ASHKELON, ISRAEL – The Israel Lacrosse Association has named Sophie Bass and Claire Rosenberg as Head Coach and Assistant Coach, respectively, for the Women’s European Championships this summer in Braga, Portugal from July 11th to 21st. The Israeli Women’s National team is currently ranked second in Europe.
Sophie Bass, a native of Westfield New Jersey, and current head coach at Widener University is entering her first season as head coach for the Women’s Lacrosse team and fifth season overall at Widener University.
Before getting into college coaching, Bass had a standout career at Albright College as a midfielder, earning All-MAC Commonwealth First Team Honors as a Junior and Senior and All-MAC Commonwealth Honorable Mention as a Sophomore. She etched her name among the best and ended her career with 165 goals, 77 assists, and 242 points. When Bass graduated she was Albright’s all-time leader in career points (242), points in a season (91), assists in a season (41) and career assists (77).
“It is a true honor to be selected as the next head coach for the Israel Women’s National Team. I expect to continue to build on the tradition of success established by the coaches and players who have come before me,” says Bass.
Since 2017, Sophie Bass has continued to stay engaged with Israel Lacrosse year-round. That year she lived in Ashkelon, where she contributed significantly to the grassroots development of the sport, participated in the Israel Lacrosse League (IPLL) in the summer, and interned at the Wingate Institute in the Sports Achievement Unit in Netanya.
Following the summer of 2017, Bass returned to Israel as a chaperone for the Winter Service Trip, which is a 10-day trip designed for high school students, offering them opportunities to travel, play, and coach lacrosse, as well as engage in school visits to promote the growth of the sport. Most recently, Coach Bass led additional ILA service trips in 2022 and 2023 (one Winter and one Summer) continuing to expand the ILA’s impact and bolstering domestic lacrosse in Israel.
“I am excited to have the opportunity to help lead many of the best Jewish lacrosse players in the world on the world stage and continue to help with the development of lacrosse on the ground in Israel”, says Bass.
Claire Rosenberg moved to Israel in December of 2022 and became the Head of Women’s Coaching for the Israel Lacrosse Association. This past summer she competed in her first international competition, where she was the Head Coach of the U21 European Championship team that competed in Prague, making a 10th-place finish.
A graduate of Berry College, Rosenberg was a four-year starting attacker for the Vikings, a three-time Southern Athletic Association all-conference selection, and she holds both Berry and SAA all-time assists records.
Following her four years at Berry College, Rosenberg enrolled in the sports management master’s program at Illinois State University where she studied sports management and served as a graduate assistant coach for Illinois Wesleyan University Women’s Lacrosse. She led the Titans to the Sweet 16 in back-to-back years, making program history as Illinois Wesleyan had never made it to the Sweet 16 previously.
The Israel Women’s Lacrosse team currently ranks 2nd in Europe after competing in the 2019 European Championship, which was a historic achievement and their best performance in a European championship to date. On the World Stage, the women placed 5th in the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, AL, and 6th in the 2022 World Championship in Towson, MD.
The coaching staff stated that “our ultimate goal is to provide all of our players with an experience which will help them inspire the next generation of lacrosse players and positively impact the growth of the sport in Israel.”
This team will be selected based on ability, commitment to Israel Lacrosse Youth Development/Programming, and alignment with team culture and identity. If you’d like to be included in the player pool, fill out this link.
For more information on Israel Women’s lacrosse and national teams, please contact Ian Kadish at ian@israellacrosse.org.