The Dutch Lacrosse Association ( nl, Nederlandse Lacrosse Bond, links=no) is the official 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 extensiv ...

in the Netherlands. The Nederland Lacrosse Bond sponsors both a men's and women's national team. The national team programs are supported by a burgeoning domestic club league (the DNLL consists of 12 men's teams, while the WDNLL supports six female teams). The NLB is a full member of both the Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) and the

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 ...

(ELF). The Netherlands' first international tournament was in 2004 when the men's team competed at the

European Lacrosse Championships The European Lacrosse Championships began in 1995, the same year as the founding of the European Lacrosse Federation (ELF), to determine the best national lacrosse team of Europe. The men's tournament was held that first year, with the women ...

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

, Czech Republic. The team finished 9th out of 12 countries. Since then, the men's national team has competed at the World Lacrosse Championships in 2006, 2010,

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

and

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, with their best showing of 8th place in 2010. The team competed at the European Lacrosse Championships in 2008, 2012, and

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, plus a host of smaller invitational club tournaments throughout Europe. Their best finish was a Silver medal at the 2008 ELF. The women's first campaign was in 2008 when the team finished 10th at the

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 women’s team took 7th place in 2012 and 13th place in 2015.

Men's 2018 World Lacrosse Championships, Netanya, Israel

The Netherlands started in the white division together with Norway and Japan. The Netherlands finished 22nd of the 46 participating teams at the

world championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Roster: Men

Men's 2014 World Lacrosse Championships, Denver, CO, USA

Results: Men

Roster: Men

STAFF *Head coach: ''Neal Powless'' *Assistant coach: ''Bill Bjorness'' *Assistant coach: ''Jared Fotis'' *Assistant coach: ''Ryan Demorest'' *Physio: ''Mary Stein'' *Team Manager: ''Mary Bergman''

Men's & Women's 2012 European Lacrosse Championships, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Results: Men

Roster: Men

STAFF *Head coach: ''Michael O'Neill'' *Assistant coach: ''Owen Zachariasse'' *Assistant coach: ''Christopher Cooper'' *Assistant coach: ''Ryan Demorest'' *Assistant: ''Mike Malloy'' *Physio: ''Stijn Haverkamp'' *Team Manager: ''Paul Kortman''

Men's 2010 World Lacrosse Championships, Manchester, England

Results

Roster

STAFF *Head coach: ''Travis Taylor'' *Assistant coach: ''Macgregor Stockdale'' *Assistant coach: ''Travis Gillespie'' *Physio: ''Bart Hendriks'' *Physio: ''Daan Reutelingsperger'' *Team Manager: ''Guy Kessels''

Men's 2008 European Championship campaign

The Netherlands competed in their second European Lacrosse Championship in 2008 in

, Finland. They compiled a 6-2 record at the tournament, finishing 2nd place behind defending European champions,

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 ...

. The team surprised the lacrosse world, defeating traditional European lacrosse powers such as Sweden, Ireland and Germany before making their appearance in the gold medal game. The success of the Dutch campaign garnered mention in major lacrosse publications and placed the Netherlands on the lacrosse map for the first time in history. The Dutch team played in the C Division, featuring Austria, Denmark, France, Scotland, and Sweden. They compiled a 4-1 record in round robin play, resulting in a three-way tie for first with Sweden and Scotland, and a goals for/against record of 76/25. Goal differential determined that Sweden would finish first, with the Netherlands taking the second spot of the group. The Dutch team went on to beat Ireland and Germany in elimination play before losing to perennial champions England in the championship final. Many attributed the team's success in Finland to the two weeks of isolation and training in Den Helder prior to the tournament.

Game results

The Netherlands opened the tournament with a convincing win over Austria, beating Sweden the very next day in a tightly contested 1 goal match. They then went on to beat Denmark before losing a controversial one goal game to Scotland. The team concluded group play with a lopsided victory over newcomer France. A second-place finish in Group C advanced the Dutch team to the knockout stage of the tournament. They beat Ireland in a closely fought one-goal quarterfinal game before rolling the Germans in a convincing 12-6 semi-final victory. The Dutch team played 8 games in 10 days at various fields throughout Lahti, Finland. Detailed game results are listed below.

