Manchester, England – The Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) announced upon the conclusion of the opening ceremonies Thursday that it was moving Germany into the Blue Division and dropping the Iroquois Nationals to Germany’s spot in the Plum Division. The Germany-England game Thursday, which was originally listed as an exhibition, thus became an official tournament game. (That game replaced the scheduled Iroquois-England game since the Nationals are still stuck in the U.S., due to visa issues.)
The change means the U.S. will play Germany rather than the Iroquois on Sunday and Canada will play Germany on Monday instead of the Iroquois.
In the opening ceremonies, after 30 teams entered the field, the three Iroquois assistant coaches who traveled a day before the team and who have been here since last weekend, entered behind an Iroquois flag. All the players on all the other teams applauded and many of the spectators stood and applauded.
Germany finished eighth at the 2006 FIL World Championships in London, Ontario. The Germans created a lot of buzz internationally when they finished sixth, ahead of Blue Division member Japan, at the 2008 U-19 World Championships in Coquitlam, British Columbia. However, in 2008 the Germans only finished third, behind England and the Netherlands, at the European Lacrosse Federation (ELF) Championships in Lahti, Finland.
LAXFU Note: Team England won their opening game today with 12-3 victory over Germany.
