Importance of Lacrosse Convention
England have made no secret of their desire to win silverware
at this year's International Lacrosse Federation (ILF) European
Championships in Prague. And for Greg Caplin and Ravi Sitlani,
the England managers, and head coach Dave Elwood and assistant
coach Simon Rowlinson, this year's International Lacrosse
Coaches Convention in America was the perfect way of learning
from the best in the business.
The United States have dominated international lacrosse for
the last decade and it is no surprise that over 3,500 coaches,
players and enthusiasts attend the annual convention in Philadelphia
to find about the latest happenings in the game. The England
staff are no exception and Caplin and his counterparts used
this year's convention to network with some of the world's
best coaches as well as to try attract some top touring sides
which will come to this country to test the national team.
"We went to the convention to talk to the best coaches
in the world," admitted Caplin. "The US are the
world champions at every level and because of that we can
learn so much from them. Lacrosse in America is booming. The
interest in the sport is growing at a terrific rate."
Indeed, and the England staff also used their transatlantic
trip to meet with promising young American players Frederick
Lee, Daniel Kallaugher and Duncan Swanston who, because of
their English parentage, were allowed to play for England
Under-19s at the World Championships in Baltimore last year.
"We are taking a squad of 23 players to the Czech Republic
and three travelling reserves," added Caplin, "but
in that squad there is room for four overseas players. We
are going to talk to all three lads and discuss their availability
and commitment.
"Since we've come back from the 2002 Senior World Championships
in Australia we have felt isolated and we knew we needed more
help. That prompted us to form the National Squads Committee.
The national policy is to get support from everyone in the
game and that means looking abroad as well as on the domestic
scene."
However, Caplin has ruled out the return of John Stickl,
the American defender, who featured for the senior side in
Perth just shy of two years ago.
"John has decided to retire from lacrosse," said
Caplin. "A lot of American kids stop playing once they
leave University, which has what John has done. He won't be
playing for us."
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