Canadians say labour dispute united them

NETANYA, ISRAEL — Canada will begin its defence of its world lacrosse title with precious little preparation time on the field. But players say team unity is already ironclad after joining together in a labour standoff with the Canadian Lacrosse Association.

The Canadians didn’t have a full roster playing together until last week’s training camp, but just a couple of months ago it looked like they wouldn’t be at the 2018 world championship at all. Fighting for better health insurance and organizational restructuring, players were set to skip the tournament before a deal was struck in mid-June.

“We’ve already went to war with one another,” said veteran faceoff specialist Geoff Snider, a two-time world champion.

“We weren’t in the same room, but we’ve been working our butts off on conference calls to get across the finish line. We stood up for what we needed. At the end of the day our country, sport and program is in a better spot.”

With the labour dispute behind them, the Canadians are among the favourites for gold at the

2018 championship when the tournament gets underway Wednesday in the coastal Israeli city of Netanya.

They will get a stiff challenge from the rival United States, which has won nine titles since the tournament was introduced in 1967. Canada has won the other three.

“Our model is right in line with Canadian identity, we’re tough, we compete hard and we respect each other,” Snider said.

The Canadian and American rosters boast the world’s top players with an abundance of collegiate and professional experience in both box and field versions of the game.

“The best way to describe it is our guys have jam — intensity, skill, aggressiveness and tenacity,” said Canada head coach Randy Mearns.