Box lacrosse, also known as boxla, box, or indoor lacrosse, is an indoor version of lacrosse played mostly in North America. The game originated in the 1930s in Canada, where it is more popular than field lacrosse. Lacrosse is Canada's official national summer sport. Box lacrosse is played between two teams of five players and one goalie each, and is traditionally played on an ice hockey rink once the ice has been removed or covered. The playing area is called a box, in contrast to the open playing field of field lacrosse. The object of the game is to use a lacrosse stick to catch, carry, and pass the ball in an effort to score by shooting a solid rubber lacrosse ball into the opponent's goal. The highest level of box lacrosse is the National Lacrosse League.
The World Lacrosse Box Championships (WLBC), formerly known as the World Indoor Lacrosse Championship (WILC), is an international box lacrosse tournament sponsored by World Lacrosse that is held every four years. Since the first tournament in 2003, Canada has won all five gold medals and is undefeated in all games. Canada hosted the first two tournaments in 2003 and 2007, the Czech Republic hosted in 2011, the Onondaga Nation, south of Syracuse, New York, hosted in 2015. The 2019 WILC was held in Langley, British Columbia, Canada.
The World Lacrosse Men's Championship, formerly World Lacrosse Championship, is the international men's field lacrosse championship organized by World Lacrosse that occurs every four years.
Canada won its second gold medal at the 2006 World Lacrosse Championship, held in London, Ontario from 14 to 22 July. The Canadians defeated the United States in the final 15–10 in front of 7,735 fans. It marked only the second loss by the Americans since the championship was founded in 1967. The first was Canada's historic 17–16 overtime win in the 1978 final. Canadian Geoff Snider was the tournament MVP for his outstanding face-off performance, winning 19 of 28 draws in the final.
Halifax, Nova Scotia, with the largest urban population in Atlantic Canada, is a major sporting centre.
The Six Nations Rebels are a Canadian Junior "B" box lacrosse team from Hagersville, Ontario on the Six Nations of the Grand River Reserve. The Rebels play in the OLA Junior B Lacrosse League. The Rebels hold the record for most Junior B national championships in Founders Cup history with seven.
The 2008 Men's U–19 World Lacrosse Championship (U–19) was held at Percy Perry Stadium in Coquitlam, British Columbia from July 3 to July 12. The event was sponsored by the International Lacrosse Federation. This international field lacrosse tournament is held every four years, and teams are composed of players that are under the age of nineteen.
The Scotland national men's lacrosse team is governed by Lacrosse Scotland and is currently coached by Matt Bagley. Previous coaches include Graham Simpson, Lee Wilkinson, Phil Collier, Phil Moore, John Robinson, Keith Langdale, John Kenney, and Brian Silcott.
The Scotland national indoor lacrosse team represents Scotland at box lacrosse. It is governed by Lacrosse Scotland.
The 2010 World Lacrosse Championship was held between 15–24 July. This international men's field lacrosse tournament organized by the Federation of International Lacrosse took place in Manchester, United Kingdom. This was the third time that the tournament was played in Greater Manchester, after the 1978 and 1994 championships.
The 2014 World Lacrosse Championship was held July 10–19 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park outside Denver, Colorado. 38 nations played 142 games in this international men's lacrosse championship tournament organized by the Federation of International Lacrosse. Nine nations—Belgium, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Israel, Russia, Thailand, Turkey, and Uganda—all competed in the event for the first time.
The 2011 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship was the third World Indoor Lacrosse Championship, an international box lacrosse tournament organized by the Federation of International Lacrosse every four years. It took place between 21 and 28 May 2011 in Prague, Czech Republic at the 4,900 seat Eden Arena, an Olympic-sized rink. The Canadian team was the defending champion and for the third time defeated the Iroquois Nationals in the finals, 13–6. The United States defeated the host Czech Republic 16–7 in the bronze medal game.
The Canada national indoor lacrosse team represents Canada in international tournaments of indoor lacrosse. It is the best national box lacrosse team in the world, having won all five World Indoor Lacrosse Championships, starting with the 2003 ILF World Indoor Lacrosse Championship held in Canada. Team Canada has never lost a game in the tournament. Their biggest rivals are the Iroquois Nationals, who have finished in second place in all four tournaments.
The 2003 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship was the first World Indoor Lacrosse Championship, an international box lacrosse tournament organized by the Federation of International Lacrosse every four years. It took place from May 15 to 24 in Hamilton, Kitchener, Mississauga, and Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. Canada won the gold medal with a 21–4 victory over the Iroquois Nationals. The United States defeated Scotland 15–9 in the bronze medal game. Two other nations participated, Australia and the Czech Republic.
The United States national indoor lacrosse team represents the U.S. in box lacrosse at the World Lacrosse Box Championships. Team USA has won the bronze medal in all five WILC tournaments. The team is organized by US Lacrosse, the national governing body. US Indoor Lacrosse was named to form and manage the 2007 and 2011 Teams. The roster usually consists of professional players, some of which play in the National Lacrosse League or Major League Lacrosse.
Czech Republic national indoor lacrosse team is the national box lacrosse team of the Czech Republic which regularly participates in World Indoor Lacrosse Championship. Team consists of amateur players, who are members of Czech box lacrosse league NBLL. A few Canadian players from the National Lacrosse League with Czech ancestors are also members of this team. Box lacrosse is the most popular form of lacrosse in the Czech Republic, the team has had better results than in field lacrosse.
The 2015 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship (WILC) was the fourth international box lacrosse championship organized by the Federation of International Lacrosse every four years. The 2015 WILC was hosted by the Onondaga Nation in the United States, south of Syracuse, New York, and took place between September 18 and 27. Canada defeated the host Iroquois Nationals 12–8 in the gold medal game, the same finals match-up featured in the first three indoor championships. Since the WILC started in 2003, Team Canada is undefeated with an overall record of 23–0.
The Aleš Hřebeský Memorial is held by Lacrosse Club Custodes Sokol Radotín to honor its former player who died in the autumn of 1993. Today, the Aleš Hřebeský Memorial is the most prestigious box lacrosse event in Europe with teams from 19 countries participating.
The Haudenosaunee Nationals Indoor Lacrosse Team, known as the Haudenosaunee Nationals, represents the Iroquois Confederacy in international box lacrosse competitions. They are currently ranked second in the world by World Lacrosse and have won silver medals in all five World Indoor Lacrosse Championships. The team is organized by the First Nations Lacrosse Association.
The 2019 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship (WILC) was the fifth international box lacrosse championship organized by World Lacrosse every four years. It was held 19-28 September 2019 at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, British Columbia, Canada. The winner of the WILC wins the Cockerton Cup, named for All-American lacrosse player Stan Cockerton.