Canada seeks to defend men’s lacrosse world title

anada-midfielder-Kevin-Crowley-(21)-scores-in-the-first-half-with-a-shot-that-he-made-behind-his-back-against-the-United-States-an-an-FIL-World-Lacrosse-Championship-game.-(The-Denver-Post,-Karl-Gehring/AP)

anada midfielder Kevin Crowley (21) scores in the first half with a shot that he made behind his back against the United States an an FIL World Lacrosse Championship game. (The Denver Post, Karl Gehring/AP)

OTTAWA — Randy Mearns will return as head coach when Canada defends its men’s lacrosse world title next year in Israel.

The Canadian Lacrosse Association announced Tuesday that Mearns will be behind Canada’s bench at the 2018 FIL Men’s Lacrosse World Championship in Netanya. Mearns led Canada to gold at the 2014 world championship.

"I am thrilled and humbled to have once again been selected as the head coach of the Canadian senior men’s national field team," Mearns said in a release. "I would like to thank the Canadian Lacrosse Association and the national team executive for this incredible honour."

Mearns, a native of St. Catharines, Ont., has been involved with the Canadian national team program for the past 30 years.

Mearns was a player on the silver medal winning team at the inaugural FIL U19 World Championship in 1988 in Adelaide, Australia, and also suited up for the senior team in 1998 in Baltimore, where he captured another silver.

He made the jump to the coaching ranks a decade later, serving as an assistant coach with the senior men’s field team at the 2006 and 2010 world championships, winning gold and silver, respectfully. He was promoted to head coach for the 2014 world championship, where his team defeated a heavily favoured U.S. squad to win gold.

"We are excited to have Randy return as Canada’s head coach," saud Dean French, chairman of the national team program. "His leadership at the world championships in 2014 was one of the reasons Canada brought home the gold medal."

[relatedlinks]

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.