Turkey Lacrosse – Getting Serious

Recently there has been a TON of buzz on the lacrosse scene in Turkey…and rightfully so. Aside from the “event of the century” that is the Turkey Lacrosse Open…which we’ll get to shortly…there has been a lot going on for the Turkish lax community over the past few months. So let’s break some of the highlights down:

1. Turkish National Team Confirmed for 2014 World Championships

Surely one of the greatest measuring sticks of progress for a developing nation is the establishment of their National Team program. Well Turkey is no exception to that rule. Last month the Turkey Lacrosse Association announced the details for their first ever National Team (men’s) try outs for the World Games in Denver in 2014. Regardless of where they come in the standings at the end of Denver…this is a huge step in progress for their program and a great thing to watch unfold. Roll on Turks…roll on. Details for the try-outs can be found below.

When: June 28-30th

Registration: Must register by 1st May, 2013

Turkey National Team Try Outs Slideshow

2. Board of Advisors Gains Some Big Names

Kyle Sweeney and John Christmas are officially board advisors to the TLA as of last month. What does this mean? Only a guiding hand and direction for the development of the game in Turkey from two of the most respected and knowledgeable guys in the game today. Serious benefits all around on these involvements!

Kyle Sweeney

“Kyle Sweeney is a native of Springfield PA, where he grew up playing football, basketball and lacrosse.  His first lacrosse team was in 8th grade and did not start playing defense until his sophomore year in High School. He attended Georgetown University, double majoring in International Business & Marketing.  At Georgetown, he was a three-time All-American, two-time ECAC Defensive Player of the Year, three-time ALL-ECAC First team Selection and was named ECAC Rookie of the Year in 2000.  Sweeney finished his career as all-time leader in ground ball with 229 for the Hoyas.

Kyle is a 10 year MLL veteran who plays professionally for the outdoor Boston Cannons team and has played for Philadelphia and Bridgeport.   In his tenure in the MLL Sweeney has won 4 MLL Titles, been selected for 7 All Star Games and has 4 All Pro Selections.  Sweeney has also played in  NLL with Philadelphia, Edmonton & Buffalo.  He was selected for the 2006 and 2010 U.S. national field teams and won bronze in 2006 and gold in 2010 while being selected for the ALL-World Team in 2010. Off the field, Kyle lives in New York City, where he is the Chief Operations Officer and previous owner of Maverik Lacrosse, a lacrosse manufacturing company.  He is also the co-founder of Gotham Lacrosse, a league dedicated to continuing the sport of lacrosse beyond the collegiate years.”

John Christmas

John Christmas is a native of Ardmore, PA, where he started playing lacrosse at the age of nine. He attended Lower Merion High School, where he was and is currently still the only three-time All-American in Pennsylvania history. He then went on to the University of Virginia, majoring in sociology. At UVA, he was a two-time All-American and leading scorer for the 2003 National Championship team and two-time ALL-ACC.

John plays professionally for both the indoor NLL Philadelphia Wings team, and the outdoor MLL Boston Cannons team. Off the field, Christmas started a lacrosse training company called 141 Lacrosse LLC, Encore Brand Clothing Co, Vitality Lacrosse, accesslacrosse.com and works as a sales representative for Maverik Lacrosse, a lacrosse equipment manufacturing company. He also co-founded LEAPS as well as One City Lacrosse. Christmas was named the 2006 Most Improved Player honors. In 2007, Christmas was named to the US Indoor National Team. He currently coaches at Lower Merion High School, as well as the number one select all-star team in the country, Dukes LC.”

3. Turkey Lacrosse Open 2013

This is the big one! Talk about a flat out assault on the lacrosse community world wide. From what started out as a big dream idea after the success of their Buzzer Lacrosse open last year from Turkey Lacrosse founder Patrick Dougherty; this is turning into what could possibly be the biggest event on the 2013 lacrosse calendar. Yeah…we said it. Without question this tournament will be the largest that Europe has seen in the sport in our opinion outside of FIL or ELF sanctioned events (then again it might even be bigger than some of those the way it’s growing)…and it just might look to top some of the US staples as well. Only time will tell on that one. So what makes it such a fast burner? Let’s take a look at some highlights:

Venue

The tournament is being held in Alanya, Turkey; aka PARADISE. Don’t believe us? Check the pics below. Nuff’ said.

All-Inclusive…SERIOUSLY

When these guys say “all-inclusive”…they aren’t messing around. Your tournament fees and accommodation fees cover…well…everything. From your rooms at the resorts (which we’ll get to in a minute), to ALL of your food AND drink (yes…drink…as in adult beverages…as in you might not make it back from wherever you are coming from), to all transportation to games and parties, to all access to your private parties in some of the top clubs in the areas…it’s ALL covered.

Night out anyone?

Night out anyone?

Accommodations

Or should we say…your palace for the duration of the tournament? They’re only 5 star resorts…no big thing.

Team ArchLevel will be attending in full force indeed! If you are a UK or European player who wants to join the fun…head over to the team event page below and get involved:

Team ArchLevel @ Turkey Lacrosse Open 2013

Sponsors and Lax Royalty

The TLO13 has already secured both REEBOK and RED BULL Turkey as official sponsors for this thing. If an event could be measured by who gets involved…I think these are two very decent measuring sticks for them. Not just that, but they already have names like John Christmas, Kyle Sweeney, and even the man himself Casey Powell committed to attending. Also, a little bird has told us that since Red Bull is now involved…there might even be whispers of getting a certain PR involved. You’ll know when we know.

Needless to say…there are some serious things going on over in Turkey for the game of lacrosse. A lot of the time we use blanket statements like “Turkey Lacrosse” when describing developing countries like this in the media and such but tend to forget, or usually overlook or not even realize, the true fact that these developing countries are usually “developing” from the hard work, dedication, and true passion from just a hand full of individuals; or in this case a SINGLE individual. Patrick Dougherty is that single individual that has worked his butt off to develop the sport in that part of the world and the man deserves a serious high five. We had the great pleasure of sending one of our coaches down there last year to run some camps and we couldn’t have asked for a better host and just all around great guy to work with.  So pay attention world…Turkey is bringin’ the lax!