‘We have arrived’

While their dream of an unprecedented place in the medal round of the Men’s Lacrosse World Championships did not materialise, national head coach Mark Wilson declared that Jamaica have planted their flag as true competitors in the arena in their second world championship appearance.

Jamaica’s unbeaten run at the tournament came to an end when they were beaten by second-ranked Canada 20-1 in Wednesday’s quarterfinal clash in San Diego. But while they were outmatched by an elite team in Canada, Wilson declared that the achievement of finishing the tournament as one of the best eight teams in the world is nothing that should be discounted, after finishing 13th in 2018 in their tournament debut.

“The first time was sort of our introduction to the sport and the event. But now we can safely say that we have arrived and we are a viable competitor in this arena,” Wilson told The Gleaner.

They proved that although they came into the tournament not favoured to win the pool, their perseverance and togetherness led them to accomplish things that outside of their group, the world did not expect.

“The guys realised those high expectations on the field given that we came into this tournament for a second time and we won our pool. And we were not the favourites to win our pool, but we won it anyway. I think that doing that against some very experienced and veteran teams who have had success in this arena, it is very satisfying to know that we rank among those teams and know we were recognised as one of the top eight teams in the world,” Wilson said. “It is a very special accomplishment for the team and for everyone who supports Jamaica Lacrosse.”

While in hindsight they had already surpassed all expectations entering their game against Canada, the result was an indication of how far they want to reach to be in the contending picture.

“For the organisation, we were playing with house money, and it’s all gratitude to play in that position (but) as a competitor, if I get to the game, then I feel like I should have an opportunity to win the game,” Wilson said. “On reflection, we are already thinking about things we need to do to get ourselves on that level and be competitive with a team like that because certainly, we are going to have an opportunity to be in that arena again.”

They will hope to close their campaign on a winning note today when they face Israel in the seventh-place playoff. And while they have already made history for the programme, national assistant coach Kenneth Subratie expects a good display today.

“These boys are doing as much as they can for the nation. If we can go out on a bang tomorrow (today) then it would be God’s blessing,” Subratie said.

daniel.wheeler@gleanerjm.com