Team organization

At the helm of the men's national program was long time lacrosse business man, John Bergsma. John's wealth of experience within the

National Lacrosse League The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a men's professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The NLL currently has fifteen teams: ten in the United States and five in Canada. The N ...

and Team Canada was supported by coaches from both North America and the United Kingdom. Travis Taylor, a native of

New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the capi ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

and head coach at the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

, was named head coach, while MacGregor Stockdale (a former defenseman at Brown University), Nigel Greenall (head coach of Ashton lacrosse in Northern England), and Richard Bos (Groningen Lacrosse, Netherlands) were all hired as assistant coaches. The team formed new sponsorships for the European campaign, dropping their previous partnerships with Riddell and STX. Team helmets were provided by New York-based Cascade Sports and all equipment and apparel was provided by

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

based Warrior Sports.

Tournament preparation

The Dutch team centralized in the Netherlands two weeks before the European Championships, bringing all players to Den Helder (in the north of the Netherlands) for an intensive 14-day training camp. The NLB formed a strategic partnership with the Royal Netherlands Navy, using their extensive facilities in Den Helder as preparation grounds for the campaign in Finland. In addition to their grueling three-a-day practice schedule, the Dutch team took part in several naval training exercises, followed a strict eating regime, and stayed in barracks on the base. For press purposes, one practice was scheduled at a field outside of the base. On July 27 friends, family, and the public at large came to watch as the team practiced under a hot, sun-drenched afternoon in the city centre of Den Helder.

Men's 2006 World Championship campaign

The Netherlands competed in their first World Lacrosse Championships in 2006 in

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...

, Canada. Led by a contingent of Dutch ex-pats from North America. These players included many ex (NLL)(WLA) pro players, Jonas Derks (NLL from 1998-2008) bolstered the Dutch attack, Aaron Vanderhorst (WLA 2000-2015) was noted in the midfield, Vanderhorst is on track to have competed in every World Championshil, since 2006. He will be donning the Orange of the Dutch in the 2019 World Indoor championships. Well former UWO Mustang standout Andrew Dowdell (Major series 2000,NLL 2001)locked down the goaltending position, he was also tooted as a player to watch throughout the games, according to official program. Dowdell had suffered a shortened NLL and Major career as a result of head Injuries. Despite, his past head injuries Dowdell was rock solid in the cage for the Dutch. The Dutch national team finished with a 3-4 record at the tournament. They also made ILF history by becoming the first team to win their debut game at their first World Championships (defeating South Korea by a score of 12-4). The Netherlands competed in the Orange Group, featuring Germany, the Czech Republic, New Zealand, and South Korea. Competing against these countries in round-robin play, the Dutch group amassed a 2-2 record, with convincing wins over both South Korea and New Zealand. The Netherlands then went on to beat Latvia (10-4) before falling to Finland in a tightly-fought and controversial 2 goal game (final score: 8-10). The group went on to lose their last game to a talented Scotland squad, but finished the tournament in 12th place (out of 21 countries).

Game results

The Netherlands played 7 games in 8 days, all at the North London Athletic Fields. The game results are listed below.

Team organization

The staff, led by General Manager Cornelius Derks, was composed entirely of North American coaches during the 2006 tournament. Corny, a native of Oshawa, Ontario, performed managerial duties while David Leich (head coach of the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thames R ...

Mustangs), Jason Crosbie (standout player from the

Buffalo Bandits The Buffalo Bandits are a professional 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 po ...

of the NLL), and Jim Huelskamp (Former Salisbury State University All-American) acted as assistant coaches.
Waterford Development
(a Washington D.C.-based real estate developer) was the team's main sponsor. Exclusive partnerships with lacrosse equipment and apparel suppliers were formed: STX (based out of

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

) provided the team with equipment while Riddell supplied the team with helmets. Atlantic Sportswear provided apparel for the Netherlands and the team was outfitted in their famous "

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

" colors.

External links

Nederland Lacrosse Official Website

Official 2006 World Championship Website

International Lacrosse Federation

Nederland Lacrosse World Championship Blog
{{Sports governing bodies in the Netherlands Lac Lacrosse governing bodies in Europe 2003 establishments in the Netherlands Lacrosse in the Netherlands Sports organizations established in 2003