COQUITLAM – Australia has joined the United States and host Canada as the third official team to commit to the 2016 FIL Under-19 Men’s World Lacrosse Championship which runs July 7-16, 2016, in Coquitlam, B.C.

With over 20 teams expressing interest in attending the tournament which begins in just under 500 days, news of another strong contender is well received.

Australia has a strong tradition in the U-19 tournament, hosting twice in Adelaide (1988 and 1999) and placing second twice (1992 Long Island, New York; 1996 Tokyo, Japan).

Australia recently announced tryouts and is hoping to find a spot on the podium at the July 2016 world U-19 tournament. They are well organized off the field with a strong presence in their country.

The Aussies recently announced Lee Vickery as the team’s head coach in addition to other key personnel for their management team. 

Australia U-19 Men’s Lacrosse Staff
Head Coach: Lee Vickery
Manager: Darren Fanner
Team Analyst: Tony Hill
Strength & Conditioning: Ian Webb
Perth Squad Coaches: Gavin Leavy, Konrad Frankee and Thomas Graham
Adelaide Squad Coaches: Mark Mangan and James Newton
Melbourne Squad Coaches: Jeff Campbell, Darren Gibson, Alistair Gloutnay and Kade Robinson

News on other official confirmations will continue throughout March at 2016worldlax.com.

COQUITLAM - Following a complete restructuring of their national team and with increased support from their national governing body, Germany has committed to play in the 2016 FIL Men’s Under-19 World Lacrosse Championship in Coquitlam in just under a year.

Team officials says the German side is preparing to attend the 2016 world juniors with the strongest German U-19 team to date. The all-German team staff will be led by 2012 assistant coach Pete DeSantis who now takes on the head coaching reigns.

"It’s a tremendous privilege to have the opportunity to return to the U-19 world championships as a representative of the German Lacrosse Association. I’m fortunate to have as assistants two of Germany’s most dedicated and hard-working young coaches, who have represented Germany as members of the men’s national team,” DeSantis said of Kilian Bombosch, offensive coordinator, and Maximilian Bieber, defensive coordinator. “The young men who represent Team Germany in Coquitlam will be the strongest, smartest and toughest U-19 players Germany has produced. That is a tremendous credit to their home clubs, teammates and coaches. It’s an honor to coach them."

Germany joins Canada, the U.S., Australia, England and Ireland in the field of teams committed to date. More team commitments will be announced in the coming weeks.

With the tournament just under a year away - running July 7-16 in Coquitlam - the first phase of team tryouts concluded in April, with 45 out of 85 invited players remaining on the roster. There will be three or four more camps this year with another five or six camps to be held next year - one of them will be attendance at the 2016 Berlin Open just prior to the world U-19 tournament. 

Team staff said the next camps will provide an opportunity to put an emphasis on lacrosse IQ and skills, athletic ability and team building to form the final roster.

"We are looking for the smartest, toughest and fittest team-player who is willing to go that extra mile, throw that extra wall-ball or lift that extra set,” said general manager and athletic supervisor Jan van Eijkelenburg, who adds the team has been using Sportlyzer to assist in coaching players between camps with workout logs with embedded videos “and a great feedback tool." 

Team Germany will arrive in Vancouver as early as June 30, 2016, playing locals for friendly games and scrimmages. If any other national team is looking for a scrimmage, please get in touch with This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

Van Eikjkelenburg says the team would like to thank ZimaGear for providing them "yet again with fantastic custom team apparel."

"Having strong partners and affiliates is making our endevour towards becoming Europe’s strongest lacrosse team so much easier and more fun,” he added.

If you are interested in becoming a part of the German Lacrosse Family, you can connect with the German U-19 national team via social networking pages. Follow them on their road to Coquitlam:

• Twitter: @GermanU19Lax
• Facebook 
• Official Website 

COQUITLAM - Hong Kong is the first Asian country and ninth team on the roster for the 2016 FIL Men’s Under-19 World Lacrosse Championship being held July 7-16, 2016, in Coquitlam.

Coached by Victoria, B.C., resident Scott Browning, Hong Kong joins Canada, the U.S., Australia, England, Germany, Ireland and Israel in the field of teams committed to date. Browning is one of three Victoria, B.C., connections on the coaching staff.

"It's a real honour to continue working with the dedicated people of the Hong Kong Lacrosse Association," Browning said. "We are currently operating development programs in advance of tryouts next spring. There will be training and competitions with other teams from the Asia region, prior to final pre-tournament camp in North America."

"Lacrosse is growing quickly and the quality of play is improving in Hong Kong and the Asia region in general," said Hong Kong Lacrosse Development Officer Jordan Wong, also originally from Victoria B.C., who has been a big part of the game's development and is starting to develop and introduce youth lacrosse programs. Currently, most players are introduced to lacrosse a​t​ the University of Hong Kong​. ​

Browning said there are quite a few good athletes in the development program, some of whom gained great experience playing with the senior men's team at the Asia Pacific​ ​Championships last July in Bangkok. 

"The majority of Team Hong Kong will have four or less years of lacrosse experience, so our expectations for the world championships need to be realistic," Browning said. "Our team will compete hard and represent Hong Kong with pride." 

The connection to lacrosse in B.C. runs even deeper with U19 assistant coach and goalie coach Bert Marshall, who is another Victoria-export. Additionally, the Hong Kong Lacrosse's women's program head coach is Travis Taylor from New Westminster. 

"Hong Kong may just be a local favourite next July, after host Canada of course," Browning added.   

As a new entry to the U19 tourney, Hong Kong will receive an exemption to have U-21 players on their roster.  

Hong Kong is the ninth team to commit to the tournament that also includes Canada, the U.S., Australia, Finland, England, Germany and fellow newcomers Ireland and Israel in the field of teams committed to date.

More team commitments will be announced in the coming ​months. 

Learn more at www.hklax.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Hong-Kong-Lacrosse-Association-101953226560593/ 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HKLacrosse 

VANCOUVER - After successfully delivering photography services in 2008, Vancouver Sports Pictures has signed on as the official photographer for the 2016 FIL U19 Men's World Lacrosse Championship.

For more information on Vancouver Sports Pictures, led by photographer Paul Yates, please visit www.vancouversportspictures.com.

Interested in becoming part of history? Our sponsor outreach is underway - if you are interested in sponsoring the tournament, please contact Garth Cambrey at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.