The Turkish men’s lacrosse team returned to Algarve, Portugal to compete in the 2024 EuroLax Sixes Cup. The most recent field included more competition in this year’s Men’s bracket with the inclusion of Germany and Brazil and a total of 12 international teams competing in the Olympic approved sixes style of lacrosse.
The team included several Turks from around the world, including Türkiye, Germany, England, and the United States. Notable competitors on this years team included Bertan Unal (Providence College) Deniz Piatt, (Kean University), goaltender Yoel Ovadya (Drew University), Ege Zeybeck (Lehigh University Club), Hakan Atillasoy (Ursinus College and the University of Michigan), Korgan Atillasoy (Brown University Club), and Cem Atillasoy (Cornell Club).
Türkiye opened competition with a loss to the tournament’s perennial champion, Great Britain. From there, the Turks won 3 straight matches against Luxembourg, Ireland, and a surprising upset over Germany. After the historical victory over the Top-10 Ranked Germans, the Turks again met Great Britain and could not overcome the reigning champions. This set the Turks in a rematch against Switzerland, this time to retain the 3rd place title earned the year prior. Unfortunately, Türkiye couldn’t come away with the victory and finished in 4th place amongst the 12 teams.
The Turkish team have made a dramatic turnaround within 2 years of international competition. In April 2022, Türkiye went 0-5 in the European Championships which acted as a qualifier for the most recent World Lacrosse Championships. Since then, the Turks have won 2 medals in Olympic-Sixes Lacrosse and placed 4th out of 12 in this year’s Portugal Tournament. With a win against the Top-10 World Ranked Germany, the program has received newly welcomed support and interest from other programs who recognize the recent success of the developing program.
Turkiye will hope to compete in the 2028 Olympic Games which will include Lacrosse. Please help us by supporting the program, through donations and/or getting the word spread about our recent success and developments.
For more information about Turkish Lacrosse, please see www.turkeylacrosse.com
