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German Box Lacrosse: NEW to the European Lacrosse League!

The Deutschland Adler Lacrosse Club is one of the newest clubs in the European Lacrosse League, and the first German club to join the growing ranks of the ELL. Jamie Plunkett and Brian Potter established the club, and the team will consist mainly of German Nationals as well as expats living in Germany, and will compete in the European Lacrosse League 2012 season.

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The Game is GROWING in Europe!

It’s GREAT to see the Growth of the Game in Europe, and we love it when guys from North America go over and fully devote themselves to the GTG effort. For a sport like box lacrosse to take off, it helps to learn it from those who know the game inside and out, and Deutschland Adler has certainly lucked out to have Plunkett and Potter running the show.

Brian Potter is currently coaching in Germany for the Cologne Indians, which compete in the Bundesliga West, and he will be one of the two DALC coaches. Before coming to Cologne, Brian started his career by playing for his hometown club in Victoria, BC. From there he moved on and played at Whittier College, then moved on to playing in the NLL with the Colorado Mammoth, and the Anaheim Storm. After his playing career had ended he took the Head Coaching position with the University of Victoria. Potter has now made his way over to Germany and is in his second year of coaching.

The second member of the coaching staff is Jamie Plunkett. Plunkett, like Brian, is coaching in Germany, but he calls the Bundesliga Ost home. Currently Plunkett coaches the SCC Blax of Berlin, where he too is about to start his second season with the club in the fall. Plunkett hails from Peterborough, Ontario where he played his junior lacrosse in Peterborough, Burnaby, and then later joined Potter in Victoria, BC.

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Jamie Plunkett playing for the Megamen in Prague last year.

Plunkett also enjoyed some time in the NLL with the Arizona Sting. He then spent several years with the Ajax Rock back in Ontario, where he enjoyed a lot of success with the club. Plunkett then retired from playing lacrosse in Canada, to take his game to Europe; the Czech Republic to be exact.

While living in Prague, and playing hockey in the Czech Second League with the Ceska Lipa Predators, he also played in the Czech Lacrosse League with Jizni Mesto, where he became eligible to represent the Czech Republic as a National Player. The first time he played for CR was in the World Indoor Lacrosse Championships, then most recently at the European field lacrosse Championships in Amsterdam.

If you still find yourself asking, “what is the European Lacrosse League (ELL)?” It is a Box Lacrosse League that is mainly based in the Czech Republic, but players come from all over Europe. The season runs from September to October, and is played over four weekends. The first three weekends make up the regular season, and then the last weekend is the final tournament. The ELL consists of six teams and
is composed of players from 11 countries.

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Plunkett (second from left) hopes to bring a championship to Germany!

The teams are selected via draft. All the players who wish to participate in the league registers, and there are more than 160 players registered for this year’s draft. Prior to the draft, the six league teams can sign seven players with contracts. The Deutschland Adler Lacrosse Club is in the midst of signing their seven players, who will be either German citizens, or expats working with German Lacrosse. The Deutschland Adler draft headquarters is set in Berlin, and has been busy looking tirelessly through the ELL registrations.

With so many good players signed up from across Europe this definitely makes the decisions for all GM’S very difficult. The draft is currently scheduled to take place today, on Tuesday, August 21st, after originally being scheduled for the 14th. The one week delay allows to teams to finish contract signings.

The Deutschland Adler club is also holding a Box Lacrosse Camp & Tryout in Berlin for all players across Europe to attend on the weekend of August 25th and 26th. The camp will be run by Potter and Plunkett, and will be a great stepping stone for European field players wanting to make the adjustment to the Box game.

The Adler Lacrosse Club is very pleased to be working with new sponsors; Lacrosse All Stars, Odor Gladiator, Uncommon Fit, and Steakhouse u Svetobeznika in their inaugural season. The uniforms will be released soon and they are something to behold! Continue to check in all September and October for more from Deutschland Adler and the European Lacrosse League!