News

27
Players selected to represent New Zealand for the 2014 World Championships in
Denver, Colorado in July 2014  

A 27 man team has been selected by Head
Coach Robert Macaluso after trials and training held in Auckland, New Zealand
during January 2014.

“Our coaching staff has chosen a talented
group of athletes who are committed to accepting the responsibility of intense
preparation as a standard for representing New Zealand. Players and coaches
alike are looking forward to sharing the international stage with our lacrosse
brothers from around the world.” Coach Macaluso

A final playing team of 23 players will be
announced by 9^th July 2014.

The team includes veterans Ben Gilmore
(Midfield), Nick Ravenhall (Face off), and  Nick Low (Attack) who will be participating in
their 4^th World Championships for New Zealand.

It also includes three 19 year olds who
will be playing in their first World Championships and who represent the future
of NZ Lacrosse. Jeremy Kincaid (midfield) and Max van der Maas (defence), play
for current domestic league champions the Eastern Chiefz and have represented
New Zealand at under 15 and under 18 level, whilst John Clayton (attack) is a
New Zealander currently playing for the University of Colorado at Boulder.

New Zealand is looking to build on the 15^th
place achieved in Manchester (England) in 2010 and will play Argentina, Russia
and Wales in group play.

New Zealand
Lacrosse

The Sport of Lacrosse was first played in New
Zealand in the late 1880’s and through to 1914. In August 1914 the Proud Cup
was awarded to the Kelbourne Club in Wellington. At the same time it was
announced that the proposed visit of a lacrosse team from New South Wales was
cancelled because of the war. 

Men’s Lacrosse was not played again in New
Zealand until the summer of 2000 when the New Zealand Lacrosse Association
(NZLA), alongside the New Zealand Women’s Lacrosse Association were established
by a group of expatriate lacrosse enthusiasts. This small group taught others
the game and developed enough players to form a four team league.

Since then Lacrosse has expanded at a senior
level to six men’s clubs and four women’s clubs in the Auckland/Waikato region.

Lacrosse is now played in New Zealand high
schools as a sanctioned sport in both the men’s and women’s format.  There are currently 17 girl’s high school
teams and 12 boy’s high school teams participating in the Auckland Schools
Lacrosse League.

Lacrosse in New Zealand is a rapidly developing
sport with strong growth at junior and youth level, regional growth in
Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch, and representative teams regularly
competing in tournaments in Australia.

New Zealand has successfully hosted two Asia
Pacific Lacrosse Tournaments (2007 and 2011) and is building its reputation as
a competitive Lacrosse playing nation in overseas tournaments.

On 25^th April 2014 (ANZAC Day –
Australian and New Zealand Army Corps), New Zealand and Australia men and women
played “the game that never was” to commemorate the 100 years since the
cancellation of the game against New South Wales and to acknowledge those
killed in war and to honour returned servicemen and women.

The New Zealand Men’s National team is
preparing to participate in its 4th World Championships in Denver in 2014. At
the last championships in 2010 the team finished 15th out of 29 Nations – the
highest ranking to date and a platform for further success in 2014.

World
Championship History: 2010 – 15^th  out of 29, 2006 – 19^th out of 21,
2002 – 15^th  out of 15.


Head Coach: Robert Macaluso

Assistant Coaches: Jim Kaspar (Defensive
Coordinator), Roger Snow (Goalkeeping Coach), Gavin Higgins (Offensive
Coordinator), Jeremy Rualo (Face-off and Midfield Coach), Curtis Lamb (Strength
and Conditioning Coach), Adam Ranns (Trainer)

Manager:
David Zussman