By Kojo

Jamaica’s steady rise in international lacrosse will face one of its most important tests yet when the national program arrives in Oshawa next week with its sights set firmly on Los Angeles 2028.

The Jamaican men’s and women’s teams will compete at the 2026 Pan-American Sixes Lacrosse Championships, running September 29 to October 4 at Oshawa Civic Fields. Seventeen national teams, eight men’s and nine women’s, are scheduled to compete.

For Jamaica, the championship represents much more than another international tournament. It is the first stage on a pathway that could ultimately put Jamaican lacrosse players on the Olympic stage.

The top five men’s and women’s teams in Oshawa will advance to the 2027 World Lacrosse Sixes Championships. That tournament will be the primary Olympic qualifier, with five teams per gender advancing to LA28 and another Olympic qualifying opportunity available in 2028.

Jamaica’s men’s team has been drawn in Pool A alongside the United States, Puerto Rico and Chile, while the Jamaican women will face Canada, Haudenosaunee and Mexico in Pool B.

The Jamaican program draws on players with Jamaican roots at home and across the diaspora, an important resource as lacrosse continues to build its presence on the island. The country’s recent performances suggest that development is producing results. Jamaica’s men’s field team finished fourth at the Pan-American Men’s Lacrosse Championship in Kingston in August, securing qualification for the 2027 World Lacrosse Men’s Championship in Tokyo.

Now the Sixes teams will be looking to take another step forward, and they are hoping Canada’s large Jamaican and Caribbean community will be behind them in Oshawa.

That support is also needed away from the field.

Jamaica Lacrosse has launched a fundraising campaign with a $3,000 goal to help meet essential expenses for players and volunteer coaching staff, including travel, lodging, meals, nutrition and team transportation.

Under the banner “One Team. One Jamaica. One Mission,” organizers are appealing to Jamaicans and the wider Caribbean community to contribute and, where possible, attend the tournament to give the national teams a strong home-away-from-home atmosphere.

The opportunity carries particular significance because lacrosse will return to the Olympic Games at Los Angeles 2028 after more than a century, with the fast-paced Sixes discipline making its Olympic debut. Six men’s and six women’s teams will compete.

For Jamaica, that makes every game in Oshawa part of something considerably larger.

The fundraising campaign puts it simply: “Every contribution brings us closer to LA28.”

Donations can be made through the Jamaica Lacrosse campaign, with information available from Jamaica Lacrosse and its social media account, @Jamaicalacrosse.

#JamaicaLacrosse #TeamJamaica #Jamaica #LA28 #Olympics #Lacrosse #SixesLacrosse #Oshawa #DurhamRegion #JamaicansInCanada #CaribbeanCanada #CaribbeanSports #RoadToLA28

  Lacrosse