SAN DIEGO (CNS) – San Diego State University and the University of San Diego will host the 2023 Men’s World Lacrosse Championship, it was announced on Monday.

The first such event to take place in California, the championship will feature 30 teams and more than 100 college games from June 21 to July 1, 2023, according to a statement from World Lacrosse.

Hosted by the San Diego 2023 Organizing Committee with support from World Lacrosse and USA Lacrosse, the tournament is meant to strengthen the sport as it fights for inclusion in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

“We are incredibly excited to bring the inaugural men’s lacrosse tournament to California for the first time,” World Lacrosse CEO Jim Scherr said in a statement. “The sport has grown rapidly around the world and in the United States – particularly in the Southwest region – and this event will serve as a catalyst for further interest and participation as we seek to engage lacrosse in the 2028 Olympic Games.

“Under the leadership of a connected and passionate local organizing committee, we foresee unprecedented exposure for the sport amid the breathtaking backdrop that Southern California offers,” he said.

According to World Lacrosse, more than 900,000 people play lacrosse nationwide. Southern California is home to the San Diego Seals of the National Lacrosse League and the headquarters of the Premier Lacrosse League in Los Angeles. Seals owner Joe Tsai will chair the San Diego 2023 organizing committee.

“We are honored to serve as the local organizing committee and to welcome the world to Southern California,” said Steve Govett, vice president of the San Diego 2023 organizing committee. to engage the global lacrosse community to showcase the sport’s greatest athletes at the highest level of international competition here in the city of San Diego. “

Along with the world championship, San Diego will host a youth festival for the sport.

SDSU’s 35,000-seat Snapdragon Stadium under construction – scheduled to open in September – will host the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, the Opening Game, the Semi-Finals and the Medal Games. Three additional courts will be used for the SDSU tournament.

The USD Torero Stadium will host the majority of tournament matches. Another artificial turf field on campus will also host tournaments.

“This is a big win for San Diego,” said Julie Coker, president and CEO of the San Diego Tourism Authority. “Events like these are critical to the health of our local tourism economy, especially as we continue to recover.

“It will also help highlight why San Diego is the ideal destination to host athletes from all over the world so that we can continue to attract premier sporting events and develop this important sector of our tourism economy,” Coker said.

The Men’s World Championship was first held in 1967 and every four years since 1974. The 2023 event will mark the fourth edition of the championship to be held on American soil – and the first on the West Coast – afterwards. Baltimore held in 1982 and 1998, and the 2014 event was held in Denver. In 2023, the United States will defend their 2018 title, which was won by a score of 9-8 against Canada in Netanya, Israel.

The championship was delayed for a year due to COVID-19 after it was originally scheduled for 2022 in British Columbia.