World Lacrosse Adds Uzbekistan as 91st Member Nation

World Lacrosse today welcomed its 91st member in Uzbekistan, raising its record total to 12 new members in 2023.  

In addition, the U.S. Virgin Islands, which has been a member of World Lacrosse since 2020, became a full member. As a full member, the USVI is eligible to have a voting delegate in the World Lacrosse General Assembly. In addition, its national teams are now eligible to participate in WL championship events. 

Uzbekistan will be a part of the Asia Pacific Lacrosse Union, which now holds 19 members. World Lacrosse has overall added 18 members in the last two calendar years. 

World Lacrosse CEO Jim Scherr said: “I want to welcome Uzbekistan to our lacrosse family, and I am thrilled to continue our growth of the game across so many different areas of the world this year. Asia is a large and diverse region and building a base in central Asia is exciting for our sport going forward.” 

The APLU has added its first member in Uzbekistan since welcoming Iran in 2022 and Cambodia earlier that year. 

Overall, World Lacrosse has added 12 members in 2023 across four continents, with Malta from Europe, Brazil from South America and nine new members from Africa in Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Zambia and Zimbabwe, all joining Uzbekistan. 

In the past decade, World Lacrosse has now more than doubled its membership with 46 new nations joining the previous community of 45 members.