World Lacrosse, the sport's international federation.

What World Lacrosse is

World Lacrosse describes itself as the international federation for men's and women's lacrosse, responsible for leading and governing the sport internationally. Its press releases carry a Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA dateline. It says it was formerly known as the Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL).

Two world bodies, then one

From the 1970s until 2008 lacrosse had separate world bodies for women and men.

• The women's body. USA Lacrosse records that the International Federation of Women's Lacrosse Associations (IFWLA) was founded in 1972, and Olympedia gives the same year. The accounts of its founding differ. USA Lacrosse says the IFWLA's first formal meeting was held in London with seven countries present. Wikipedia, a secondary source, says Margaret Boyd founded the IFWLA in Williamsburg, Virginia, in April 1972 and was its first president. The two may describe different events, and which one counts as the founding act has not been confirmed.
• The men's body. USA Lacrosse and Olympedia both give 1974 for the founding of the International Lacrosse Federation (ILF). Wikipedia links its creation to a four-team men's invitational tournament held in Australia that year; that link rests on Wikipedia alone.

World Lacrosse says the ILF and the IFWLA each decided in 2005 to work toward lacrosse's return to the Olympic Games, and that the two then merged in 2008, about three years after the process started, after each body's members voted separately. USA Lacrosse names Feffie Barnhill as the FIL's president when it was established in 2008.

The exact date of the merger is given differently. World Lacrosse's history page gives only the year, 2008. The federation's own release of 3 February 2015, issued as the FIL, dates the merger to August 2008, and Olympedia also gives August 2008. Wikipedia gives 30 September 2008, a date that rests on Wikipedia alone.

From the FIL to World Lacrosse

World Lacrosse says it hired Jim Scherr in 2017 as the federation's first employee and chief executive, and that the FIL was rebranded as World Lacrosse under him, with the new name in place by the 2019 SportAccord conference. Olympedia and Wikipedia both date the rename to May 2019, while USA Lacrosse says only that the rebrand came after the 2018 championship. World Lacrosse's own release of 16 September 2019 already uses the new name. No World Lacrosse page found gives the exact day of the change.

Presidents

World Lacrosse's release of 16 November 2024 says Bob DeMarco of the USA was elected President at the 2024 General Assembly for an initial four-year term running through 2028. He succeeded Sue Redfern, who was elected in 2017 and was President when the IOC granted the federation Full Recognition in July 2021.

The front matter of the two field rule books (both version 1.0, January 2025) does not agree on this point: the men's field book lists Sue Redfern as President, while the women's field book lists Bob DeMarco. Given the November 2024 election, the men's book's front matter is out of date.

How membership works

World Lacrosse's release of 16 September 2019 describes two tiers of national membership, Associate Member and Full Member. Full Members have a voting delegate at the General Assembly, and their teams can play in the medal rounds of World Championships. The current field rule books record Full Members' votes: the men's field changes for 2025 were approved by a postal vote of Full Members in June 2024, and the women's field changes by a postal vote of Full Members in December 2024.

World Lacrosse said 92 national federations and four continental federations took part in the 2024 General Assembly. On 15 April 2026 it announced the United Arab Emirates as its 96th member and Tanzania as its 97th. No 98th member had been found by 23 October 2026, though later additions may exist. The full dated series of member counts is on the how many people play page.

Continental federations

In February 2022 World Lacrosse named four continental federations, with the member counts it gave at the time:

The April 2026 figures are from World Lacrosse's release of 15 April 2026 adding the UAE and Tanzania.

The disciplines and their rule books

World Lacrosse lists field (men's and women's), box and sixes as its disciplines. It formally introduced sixes in May 2021. Its playing rules page links the four current rule books and says each discipline has its own rules change cycle, with members told directly when they may submit proposals. It also publishes rules interpretations, dated 1 May 2026 for men's field and September 2026 for sixes. The disciplines page compares the four games.

Recognition

World Lacrosse says the FIL joined GAISF (later SportAccord) in 2012 and was recognised by the International World Games Association in 2013. The IOC granted World Lacrosse Provisional Recognition on 30 November 2018 and Full Recognition by a vote of the IOC Session on 20 July 2021. The Olympic path page gives the whole sequence, including lacrosse sixes at the Los Angeles 2028 Games.

Development, officials and safety

World Lacrosse said in July 2021 that over the previous three years it had widened its services to members in sport development, coaching education and officiating education. It runs a six-step certification system for officials, set out on the officials page.

It also publishes policies that sit outside the rule books, among them a concussion policy marked approved in August 2020, a safeguarding policy, and equipment standards announced on 12 May 2026 that phase in at its own events from 2027. Those are covered, attributed and dated, in the concussion by body, safeguarding and equipment pages.