The ILA has chosen the 21 young women who will fill out the Blue-and-White roster at the World Lacrosse 2024 Women’s U20 Championship in Hong Kong, scheduled for August 15-25.
Initially held in 1995, this is the eighth edition of the World Lacrosse Women’s U20 Championship and its first time back since 2019. This is Asia’s inaugural hosting of the event.
This summer, 20 nations will converge on the coast of the South China Sea to determine the world’s best up-and-comers. It will perfectly mirror the same field as 2019.
“The overall level of play and the competitive balance of our sport has never been higher, and this junior championship is going to be a special World Lacrosse event in a premier destination in Hong Kong, China,” World Lacrosse CEO said in a press release in January.
Israel has appeared in the World Lacrosse Women’s U20 Championship – previously the U19 championship – twice before. In 2015, its team grabbed 14th. It followed that up with a 17th-place finish in 2019. The most-recent international outing for an ILA junior women’s field team was in 2023 at the U21 European Championship in Prague, Czech Republic. Israel concluded in 10th position.
The following 21 athletes will represent Israel in Hong Kong this summer:
2024 Women’s U20 Championship Roster
| NUMBER | NAME | POSITION |
| 1 | Liel Hodara | MID |
| 2 | Corey Kumin | ATK/MID |
| 3 | Elinor Gini | DEF |
| 4 | Or Levy | DEF/ATK |
| 5 | Sonya Dobrikin | DEF |
| 6 | Lian Perez | ATK |
| 7 | Racheli Levy-Smith | MID |
| 8 | Shayli Dimri | MID |
| 9 | Alma Shabatov | DEF |
| 10 | Brooke Frishman | MID |
| 12 | Amelia Byerly | MID |
| 13 | Yagel Geva | DEF/MID |
| 16 | Talya Shnit | MID |
| 18 | Sasha Lurie | ATK/MID |
| 21 | Yali Tam | ATK |
| 23 | Tori Bates | GK |
| 24 | Gal Zur | DEF/MID |
| 26 | Shirin Atedgi | ATK/MID |
| 28 | Sarah Marcovici | ATK/MID |
| 36 | Neely Mannor | MID |
| 42 | Eden Chajmovic | GK |
Coaching Staff
Claire Rosenberg will lead Israel as its head coach. Rachel Rosen and Ariel Gini will accompany her as the team’s assistant coaches.
Just weeks after she will act as an assistant for the team competing in the Women’s European Championship in Portugal, Rosenberg will be the boss in Hong Kong. She brings a wealth of experience with her – other than the impending European championship, Rosenberg was in charge of Israel’s 10th-place finish at the U21 European Championship in 2023, was involved in the turnaround of the women’s lacrosse program at Illinois State, and has been the Head of Women’s Coaching for the ILA since 2022. Rosenberg played college lacrosse at Berry College, where she set school and conference records for all-time assists. A native of Atlanta, she currently calls Ashkelon, Israel, home.
Rosen will make her international coaching debut in Hong Kong, but she is no stranger to international competition. An active player on the Israel Women’s National Team, Rosen was part of top-five placements in the 2019 Women’s European Championship (2nd) and 2022 World Games (5th). She spent the summer of 2023 in Ashkelon coaching youth teams, clinics, and led the three-week College Session alongside the Summer Service trip, as well as participated in the IPLL. Rosen will don the Blue-and-White as a player in Portugal roughly one month prior.
Gini, a veteran player for Israel’s U20 men’s national team, will make his international coaching debut in Hong Kong. Located in Herzliya, Israel, he coaches all levels of lacrosse in his native land all year-round.
Additionally, Andy Segal (team manager), Bronwyn Segal (assistant manager), Sara Bunemann (athletic trainer), and Ian Kadish (ILA executive director) will accompany the team on its endeavor.
Our Goals
Five years ago, Israel earned 17th in the last iteration of this event. A better placement in 2024 is ideal, but it’s not the primary objective of the competition.
Most of the young women on this roster are native to Israel. When they were born, there was no lacrosse within their nation’s borders. Now, they are set to cross their continent to compete and met other like-minded people from all around the world.
Lacrosse is Israel is still in its adolescence. It remains immensely valuable for these young players to access this tournament for extra practice time, together and individually, and to grow as athletes, teammates, and women.
“We have a really special core group of women, and we could not be more excited for them to take the next step,” Rosenberg said in a press release last year. “There is so much to look forward to ahead of (the) summer and I am incredibly lucky to be working with this group.”
Israel Lacrosse aims to use this tournament as a vehicle to continue our path of producing quality young lacrosse players and people, who will further the game in Israel and become outstanding citizens within Israeli society.