NLL Insider

Japan moved up from the Red Division to the elite Blue Division for their first-time at the 2008 International Lacrosse Federation (ILF) U-19 World Field Lacrosse Championships.

“We’ve had some hard games in the Blue Division,” said Jun Motoshita, Japan’s top midfielder. “We had a game today with Germany of the Red Division and I think we had a nice game. And throughout the tournament, I think Team Japan really had a lot of fun.”

Motoshita was Japan’s leading scorer with eight goals and nine points in their six games played. His team went 0-5 in the Blue Division and lost an overtime game with Germany on Wednesday. Germany, which was exempted a few U-21 players to field a competitive team, was the top seed out of the Red Division.

“We knew that it was going to be tough so our team just had it mind that we had to have fun throughout the games,” added Motoshita. “Even if we had three points like we had against Canada, three points was very big for us, and I think that was a big step for us.”

Motoshita will now be headed back to Keio University, along with 11 other of his U-19 Japan National teammates.

“We’re going to take this experience back to Japan and take the championship,” says Motoshita, who’s Japanese University team is usually number one but was up-set in overtime last season.

Germany’s David Pearson, a standout long-stick in the Red Division is also looking at these games as a learning experience. Besides college, both Pearson and Motoshita will likely see action for their respective nations at the Men’s Worlds in 2010.

Pearson was part of two back-to-back championships at Foothill high-school and now is looking at playing westcoast virtual-varsity ball with Chapman University of the Western Collegiate Lacrosse League (WCLL).

“I think everyone’s really learning a lot and they’re going to take it back to their club teams and really grow German Lacrosse in the big picture,” added Pearson. “Everyone’s grown so much since the first few training camps we’ve had - and I think it’s just going to pay off on the whole for German Lacrosse.”

Bermuda’s Bobby Smith was also an exemption player, allowed by the ILF to play on the exception that he will continue to go back to Bermuda over the next few years to help grow the game on the island.

Bermuda Lacrosse just needed a defender to fill out their roster as they only had three poles in total going to the tournament - so Lawrenceville highschool and U-19 teammate Matt Restaino suggested Smith’s name and he jumped on board with the ILF’s approval.

“Matt and Bobby just raised the whole level of play of everyone on our team,” added Bermuda head coach Stephen Michel. The program is now excited for all of their players to take their experiences back home and help grow the game at the grass roots level.

And that’s partly what this whole U-19 experience is about - to push players to compete at another level of competition, take their experiences back home, and help grow the game internationally.

Scotland, playing in their first-ever U-19 Worlds, finished second in the Red Division, allowing them to cross-over and compete with Australia of the elite Blue Division on Wednesday. Bermuda was another surprise team at this tournament, finishing with a winning record and Top 10 finish as first-time entrants.

An All-America at Simon Fraser and a decorated Jr. A player for Coquitlam, Kojima began covering lacrosse in 2003 and started working for Inside Lacrosse in 2007. Email him at steve.kojima@nllinsider.com or go to www.laxfuj.com .

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