POLAND BEGINS PREPARING FOR EC12

(Poland, August 18)… Two weekends ago, Team Poland took its first steps to preparing for the 2012 European Championships in Amsterdam, traveling to Latvia to play in the four-team Summer Lacrosse Festival.

The Summer Lacrosse Festival was a chance for Team Poland to reconvene and take on local competition in Team Latvia, Latvia United and Team Gatorade. Team Poland was 1-3 in the festival, earning a victory over Latvia United at the event at Olympic Center in the city of Jelgava, which is located about 40-km outside of Riga. Team Gatorade captured first-place honors, while Team Latvia placed second and Latvia United edged Poland for third spot.

“We came to Latvia with a limited amount of players,” said Tomek Kędzia, the Polish Lacrosse Liaison to the Federation of International Lacrosse. “We also missed some key players who stayed in Poland due to injuries and some other duties.”

Poland and Latvia have developed quite a lacrosse history. Not only is Poland the closest neighbor playing lacrosse for Latvia, but back in 2009 Team Poland played its first scrimmage game against Latvia. Team Poland is coming off an impressive debut at the 2010 FIL World Lacrosse Championships in Manchester, England, finishing second in their division en route to a 5-2 record and a 14th-place finish.

The team that Poland took to the 2011 event represented the country with pride and included three players of Grom Warsaw, two from Poznan Hussars and nine from the Kosynierzy Wroclaw club team. Team Poland was honored with the attendance of the Secretary of the Polish Embassy in Riga and the Canadian Ambassador, who organized an official reception for all players.

Before the end of the year, the talent pool for the national team will grow by one team, according to Kędzia. The national club team league, which begins on October 1, 2011, has expanded from four to five teams.

The women’s program will make its international debut at the 2012 European Championships set to begin on June 20, 2012. According to the event’s official Facebook page, the Finland men’s team and the Polish women were the first two teams to commit to participating in EC12.

“We hope to come to Amsterdam for the first time with women's team,” said Kędzia.