DETAILS of the Men’s U21 Lacrosse World Championships 2022 were revealed on the 9 February at a press conference in the Plassey House, University of Limerick (UL).
Those in attendance included UL President Kerstin Mey, Limerick City and County Mayor Daniel Butler, Limerick hurler Declan Hannon and US Lacrosse player Grant Ament.
Speaking at the press conference about UL hosting the Men’s U21 Lacrosse World Championships, UL President Kerstin Mey said: ”We are also home to many elite sport staff as well as the rising stars of tomorrow, and now we are home to the Men’s U21 Lacrosse World Championships.
And I have to say, although I have never played lacrosse, I am hugely excited the games are coming to UL and we are very proud UL has been chosen to host the games in August.”
The Championships will see 23 international teams heading to Limerick to compete over ten days from 10 – 20 August, with an estimated 50,000 fans watching the games.
Mayor Daniel Butler spoke about the Championships being held in Limerick. ”Isn’t it wonderful that after two years of uncertainty and restrictions we can now open our doors and welcome the teams and their supporters to our beautiful city and county.
For the competitors they can be assured of the best facilities here on Ireland’s sporting campus at UL.”
The Mayor also talked about the economic benefits for Limerick from hosting the event. ”The hook is the sport, getting visitors here but, its showcasing what Limerick has to offer from a wider tourism, business, lifestyle education perspective that is the key.
Hosting large international sport events can produce millions of economic impact for Limerick into the future. This underscores the importance of attracting events such as the lacrosse championships and indeed the Ryder Cup and others here into the future.”
Limerick hurler Declan Hannon also spoke at the press conference. He was made an ambassador for the Championships. He spoke about the similarities between hurling and lacrosse, with lacrosse being considered a rival of hurling in terms of being the fastest game on two feet.
”I was just looking at some of the clips there. There a lot of similarities I suppose between lacrosse and GAA in terms of the contact and the speed of everything so I hope, as the Mayor said that businesses and people of Limerick and of Ireland get behind the even, come out in force on the day to watch it;” he said.
US lacrosse player and ambassador of the event Ament Grant unfortunately will not be present at the Championships in August but will support the Championships from home. ”I, unfortunately, will not be here in August.
“I wish I could be, unfortunately I’ve got a championship to play for in the States so, I’ll be in the middle of my season, but we’ll be supporting you guys every step of the way and I’m proud to be an ambassador of this event;” Grant said.
