NETANYA, ISRAEL — Israel Lacrosse has announced the roster of the men’s national team which will compete on home soil at the 2018 FIL World Lacrosse Championships.
Israel’s city of Netanya will host the sport’s pinnacle event that will include 50 participating countries and more than 5,000 fans from abroad between July 12-21. This is the very first time since the competition’s inception in 1967 that a country outside of the United States, Canada, England or Australia has hosted the Championship and signifies a major expansion of the sport, both in Israel and globally.
“As the host nation for this event, and a program on the rise, there was no shortage of talent through our tryout process,” said Brad MacArthur, who recently took the reigns as the General Manager of Team Israel. “Selecting this team was extremely onerous for our staff. We asked the players to put us in a difficult position to have to make decisions, and credit to them, they did. There were some excellent players that did not make this team, that have put themselves in the Israel Lacrosse player pool for the future.”
“The group we have decided to move forward with embodies everything we had asked to see and offers us versatility in a number of areas when building a team aiming for a medal,” added MacArthur. “As we enter the winter training season and move forward to July our staff is very excited about the next eight months and the opportunity to work with a great group of elite athletes.”
The blue-and-white have their sights set on improving their world ranking from their 7th place finish at Israel’s first World Championship appearance in 2014.
Israel boasts a tremendous level of continuity as nine players return from the 2014 squad.
The roster is composed of both Israeli players, as well as members of the Jewish diaspora, in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL). In conjunction with the Israel Lacrosse Tzedakah Program, each player will be competing in honor of a charity of their choosing.
Injured Reserve: Matthew Cherry, Bryan Hopper, Zachary Ornstein
General Manager: Brad MacArthur
Head Coach: Bill Beroza
Assistant Coaches: Michael Horowitz, Jeff Schwartz, Eric Wolf
Director of Scouting: Jordan Hirsch