Saudi Arabia sets sights on becoming lacrosse power, with 2028 LA Olympics on horizon
Officials believe teams can be competitive sooner rather than later, despite admitting people in country know very little about the sport
Having thrown its significant resources into gaining influence in football, golf, boxing and tennis, Saudi Arabia has now set its sights on becoming a power in the world of lacrosse.
And officials said they expected to become competitive over the next few years, despite the new head of the game in the desert kingdom admitting “99 per cent of all Saudi people” didn’t know anything about the sport.
Ray Porcellato, the new CEO of the Saudi Lacrosse Federation, who began his new role in June, said the biggest hurdle was “getting people to understand what it [lacrosse] is, and the biggest challenge to development was being able to “expose young children” to the game.
“We’re going to start in the new year at Riyadh schools, a very well-known private school with 4,000 students … this will really help to start getting the exposure needed on the ground, but also through social media and in the community,” he said.
“Also, hosting the Asian Championships in Riyadh next year, there will be a lot of exposure and we are looking forward to that.”
Saudi Arabia is one of the 21 members of the Asia Pacific Lacrosse Union and joined World Lacrosse as an associate member in 2021. The sport will be part of the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
