European Preview

The England Men's senior team are due to depart to Lahti, Finland, on the 6th August to play in the European Championships. The team have been training for the Euro's for the past 12 weeks in preparation to retain the status of European champions. England Head Coach Dave Elwood was recently interviewed by 'European Lacrosse Magazine', a quaterly lacrosse magazine based in Aachen, Germany. This preview is supplied courtesy of Dave Elwood and The European Lacrosse Magazine:

ELM: How much are you and your team looking forward to the upcoming European Championships?

DE: Very much. I personally have been involved in 3 European Championships, in England '99, Scotland '00, and Prague '04, and all were great experiences. We have some new players with us for Lahti, and they are excited about the games, as are all our squad.

ELM: How have preparations been going? Your squad has played a number of games against England U19 squad and a pair of games against a Princeton team in Spain just recently, what have you taken away from these experiences, especially in Spain?

DE: Preparation has been good. Unlike the World Games the practice scheduale is condensed into a shortened time frame, so it can get a little hectic. La Managa with Princeton was excellent, and we worked with Coach Tierney and Coach Raymond, who both gave their time to us repeatedly over the 4 day camp, and we can't thank them enough. This was a learning process for all our squad, players and coaches alike. We narrowly lost the games 9-7, and 8-7, but gained huge experience from the encounters and also from the clinics that coaches Tierney and Raymond ran. We've also played the U19s on a number of occasions over the year and both squads have gained from these experiences. 

ELM: After Team England's impressive showing in the 2006 World Games you have been touted as one of the favourites to win European Championships this time around. Do you believe your squad has what it takes to go all the way in Lahti?

DE: Of course we were pleased to regain 5th position in the world rankings but our goal is to break into the top 4. That's going to take a massive effort by everyone within our national squads organization, but we started on the road to 2010 the day after we returned from Canada. Lahti is a big staging post for our team, and we have some young and exiting players in this squad who need to learn the lessons of success, and understand the effort required to win at Internation level. We will be well prepared and play to the best of our ability in Finland.

ELM: As someone with extensive experience within English Lacrosse how do you view the state of the game in England at the moment?

DE: Lacrosse Worldwide is going through a massive growth spurt. The fact that lacrosse has become a 'BUSA' recognized sport in the UK will have massive implications for our game. It's important that 'WE'- The ELA, National Squads, the clubs & players on the ground, harness this energy and carry our sport into the its rightful place, amongst the Elite sports of this country.

ELM: What do you feel must be done to continue to help the growth of lacrosse in England and Europe? Do you feel funding from the Government and Sport England should be increased to keep pace with such growth?

DE: Obviously as Head Coach of the England Team I feel that funding is crucial to our success. As we've seen with other sports, success on the World stage has a knock on effect not only within the sport itself but also within the wider community as a whole. Spin off effects include the 'feel good factor' as well as greater participation numbers as well. Playing and Coaching for England has become a 7 day a week commitment, the whole year round. We are training and playing as profrssionals an yet we are treated financially as amateurs- i.e. we pay for the right to pull on the England shirt. I understand that lacrosse is deemed a development sport, and as such funding is geared towards the growth aspect, however our National Squads need to be recognized by the Government, and its sports financing agencies as a worthy cause that needs financial assitance to enable our teams to reach our full potential.

ELM: How important do you think the success of the upcoming European Championships is for the continued growth of the sport in Europe?

DE: The European Championships is massively important to the growth of our sport. It enables the developing nations to play alongside the established teams and see how with a lot of focus, determination and hard work, the playing standards that can be attained. Look at Germany as an example and the tremendous steps they have taken in such a short time. In 2006 they played in a 'play off' game, which had they won would have seen them playing in the top divsion in the next world games- Fantastic. We believe very much in giving back and just as Coach Tierney worked with our team in Spain, our coaching staff see the Championships as an opportunity to run some clinics for the developing nations whilst in Lahti. Obviously our time will be limited, but any head coaches who would like to discuss the possibility of a clinic can email us.

Finally, I have to say, at this juncture in European Lacrosse growh, in my opinion, the format fro this year's Championship is wrong. As a blue print  I felt the World Championship fromat of 2006 and this summers U19s games, was the fairest way to go. Teams of a similar standard play each other in the preliminary round and then move onto a knockout format. Everyone has a chance of making the playoffs, and everyone gets to play games that are competetive. Whilst I agree as a long term objective the new system sounds good, we simply aren't ready for this yet. Too many games are potentially uncompetitive and the tournament as a whole is in danger of being watered down. However, that's the decision that's been reached and that's what we play to. We look forward to seeing everyone in Lahti, and wish everyone success on and off the field whilst in Finland.

ends...

Tournament website: http://www.lacrosse.fi 

European Lacrosse Magazine: http://www.laxmag.eu