Lacrosse in Spain? My Recent Trip!

As I am currently on a vacation in Spain, I thought now would be a perfect time to talk about lacrosse in Spain and little on my trip! Although lacrosse is still overwhelmingly a North American sport, it has begun to take hold in Europe much more. Lacrosse really began to take off in Spain in the early 2000’s and specifically in Madrid. As one might guess, the number of players and participation in the early years was very minimal. In recent years, the participation has increased immensely and there are now even leagues that play for championships each and every year. Starting in 2009, the Liga Española de Lacrosse was formed and acts as the main league in which clubs can compete in. One sign of growth for the sport in this country is that up until 2013 it was very common for teams to not have enough players and be forced to combine for games to occur. Starting in 2013 however, there was enough participation that a new LEL and LEL2 were formed. To be a participant in the LEL your team must have more than 10 players, which was proven to be needed as the sport became more popular.

Most recently though, there have been two different conferences both with 4 teams per each. In this format all the teams will play each other and the games in conference will count for more than the out of conference games when it comes time for playoffs. Then the playoffs are done in a standard bracket until a winner is crowned. The Madrid Lacrosse Club has won for the past 5 years in a row.

My reason for this vacation and interest in Spanish lacrosse is because my grandfather was an immigrant from Spain, so I still have some family that live throughout Spain. Also, during the 2016 U19 World Lacrosse Championships, my brother and I were eligible and ready to play for Team Spain! Ultimately, the team never worked out and did not compete in the World Games, but that would have been an incredible experience! Although lacrosse in Spain is still extremely small, it is growing immensely just like in the United States. See below for some pictures of what I have been up to for the past two weeks. Adios!