrosse throughout the world. Before 2008, the international governing bodies for men's and women's lacrosse were separate, which was one of the obstacles of lacrosse one day becoming an

Olympic sport Olympic sports are contested in the Summer Olympic Games and Winter Olympic Games. The 2020 Summer Olympics included 33 sports; the 2022 Winter Olympics included seven sports. Each Olympic sport is represented by an international governing b ...

. In August 2008 in

Lahti Lahti (; sv, Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is the capital of the region of Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme) and its growing region is one of the main economic hubs of Finland. Lahti is situated on a bay at the southern e ...

, Finland, the ILF and the International Federation of Women's Lacrosse Associations merged to become the Federation of International Lacrosse. ILF Founders: Thomas Hayes (USA) Don Hobbs (Australia) Laurie Turnbull (Australia) Nigel Wade (England) The ILF conducted the

and the men’s

, all of which were taken over by the FIL.

IFWLA

The International Federation of Women's Lacrosse Associations (IFWLA) was formed in 1972 to promote and develop

women's lacrosse Women's lacrosse (or girls' lacrosse), sometimes shortened to lax, is a sport with twelve players on the field at a time (including the goalkeeper). Originally played by indigenous peoples of the Americas, the modern women's game was introduce ...

throughout the world. It wound up its affairs in August 2008 when it agreed to merge with the ILF to form the Federation of International Lacrosse. Promoting all levels of lacrosse included IFWLA sponsorship of the

and the Women’s

, tournaments taken over by the FIL.

References

External links

*
2018-19 Annual Report
{{Authority control International lacrosse Lacrosse governing bodies Sports organizations established in 2008 2008 establishments in Canada