Lacrosse in Israel

Lacrosse in Israel is a minor sport, with 700 players as of June 2015.[1]

Lacrosse in Israel
Country	Israel
Governing body	Israel Lacrosse Association
National team(s)	Men's national team Women's national team
International competitions
World Lacrosse Championship Women's Lacrosse World Cup World Indoor Lacrosse Championship European Lacrosse Championships

Israel Lacrosse Association

Israel Lacrosse Association

Sport	Lacrosse
Founded	2010
Affiliation	European Lacrosse Federation World Lacrosse
Headquarters	Ashkelon, Israel
Coach	William Beroza
Official website
www.lacrosse.co.il

The Israel Lacrosse Association (ILA) is the official governing body of lacrosse in Israel, and is a member of World Lacrosse and the European Lacrosse Federation.[2] It was founded to develop and promote lacrosse within Israel and strives to offer lacrosse to Israelis of all ages.[3] Israel Lacrosse was founded in 2010 by Scott Neiss who previously served as an executive for the National Lacrosse League, along with William Beroza and Howard Borkan.[4] It was officially recognized by World Lacrosse in April 2011.[5] Israel Lacrosse COO David Lasday directs grassroots youth lacrosse expansion utilizing the status and influence of National Team players to develop the sport throughout Israel [6]

Israel Premier Lacrosse League

The Israel Premier Lacrosse League (IPLL) is the premier lacrosse league in Israel, which debuted in 2015.[7] The league competes during summer months only, in an attempt to attract players from abroad to participate.[8]

Teams

The IPLL had four teams in the 2015 season before expanding to six in 2016, which were:[9]

Team	2015	2016	Notes
Ashdod LC	N/A	4th	2016 expansion team[10]
Ashkelon LC	3rd	3rd	Third official club - [11]
Barak Netanya LC	1st	5th	Second official club[12]
Be'er Sheva LC	N/A	1st	2016 expansion team[13]
Haifa LC	2nd	2nd	First official club[12]
Kiryat Gat LC	N/A	6th
Tel Aviv LC	4th	N/A	Fourth official club,[14] suspended operations after 2015.[13]

Fields

There are six stadiums used by the IPLL which are:

Field	City
Ashdod Sport Club	Ashdod
New Municipal Stadium	Ashkelon
Mikha Reisser Field	Be’er Sheva
Kiryat Gat Synthetic	Kiryat Gat
Tubruq Field	Netanya
Wolfson Fields	Tel Aviv

2015 season

The 2015 season was the inaugural season of the IPLL. Barak Netanya LC won the IPLL Championship with a win over Haifa LC, with Bryan Hopper winning the EL AL Player of the Game award.[15] A total of 16 games were played, with each team playing eight games.

Pos	Team	GP	W	L
1	Barak Netanya LC	8	6	2
2	Haifa LC	8	6	2
3	Ashkelon LC	8	3	5
4	Tel Aviv LC	8	1	7

Source:[16]

2016 season

The 2016 season of the IPLL was their second season. Tel Aviv LC decided to suspend operations for the 2016 season, however Ashdod LC, Kiryat Gat LC, and Be'er Sheva LC joined the league for the 2016 season. A total of 22 games were played, with each team playing either seven or eight games.

Rank	Team	GP	W	L	Score	Points
1	Be'er Sheva LC	7	6	1	68:53	6
2	Haifa LC	7	5	2	70:26	5
3	Ashkelon LC	8	5	3	64:63	5
4	Ashdod LC	7	4	3	52:48	4
5	Barak Netanya LC	7	1	6	45:75	1
6	Kiryat Gat LC	8	1	7	44:78	1

Source:[17]

2018 season

Rank	Team	GP	W	L	Score	Points
1	Be'er Sheva LC	7	6	1	77:64	6
2	Ashkelon LC	7	4	3	72:73	4
3	Haifa LC	7	4	3	63:58	4
4	Barak Netanya LC	7	4	3	67:54	4
5	Herzliya LC	7	4	3	68:61	4
6	Sderot	7	3	4	59:64	3
7	Ashdod LC	7	2	5	55:68	5
8	Kiryat Gat LC	7	1	6	46:65	1

Source:[18]

International competition

Israel fields men's, indoor, and women's national teams, which compete at both European and World levels.

European Lacrosse Championships

In 2016, Israel's men's team won the Silver Medal, placing second in a field of 24, England won the gold 7-6 in regulation play. This was Israel's first medal in international play.[19]

Year	Result
2012	8th place
2016	nd place

World Lacrosse Championships

In its first-ever appearance, for the Men's 2014 World Lacrosse Championship in Denver,[20][21] Israel finished in 7th place out of 38 nations. Four years later, with the 2018 World Lacrosse Championship held in Netanya, Israel, Israel again finished in 7th place, this time out of 46 nations.

Year	Result
2014	7th place
2018	7th place

Women's European Lacrosse Championships

Year	Result
2015	4th place
2019	nd place

Women's Lacrosse World Cup

Year	Result
2013	8th place
2017	6th place

Shabbat policy

The ILA has a consistent position of not playing or scheduling games during Shabbat.[22] Israel Lacrosse released a statement saying: “As a new sport to Israel it is imperative . . . we cannot ignore that reasonably large percentage of our nations’ people, our teams’ players and our associations’ members would be offended if we took the field on Shabbat." The organization has stated that the policy is a national identity issue, not a religious issue.

References

1. Bridging Gaps Through Lacrosse
2. "Country List". Archived from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
3. "About Us : Israel Lacrosse". Archived from the original on 28 January 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
4. Israel Lacrosse Granted FIL Membership
5. ROSEN TABBED ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH FOR ISRAEL LACROSSE NATIONAL TEAM
6. "Israel Lacrosse Granted FIL Membership". Federation of International Lacrosse. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
7. Israel Premier Lacrosse League Set for 2015 Launch Archived 2016-08-22 at the Wayback Machine
8. IPLL Announces 2015 Schedule
9. "ISRAELI PLAYERS". Archived from the original on 28 January 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
10. "Ashdod Announced as IPLL Expansion Club". Archived from the original on 2016-09-23. Retrieved 2016-08-17.
11. Ashkelon officially joins the Premier League
12. Israel Premier League announces new club in Netanya
13. "Be'er Sheva joins IPLL for 2016 season". Archived from the original on 2016-09-23. Retrieved 2016-08-17.
14. Israel Premier Lacrosse League to begin play in Summer 2015
15. "Barak Netanya claims IPLL crown". Archived from the original on 2016-09-23. Retrieved 2016-08-16.
16. 2015 Standings
17. Schedule / Results
18. Schedule / Results
19. http://lacrosse.co.il/england-holds-on-to-edge-israel-in-euro-final/
20. "Israel qualifies for 2014 World Lacrosse Championship". Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
21. Hudes, Sammy. "Israeli lacrosse team qualifies for world championship". Retrieved 26 December 2012.
22. McGran, Kevin (15 July 2013). "Women's lacrosse team from Israel ready to forfeit World Cup rather than play on Sabbath". The Star. Toronto. Retrieved 17 July 2013.