Earlier this month, the International World Games Association (IWGA) and Birmingham Organising Committee (BOC) announced the postponement and rescheduling of next year’s World Games until 2022, with new dates of 7-17 July.
This 11th edition of the event will still take place in Birmingham, Alabama, in the USA and will see the Great Britain men’s and women’s lacrosse squads compete against other nations from around the world for the coveted gold medal.
The World Games is a multi-sport event staged every four years and welcomes over 3,500 athletes from 100 countries taking part in 30+ sports.
It was first staged in 1981 and is meant to highlight those sports that do not compete at the Olympic Games.
Many sports, such as badminton, beach volleyball, and triathlon have all been World Games events but have since been allowed to take part in the Olympic Games and so no longer compete.
Russia have finished top of the medal table most frequently with four victories while Italy and the USA have both completed this feat on two occasions.
Great Britain hosted the second World Games event in London in 1985 where they finished sixth in the overall medal table with Italy being the eventual winners.
Lacrosse made its World Games debut in 2017 where Great Britain women finished fourth behind winners USA, runners-up Canada, and bronze medal winners Australia.
In 2022, women’s lacrosse will again be on the bill while men’s lacrosse will be played as an invitational sport.
England Lacrosse National Performance & Talent Development Manager, Jane Powell, remarked:
“We absolutely support this decision to postpone and reschedule this summer’s World Games as the health and wellbeing of the participants and spectators is of the utmost importance at this time.
“With Great Britain lacrosse’s involvement in The World Games, this rescheduling will of course have further implications on the international lacrosse calendar, and we are now in discussions with World Lacrosse to assess any impact this may have.
“We will be sure to keep everyone updated with any further developments as and when they are agreed”.
The rescheduling of The World Games means that the event will now take place at the same time as the 2022 Commonwealth Games, also due to be held in Birmingham, United Kingdom, as well as the 2022 Men’s World Lacrosse Championship.
It remains to be seen what impact this clash of events will have on competing nations but 2022 is sure to be an exciting year for sport and for lacrosse in particular!