Friday 6 September marks the start of the Ken Galluccio Cup in Ghent, Belgium which sees 12 women’s and 8 men’s club lacrosse champions from around Europe battle it out for the annual trophy.
This year, England’s representatives are Hampstead Lacrosse Club (men) and Centaurs Lacrosse Club (women) after they won their respective leagues.
Hampstead won the South East Men’s Lacrosse Association (SEMLA) Premier Division, winning all 12 of their matches, while Centaurs also took their South East Women’s Lacrosse Association (SEWLA) Premier Division title at a canter, remaining unbeaten and winning 13 out of their 14 games.
The cup has been running since 2008 and is organised by the European Lacrosse Federation (ELF) and gathers domestic champions from several countries, including Germany, Netherlands, and Sweden, to decide which team is Europe’s best.
Originally named the Champions Cup, the tournament was renamed the Ken Galluccio Cup as a tribute to its creator after his death in 2009 and it is the largest European lacrosse tournament with teams from over 15 countries taking part.
For the first four years, the tournament was held in Hamburg, Manchester, Hamburg, and Prague but since 2013 it has been held in Ghent, Belgium.
English teams have traditionally performed well at the tournament, winning seven out of the 10 titles in the men’s competition, including last year’s which was won by Poynton Lacrosse Club.
In the women’s competition, Oxton Lacrosse Club won the title in 2014 while Centaurs were runners-up last year; they’ll be hoping to go one better this year!
The pool stages take place on the first and second days with the knockout stages on day three.
The men’s final will take place at 12pm and the women’s at 1pm on day three.
For more information about the Ken Galluccio Cup click HERE.
