The international federations: from two bodies to World Lacrosse.

The men's world championship and the ILF

USA Lacrosse says the first men's world championship was a four-team invitational in Toronto in 1967, won by the Mt. Washington Lacrosse Club representing the United States, with Australia second. The Federation of International Lacrosse's release of 10 July 2018 likewise says the United States won the 1967 event in Toronto by beating Australia.

USA Lacrosse says the idea of a world championship every four years was born at the 1974 invitational in Melbourne. The International Lacrosse Federation (ILF) was founded in 1974, a year the FIL's release of 3 February 2019 and Olympedia both give. That release says Tom Hayes, the Rutgers coach, was instrumental in founding the ILF, served as its vice-president from 1974 to 1978 and as its president from 1994 to 2002. USA Lacrosse says the ILF sanctioned the men's world championships from 1974 to 2006.

The 1986 championship in Toronto is the one the Iroquois Nationals were refused entry to, before their admission to the ILF in 1987; that story is on the Haudenosaunee Nationals. Later championships are on world championships.

The women's federation: the IFWLA, 1972

USA Lacrosse and Olympedia both give 1972 for the founding of the International Federation of Women's Lacrosse Associations (IFWLA). Where it was founded is not agreed. USA Lacrosse says the first formal meeting was held in London, attended by seven countries. Wikipedia's article on Margaret Boyd says Boyd founded the IFWLA in Williamsburg, Virginia, in April 1972. The two may describe different events, a founding decision and a first formal meeting, and the question has not been settled. The IFWLA's first World Cup, in 1982, is on the women's game.

World Lacrosse's profile of Fiona Clark says she was an IFWLA officer for 16 years and its president for two terms after 2001, and that she helped organise the international workshop whose outcomes led to the merger.

The merger, 2008

World Lacrosse (13 June 2023) says the ILF and the IFWLA each decided independently in 2005 that lacrosse should aim to return to the Olympic Games. After separate votes of their members, they merged in 2008 into the Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL), which had 45 members at the end of that year. USA Lacrosse names Feffie Barnhill as the FIL's president when it was established.

The exact date is given two ways. The federation's own release of 3 February 2015 dates the merger to August 2008, and Olympedia also gives August 2008. Wikipedia gives 30 September 2008, and is reported in a search summary to describe a merger agreed in August 2008 at Lahti, Finland, with the FIL formally established on 30 September. This site uses August 2008, the federation's own date; the 30 September date and Lahti rest on Wikipedia alone.

The FIL's release of 3 February 2019 says Stan Cockerton was instrumental in the merger and was FIL president from 2010 to 2018.

From the FIL to World Lacrosse

World Lacrosse says the FIL joined the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) in 2012 and was recognised by the International World Games Association in 2013. In 2017 it hired its first employee and chief executive, Jim Scherr, and World Lacrosse says the FIL was rebranded as World Lacrosse under him, with the new name in place by the 2019 SportAccord conference.

When the rename happened is given two ways. Olympedia dates it to May 2019. USA Lacrosse says the rebrand came after the 2018 championship. The federation still called itself the FIL in its release of 3 February 2019, which fits 2019, and this site uses May 2019.

World Lacrosse says Sue Redfern was elected president in 2017 and was in office when the IOC granted full recognition in 2021. Bob DeMarco of the United States was elected president at the 2024 General Assembly for a term through 2028. The federation's releases give Cockerton's term as running to 2018 and Redfern's election as 2017, without saying when the handover took place.

Olympic recognition

• November 2018. The IOC granted provisional recognition. World Lacrosse's release of 20 July 2021 gives the date as 30 November 2018.
• 20 July 2021. The IOC Session in Tokyo voted to grant full recognition, after the IOC Executive Board approved the step on 10 June 2021. World Lacrosse's 2023 article dates full recognition to June 2021, the month of the Executive Board step; this site uses the Session vote.
• August 2022. The LA28 organisers shortlisted lacrosse among nine proposed sports (Olympedia; World Lacrosse).
• 16 October 2023. The IOC Session in Mumbai approved lacrosse (sixes) for Los Angeles 2028.

When was sixes created?

World Lacrosse's World Games page says sixes was launched in 2020. A Syracuse.com article republished by the Onondaga Nation in June 2025 says World Lacrosse created sixes in 2018. World Lacrosse's release of 20 July 2021 says it formally introduced World Lacrosse Sixes in May 2021. These may describe creation, launch and formal introduction; the research has not settled which is which.

Growth in membership

World Lacrosse's own counts of national members, by date:

Olympedia gives 95 members as of January 2026. How World Lacrosse is organised today is on World Lacrosse.