The U19 World Lacrosse Foundation is the legacy of the 2008 ILF Under 19 Men’s World Lacrosse Championships & 2016 FIL Under 19 Men’s World Lacrosse Championships that were held in Coquitlam, British Columbia. The Foundation is the result of these two very successful events and was established to support initiatives aimed at promoting the development of youth field lacrosse in the province of British Columbia.

The success of these 2 events and of the Foundation would not have been realized if not for a  dedication to and unwavering support for youth sport, the personal growth and development of young athletes, and the game of field lacrosse, by the late Cliff Pascas.    

A lifelong volunteer in the community of Port Coquitlam and throughout the local and provincial youth lacrosse community, Cliff’s vision and commitment to the game was instrumental in securing BC’s first ever lacrosse world championship.  In 2008 Cliff brought the world to BC as Chair of the 2008 Under 19 World Lacrosse organizing committee.   

The success of the 2008 event and Cliff’s enthusiastic leadership paved the way for a second world lacrosse tournament bid.  Building on the energy of the first tournament, Cliff again led a small but committed organizing team and an army of BC lacrosse volunteers to host the much larger 2016 U19 World Lacrosse Championship at Town Centre in Coquitlam.  Another sensational event, lauded by then Federation of International Lacrosse executive committee.

Although his family, friends and the lacrosse community will long mourn Cliff’s passing in February 2023, this big man, with a big heart and big vision has left a lasting impression.  Cliff’s gift to the game continues through the U19 World Lacrosse Foundation’s annual grant program.  Initially set up with the proceeds from the 2008 event and subsequently bolstered by the 2016 tournament, Cliff’s dream of supporting the lacrosse aspirations of young athletes and the development of youth programs in BC lives on through the Foundation.  

The Foundation will provide financial assistance for the ongoing development of youth field lacrosse programs in the Province of BC as well as the ongoing development of BC field lacrosse athletes to allow them to compete at higher levels.

Assistance is available to any athlete 19 years of age or younger, related team or program sanctioned by the BC Lacrosse Association.

In the spring of each calendar year, the Board of Directors of the Foundation will consider applications received from teams and individual athletes to award grants for the general development of field lacrosse in the Province of BC and to provide assistance to high performance field lacrosse athletes.

General development assistance includes startup assistance for new clubs and volunteer development at the club level as well as field lacrosse programs that generate participation at the grassroots level for men’s and women’s youth field lacrosse.

The Foundation will also provide assistance for club field lacrosse team expenses, Provincial field lacrosse team expenses and to individual athletes competing on Canadian National field lacrosse teams.

Applications must be received by the Foundation on or before May 31st of each calendar year to be considered by the Board of Directions who will determine the assistance that will be provided by way of a grant in July of each calendar year.

The Under 19 Men’s Lacrosse Championships is an event sanctioned by the International Lacrosse Federation (ILF) and held every four years. The first event was held in 1988 in Adelaide Australia.

In September of 2005, during the Canadian U-19 Men’s Field Lacrosse Championships in Saskatchewan, the suggestion of British Columbia applying to host the World Championships in 2008 was raised in casual conversation.  The idea tweaked great interest and shortly thereafter a bid committee of four people was formed to put together the bid package for the event. By the end of December the proposal was submitted to the ILF and on March 23, 2006 the group was officially notified it had been awarded the 2008 World Championships.

Soon after that, the 2008 Under 19 Men’s World Lacrosse Society was formed to organize the Championships. The four original bid committee members carried on their involvement as directors of the society. Not long after that the Society added a fifth director and the core group was set. Each of the five directors took on various areas of responsibility and planning of the Championship tournament was underway.

The following three years of planning, organizing and executing went by amazingly fast and the tournament was an unparalleled success.

Thanks to the fabulous support of fans and sponsors the event turned a profit much greater than anticipated. The Society directors decided to carry on the events legacy by forming the 2008 U19 World Lacrosse Foundation with the purpose of managing this fund and setting up a grant structure to assist young Field Lacrosse participants in achieving their goals.

• Lincoln Wall – Team BC U-17

• Ronin London – Team BC U-17

• Phillip Busenius, Team BC U-16
• Ronin London, Team BC U-16, picture attached
• Nathaniel Leroux, Team BC U-18
• Juan deFuca Youth Field Lacrosse

• Victoria Youth Field Lacrosse

 Nothing disbursed due to Covid restrictions