Dutch National Lacrosse Team

Football club infobox
clubname = Dutch Lacrosse Association



logo_width = 70
fullname = Nederland Lacrosse Bond (NLB)
nickname = Holland, The Flying Dutchmen,
Orange Crush, Freaky Deaky Dutch
founded = 2003
ground = Amsterdam Arena
Amsterdam, Netherlands
capacity = 51,628 seats
chairman = flagicon|Netherlands Arttu Sesselaar
manager = flagicon|Canada John Bergsma
league = International Lacrosse Federation,
European Lacrosse Federation
position = 12th (ILF World Rankings)
2nd (ELF European Rankings)
season = 2006
2008
pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=|pattern_ra1=
leftarm1=FF4F00|body1=FF4F00|rightarm1=FF4F00|shorts1=FF4F00|socks1=FFFFFF
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=FFFFFF|body2=FFFFFF|rightarm2=FFFFFF|shorts2=FFFFFF|socks2=FFFFFF

The Dutch national lacrosse team is the official lacrosse team representing the Netherlands. It is managed by the Dutch Lacrosse Association (NLB - Nederland Lacrosse Bond) and consists of both a men's and women's national team. The association is now over 5 years old and their national team programs are supported by a burgeoning domestic club league (the DNLL consists of 12 mens teams, while the WDNLL supports 6 female teams).

The Netherlands' first international tournament was in 2004 when the men's team competed at the European Lacrosse Championships in Prague, Czech Republic. The team finished 9th out of 12 countries. The women's first campaign was in 2008 when the team participated at the European Lacrosse Championships in Lahti, Finland.

The NLB is a full member of both the International Lacrosse Federation (ILF) and the European Lacrosse Federation (ELF).

Men's 2006 World Championship Campaign

The Netherlands competed in their first World Lacrosse Championships in 2006 in London, Ontario, Canada. Led by a contingent of Dutch ex-pats from North America, the Dutch national team finished with a 3-4 record at the tournament. They also made ILF history by becoming the first team to win their debut game at their first World Championships (defeating South Korea by a score of 12-4).

The Netherlands competed in the Orange Group, featuring Germany, the Czech Republic, New Zealand, and South Korea. Competing against these countries in round-robin play, the Dutch group amassed a 2-2 record, with convincing wins over both South Korea and New Zealand. The Netherlands then went on to beat Latvia (10-4) before falling to Finland in a tightly-fought and controversial 2 goal game (final score: 8-10). The group went on to lose their last game to a talented Scotland squad, but finished the tournament in 12th place (out of 21 countries).

Game Results

The Netherlands played 7 games in 8 days, all at the North London Athletic Fields. The game results are listed below.

Team Organization

The staff, led by General Manager Cornelius Derks, was comprised entirely of North American coaches during the 2006 tournament. Corny, a native of Oshawa, Ontario, performed managerial duties while David Leich (head coach of the University of Western Ontario Mustangs), Jason Crosbie (standout player from the Buffalo Bandits of the NLL), and Jim Huelskamp (Former Salisbury State University All-American) acted as assistant coaches.

[http://www.waterforddevelopmentllc.com Waterford Development] (a Washington D.C. based real estate developer) was the team's main sponsor, and exclusive partnerships with several lacrosse equipment and apparel suppliers were formed. STX (based out of Baltimore, Maryland) provided the team with equipment while Riddell supplied the team with helmets. Atlantic Sportswear provided apparel for The Netherlands and the team was outfitted in their famous "Orange" colors.

Roster

The team featured 14 native Dutch players, and 10 North-American expatriates (several who now live in the Netherlands).

External links

* [http://www.nllax.nl Nederland Lacrosse Official Website]
* [http://www.2006worldlacrosse.com Official 2006 World Championship Website]
* [http://www.intlaxfed.org International Lacrosse Federation]
* [http://nederlandlacrosse.wordpress.com Nederland Lacrosse World Championship Blog]