World Lacrosse have announced that the Men’s U19 World Championship, now titled the Men's U20 World Championship, will be held in 2021 in Limerick, Ireland, between 17 and 26 June.
The World Lacrosse Board of Directors also approved a recommendation that the event age eligibility be raised to U20, “with certain dispensations still allowed” (the lower age for eligibility will remain 16 years old).
They also approved and announced that national teams that “had not originally entered the event for 2020, but have an interest in doing so for 2021, will be considered.
World Lacrosse also expressed its appreciation “to Michael Kennedy, Chair of the Limerick Organising Committee, the leaders of World Lacrosse member National Governing Bodies, and the athletes, coaches and families who have been preparing to compete in the World Championship for their ongoing flexibility and commitment to the event”.
Finally, the Board of Directors announced that the 2020 World Lacrosse General Assembly will be held in the latter part of this year but in a virtual format rather than in-person.
The exact dates for the General Assembly are yet to be decided.
World Lacrosse President, Sue Redfern, said:
“The challenges brought about by the global pandemic are unprecedented for recent time, and it is essential for our response to be thoughtfully-developed, athlete-focused and fully aligned with the highest principles of athlete safety and well-being.
“On behalf of the Board of Directors, I’d like to extend our continued appreciation to our member-National Governing Bodies, Continental Federations and our lacrosse family around the world for stepping forward to play our part in combatting the global pandemic”.
In response to the announcements, England Lacrosse National Performance & Talent Development Manager, Jane Powell, remarked:
“We are delighted that World Lacrosse has committed to holding the Men’s U19 World Championship in 2021 and are pleased they have brought in the new recommendations.
“The priority of everyone within lacrosse has to be the health and wellbeing of its participants at this time and we support World Lacrosse in its endeavour to do this while acknowledging that decisions need to be made regarding the restart of lacrosse, whenever that may be.
“We’re communicating with the Men’s U19 National squad to start to put plans in place for next year’s tournament”.