Earlier in February, Australia (Australian Box Lacrosse) and Canada (Canadian Lacrosse League) competed for the 2024 International Indoor Junior Lacrosse (IIJL) Commonwealth Cup in Australia. Despite being established in 2019, the inaugural IIJL Commonwealth Cup did not take place until 2023, thanks to the Covid-19 global pandemic. This year marked the second year of the tournament and was hosted by Altona Lacrosse Club at the Alan Lewer Box Court in Melbourne. Prior to facing-off for the winner-take-all Final, the visiting Canadian team participated in a four team Round-Robin against city/state teams from Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth giving our young Aussie players lots of opportunities to get involved. Our MCC Lacrosse representatives included Jasper Adderley and Joe Shobbrook on Melbourne Storm and Christian Iuliano, Jack Cahill and Josh Nicholl for Adelaide Thunder (pictured above).
This is the first time that MCC U16 goalie Jasper has played in the tournament. At 15 years old, he was one of the younger Australian competitors, playing with and against young men as old as 20, and he did not look out of place. Even more exciting, Jasper was lucky enough to have a specialised training session with Canadian goalkeeping legend Marty O'Neill (pictured left), who played and coached in the National Lacrosse League in America/Canada between 1993 and 2011. A truly memorable experience for Jasper, which also highlights the importance of our Australian players being exposed to and learning from international players.
At the end of the Round-Robin, the Australian coaches selected players from the three city/state teams to represent Australia in the 2024 IIJL Commonwealth Cup Final. One of the selected players was our very own Josh Nicholl, who also represented Australia last year in the 2023 IIJL World Junior Lacrosse Championship in Saskatoon, Canada. Being selected for the Australian All Stars team was a tournament highlight for Josh, as was meeting the Canadian players during open training and in the locker room after the last game. Josh was impressed by the Canadians’ game and learnt firsthand how strong and quick the Canadian’s wrists were. “Just the ability to retain the ball then throw a skip pass is ridiculous,” commented Josh. In addition, both Josh and Jasper pointed out that the Canadian game was a lot faster paced and their game awareness was at a completely different level to that of the Australian squad. “Their ability to continuously reset the shot clock makes it look easy!” said Josh.
No surprises there really considering that box lacrosse is more popular than field lacrosse in Canada, while it is still growing in popularity in Australia. Indeed, the Alan Lewer Box Court in Altona is the only purpose-built box lacrosse facility in the country. Unlike field lacrosse, which involves ten players on the field (including the goalie), box lacrosse requires only six players (including the goalie) and is played in a confined space with the ball never going out of play. Asked what he loves about box lacrosse, Josh replied, “How tight it is and the physical aspects of the game. It is very rewarding scoring as the goals are smaller and the goalies are much bigger!” From a goalie's point of view, and at the receiving end of these shots, Jasper added, "I love stopping shots, and guessing where a player is going to shoot, and then seeing the frustration on the player's face when I stop the shot."
The IIJL Commonwealth Cup, together with the IIJL World Championships, is a fantastic opportunity for our junior athletes to travel, expand their knowledge of the game and represent their country. Congratulations to all involved on a very successful tournament!
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