LAXFU Lacrosse News Blog

BALTIMORE – US Lacrosse, in cooperation with the English Lacrosse Association, has contracted ESPNU to broadcast the championship game of the 2010 Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) World Championships, live on July 24 at 11:00 a.m. EST from Manchester, England.

“It is important to lacrosse fans around the country to see the very best lacrosse in the world and we wanted to provide that for our sport,” said US Lacrosse’s Chief Operating Officer, Bill Schoonmaker. “Thanks to the generous contributions of U.S. men’s national team supporters, the goal with this investment is to inspire participation and showcase the world’s best lacrosse in action on TV for sports fans here in the states.”

US Lacrosse coordinated the national broadcast of the championship game in an effort to expose U.S. sports enthusiasts to international lacrosse in advance of the 2014 FIL World Championships in Denver, Colo.

Thirty countries will compete for the gold at the quadrennial men’s lacrosse World Championships this July. Team USA is in the Blue Division alongside Canada, Australia, Germany (replacing the Iroquois), England and Japan.

• July 16th: Team USA plays its first game July 16 in a Blue Division match-up against Australia.
• July 20th: Marks the end of the pool games
• July 22nd: Medal round games
• July 24th: Gold medal game

Can’t wait for the championship final on television? All of the U.S. games are available to watch live online for approximately $10 USD at www.247.tv/lacrosse/fil-world-lacrosse-championships-2010.

A full schedule of Team USA’s games can be found on www.laxmagazine.com and more information about the event can be found at www.2010WorldLacrosse.com.

US Lacrosse is the national governing body for men’s and women’s lacrosse, and is the parent organization of the U.S. men’s and women’s national lacrosse teams. Warrior Lacrosse is the official exclusive equipment and apparel supplier to the U.S. men’s national team program.

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.

Percy Abrams, Iroquois Nationals lacrosse team executive director, shows his Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy) passport

In light of the craziness surrounding the situation this week, let’s keep it simple and break-down the timeline of events that got us here.  This is a very unfortunately situation, and is much bigger than a lacrosse game…

Iroquois Lacrosse Time-Line:

• Sunday, July 11th: The Iroquois team heads to NYC to prepare for their trip to the World Lacrosse Championships in England.  They are scheduled to fly out of JFK.

• Monday, July 12th: The Iroquois team announces that the U.S. government is preventing them from leaving the country due to their non-U.S. passports.  The team’s 23 players refused an offer to receive expedited U.S. passports on the principle of their sovereignty.  The team is stuck in Manhattan awaiting resolution.

• Tuesday, July 13th: The team is still stuck in NYC, but they’re keeping their spirits high.  The Obama administration will not waiver on the issue for the team, and things are not looking good.  The story begins picking up national media attention.  The first Iroquois game is scheduled in England in 48 hours, so they need to resolve this as soon as possible.

• Wednesday, July 14th: A glimmer of hope.  Rumors are buzzing that the team is in good spirits and that the U.S. may be granting an exception to the players that will allow them to travel on with their Iroquois Confederacy-issued passports.  Multiple press outlets report that the team is en route to JFK and cleared for take-off.  It’s confirmed – the team may travel on a one-time waiver approved by Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.

• Thursday, July 15th: Say it ain’t so.  The team never got on the plane Wednesday.  After being cleared by the U.S government, the team finds out that the British Consulate won’t allow them to travel without U.S. or Canadian passports (which the team was eligible for, but refused).  The UK announces that the Iroquois Confederacy-issued passports do not meet the current passport standards required for travel.

The American government processed all visa applications for the entire delegation since the yellow-colored Iroquois passport is the same for Canadians and Americans, said Ansley Jemison, general manager of the Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse league. The British Consulate would not offer entry visas unless the American government guaranteed their return. The U.S. would not agree to the terms and dropped the applications.

The team must forfeit its Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) World Championships opener against host England in Manchester on Thursday.

“We are sorry that the Iroquois are still having problems getting their visas. Given the delays, we had to make a decision on the opening date,” FIL spokesman Ron Balls said. “After discussions, we are pleased that Germany will participate in the opening game.”

There’s not much else to say about this situation.  It’s a disgrace to lacrosse, and a disgrace to the absurd policies of our government.  Clearly these men are who they are, and should be allowed to travel.  There can be common-sense exceptions made for this unique circumstance.  The U.S. government has failed miserably here.  This is a heartbreaking story, and one that will not be forgotten.

With the FIL world lacrosse tournament kicking off this week, we thought we’d take a look back at the past World Lacrosse champions and rankings.  On a related note, the next FIL tourney (2014) is slated to be hosted in Denver, CO!

Historical FIL World Lacrosse Champions

Historical FIL World Lacrosse Rankings

InsideLacrosse and the Associated Press is reporting that the passport issue has been resolved, and they’re preparing to catch their flight to England.  Let’s hope they make their game scheduled for 7:30pm tomorrow against Team England.

“The State Department is going to allow one-time usage of our passports,” Percy Abrams, the Iroquois Nationals’ executive director, told AFP.

Read the Inside Lacrosse article.

The Iroquois National team, posing in Times Square.

Sadly, the Iroquois Nationals lacrosse team is still stuck in NY and it appears they’ll miss their opening game at the World Lacrosse Championships in England.  Their first game is scheduled for tomorrow (Thursday).  The team has been stranded in New York City since Sunday, and has already had to spend an additional $30,000 waiting for the problem to get sorted out.

“Since last week, the team learned that the Obama administration declined to honor the Haudenosaunee passports, and instead has asked the group to travel on U.S. passports – an action that would violate the sovereignty of the six Haudenosaunee (or Iroquois) Confederacy nations – the Onondaga, Mohawk, Seneca, Oneida, Tuscarora and Cayuga. Haudenosaunee citizens have been traveling internationally on their own passports for more than 30 years.”

- Chief Oren Lyons

The issue is about more than a team getting to a game – it is about whether the Obama Administration will truly recognize Native American Nation sovereignty.  The US passport decision will also set a precedent for recognition of Native American passports in the future, overseas and at the US borders.

“The game of De-hon-tshi-gwa’ ehs (Lacrosse) has become an inspiration to a third of the world’s youth – 109 countries in all. The long-stick game is a gift to the world from the Haudenosaunee, the Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy. It would be strange – beyond strange, indeed – if the Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse Team, the national team of the Haudenosaunee were denied participation in the World Lacrosse Championships by agencies of the United States. We are perplexed by this position taken by the Obama Administration,” Chief Oren Lyons said.

Read the CNN article:  http://www.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/07/14/sport.iroquois.passport.controversy/