JOA partners with Jamaica Lacrosse to host Pan Am Championships

The Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) has partnered with the Jamaica Lacrosse Association (JLA) to provide financial assistance to host the 2026 Pan-American Lacrosse Association (PALA) Men’s Lacrosse Championship at The Mico University College and Stadium East.

Jamaica will host the men’s lacrosse championship for the first time in the island’s history with the tournament set to run from August 16 through to August 23.

It will be the second international lacrosse tournament that has been held in Jamaica following the 2023 PALA Sixes Cup.

The JOA had partnered with the JLA to host the Sixes Cup, and JOA president Christopher Samuda said their current partnership will be a repeat of their success from 2023.

Samuda said the JOA continues to support the dreams of Jamaican athletes and will continue to lend a helping hand to help the growth of lacrosse in Jamaica.

“They say history repeats itself. Well, the JOA and the JLA can tell you that, for us, in sport that is a truism, and the JOA will further tell you that it is a culture that we live in supporting the aspirations of the sportsmen and women and youth of our member associations and bringing them across thresholds towards the Olympic stage,” Samuda said.

The men’s lacrosse championship will see several of the region’s and world’s top teams competing on the island for a spot in the 2027 World Lacrosse Men’s Championship in Japan.

The United States of America, Canada and Haudenosaune (a confederacy of six Indigenous nations in North America) are the top three best-ranked teams in the world, with Jamaica, ranked eighth globally, being the next-best team from the region.

Samuda said the JLA has developed a national programme capable of competing on the world’s stage and it is the JOA’s role to ensure they continue to have a platform to compete.

“We partner with our members to not only footprint regionally and globally but, importantly, to make their imprints indelibly in announcing their arrival on the world stage as of right and by virtue of merit,” Samuda explained.

“Lacrosse understands this, has bought into this vision and is on a mission. It may not be a September to remember but I can tell you it will be an august August.”

JLA president Calbert Hutchinson believes it will be a major boost in the organisation’s goal of qualifying for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

It will be the third time that lacrosse has been included at the Olympic Games, and the first time since 1908.

Hutchinson said Jamaica faces a challenging road ahead for Olympic qualification, but he is confident they can create history, come 2028.

“Jamaica sits among the top lacrosse countries in the world and we have qualified both male and female teams at all levels in the sport and are a powerhouse in the Pan-American region,” Hutchinson said.

“The road to the 2028 LA Olympics will be tough but highly possible for our rising stars. The JamLac team will be going up against the US and Canada within our region, amongst other countries, for only three allocated spots. This has made the stakes very high but we are ready for the battle.”

gregory.bryce@gleanerjm.com