When Rory Rothnie and Iandra Lamplugh were teammates with the Claremont Secondary Spartans, they couldn’t have imagined they would be on opposing sides of the ball at the 2024 world women’s box-lacrosse championship in Utica, New York, with dreams of doing the same in field sixes at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Rothnie has five goals and four assists in four games, not bad considering she is a defensive and transition player for undefeated Team ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ (4-0) in Utica as the favourites prepare for today’s quarter-final against the Netherlands (1-3).
Lamplugh took a more ancestral route to the world championship tournament, representing England, which is her dad’s birthplace. Ian Lamplugh, however, took to baseball and not cricket when the family moved to ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½, with Lamplugh being inducted into the Victoria Sports Hall of Fame with the Class of 2018 following an umpiring career in which he made it to MLB. Following that family path of sporting contrarians, daughter Iandra picked up a lacrosse stick instead of a bat.
Her dad’s English heritage came in handy, however, as the defensive and transition player Iandra Lamplugh is among two Canadians on the England roster at the world championships, qualifying through family birthright, and contributing two goals and an assist as the English side went 2-2 in pool play to advance to play Australia (3-1) today in the quarter-finals.
“It’s been really cool to see how the English play the game,” said Iandra Lamplugh.
“They play the box game with a field style. Canadians still have more box-lacrosse IQ because we’ve played the game forever.”
Sixes is the field version of the sport closest to box lacrosse and will be contested in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, a fact not lost on anybody in the sport.
“Hopefully, this [box worlds] leads into that Olympic opportunity in field sixes with England,” said Lamplugh, noting European qualifying for the 2028 L.A. Summer Games begins in 2026.
Lamplugh and Rothnie, both 19, were standouts for the Spartans at Claremont and won the silver medal together on Team ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ at the 2022 ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ Summer Games in the Niagara Region. Lamplugh now helps coach the Spartans while Rothnie went on play in the Ivy League and is heading into her U.S. collegiate NCAA Div. 1 sophomore season at Brown University, where she is studying architecture and urban design and planning.
“It is so cool to be at the worlds with Rory,” said Lamplugh.
Rothnie was in the Vancouver Whitecaps elite REX program and looked to be headed to a soccer career but missed lacrosse too much and returned to the field, but this time with a stick.
“From the perspective of a little girl starting out in the game, and now being in the first world box championship in history for women’s, this is a dream come true,” said Rothnie.
“Some of the scores have been not close between some nations but there are hugs all-round after the games because we know we are all here for the love of this beautiful sport and its growth. I hope this leads to a pro league and a women’s [Victoria] Shamrocks team.”
Rothnie is also an NCAA field-lacrosse standout at Brown: “I hope I get an opportunity to compete for a spot on the Canadian Olympic team.”
Rothnie’s first taste of the multi-sport Games experience has left her wanting more in that sort of setting, but on the ultimate Olympic stage: “It was only national, but winning a medal with ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ in that sort of atmosphere in the ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ Summer Games was so special.”
MEN’S BOX WORLDS: The top-ranked Canadian men’s team at the worlds in Utica features former Victoria Shamrocks players Dhane Smith, Steve Priolo and Graeme Hossack and went unbeaten in pool play and meets Japan today in the quarter-finals.Before taking up national-team duty, Smith and Priolo were part of the Six Nations Chiefs team that defeated the Shamrocks this month in the 2024 Canadian Senior A championship.
