PLAYER ELIGIBILITY RULES:

Greece Lacrosse is fully compliant with the player eligibility rules as defined by the Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL).  Players must be members of Greece Lacrosse.

 

NATIONALITY:

Prime criteria for eligibility is to have Greek Citizenship and hold a passport of Greece.

• Birth/Naturalisation– Born in Greece or naturalized within Greece; effectively, becomes a passport holder. Note that in any situation of naturalization without becoming a Passport Holder this would be part of the limitation on Non-Passport holders stated below.

• Parents – One or both parents, adoptive parents or step-parents born in the country of Greece.  Note that if not a Passport Holder, then this would be part of the limitation on Non-Passport holders.

• Grandparents – One or more birth / adoptive grandparents born in the country of Greece.  Note that if not a Passport Holder then this would be part of the limitation on Non-Passport holders.  Note that step-grandparents are not acceptable.

• Marriage – Spouse being born in the country of Greece with the qualification that both the spouse and player-candidate must be resident in Greece.  This criterion relates to accepted marriage in the context of a civil or religious ceremony. “Common law” situations and/or partnerships without such formal acceptance (and hence supporting documentation) will not be accepted. In the event of death of the spouse this would not prevent the individual from qualifying by this criterion. Divorce from the spouse would disqualify the individual from qualifying by this criterion. Note that if not a Passport Holder then this would be part of the limitation on Non-Passport holders.

• Residence –Minimum of a two-year residency period in Greece within the last five years. This does not necessarily have to be a continuous period but a cumulative total period of two years over the previous five years. Note that if not a Passport Holder then this would be part of the limitation on Non-Passport holders.

 

LIMITATION ON NON-PASSPORT HOLDERS:

Any squad for any FIL event shall have at least 85% (in all cases rounded downwards) of the playing squad qualifying through the possession of a passport of Greece. Qualification by other than possessing a Greece passport – through birth/naturalization, parents, grandparents, marriage or residency, as defined above – will be limited to 15% (in all cases rounded upwards).

As an example, in the case of the men’s field game this would be 85% of a playing squad of 23 players, which is 19.55 rounded down to 19.  Consequently, the maximum number of non-passport holders on a men’s field team is 4.  In the case of the women’s field game this would be 85% of a playing squad of 18 players, which is 15.30 rounded down to 15.  Consequently, the maximum number of non-passport holders on a women’s field team is 3.

 

AGE LIMITATION:

The lower limit age that applies to all World Championships and FIL sanctioned events is 16 years of age (men) and 15 years of age (women) as of the day prior to the championship event.

 

ELIGIBILITY RELATING TO DUAL PASSPORT HOLDERS:

Any competitor who is a national of two or more countries at the same time and holding passports of these countries may represent either one of them as he /she may elect. However, after having represented one country in a recognized (by the Federation of International Lacrosse) event, he /she may not represent another country unless he/she meets other eligibility conditions set out in the bye-laws which include a three-year period between playing for one country and playing for another country.

Other conditions:

The FIL player eligibility rules set-out further conditions regarding age considerations and flexibility for emerging nations, including special dispensations at U19 level.  Further information is available on the FIL website.

 

POLICY ON GREECE NATIONAL LACROSSE TEAM COMPOSITION:

In addition to the player eligibility rules set-out by the FIL, which all Greek national teams are compliant with, Greece Lacrosse has also established a policy relating to the composition of each Greece National team.  The primary objective of this policy is to link each Greece National team with the development of lacrosse in Greece, as per the mission of Greece Lacrosse.  The following requirements apply regarding eligibility for, and composition of, any and all Greek National teams:

• National Team player selection is presided over by the General Manager of Lacrosse Operations, who will put together a Player Selection Panel consisting of himself, the Head Coach & Assistant Coaches of that particular Greece National team, the Men’s or Women’s Lacrosse Director, and other talent evaluators at his discretion;

• Greek Lacrosse will announce the selection process for each national team via its website and social media channels. This will normally consist of a single or series of tryouts and/or training camps;

• A player must attend a designated tryout relevant to the selection process for that particular Greece National team, in order to be considered for selection to that team. Starting in 2019, the final tryout/training camp will take place in Greece and participation is compulsory for all players in order to be considered for selection to that team;

• Starting in 2019, the vast majority of players (minimum 60% of the roster) on each Greek national team must come from within Greece (hereinafter to be referred to as ‘domestic’);

• A domestic player is defined as a player who:

  • Resides in Greece on a full-time basis for a cumulative total of two out of the previous three years prior to the date of the final try-out/training camp (for the avoidance of doubt, players who work or study on a full-time basis outside of Greece will not be considered domestic players). Documentary evidence of this period of residency must be provided on request by any member of the Player Selection Panel; AND

• • Plays (or contributes when unable to play) in the Greece Lacrosse League and other Greece Lacrosse events; AND

  • Will reside in Greece and play (or contribute when unable to play) in Greece until the date of the relevant tournament. Failure to comply with this requirement will result in a player losing their domestic status, which may result in them losing their place in the squad.

• The Player Selection Panel for a particular Greek national team reserves the right to adjudicate on their status as a domestic player to ensure compliance with the above definition. Any queries regarding domestic player status may be directed to the Player Selection Panel via the General Manager of Lacrosse Operations.

• An increase in the proportion of domestic players on the Greek national teams, beyond the existing 60%, will be considered where the level of participation in the relevant tryouts merits such an increase;

• The men’s & women’s field teams have been established as the Greece National lacrosse team development programs.  Greece Lacrosse works to ensure that these teams are developed and managed alongside, and as close as possible, to the respective Greek national teams when the teams are entered into ‘festival’ tournaments that take place alongside major international tournaments.  Players for the teams for the festival tournaments are selected from the pool of players who attend the relevant tryouts for a given Greek national team but are not chosen for selection to that team.  These teams also compete in other games and tournaments outside of the ‘festival’ tournaments.  How these teams are selected is determined on an event-by-event basis.

Any Greek underage national team (e.g. U19) will conform to this policy as closely as possible, but some exceptions may be required given their only very recent establishment. The Player Selection Panel for these teams must endeavor to get as close as possible to the minimum 60% of the player roster consisting of domestic players.

In considering individual players for selection to any and all Greece National Lacrosse Teams, the Player Selection Panel will consider the following (in no particular order of importance):

• Lacrosse skill, Lacrosse ‘Game IQ’, Fitness, Effort and Work-Rate, Catchability, Character, Commitment to the mission of Greece Lacrosse

This policy will be reviewed on an annual basis, at the Greece Lacrosse Annual General Meeting. 

Greece Lacrosse Association is committed to helping any player needing to get a passport and will have a link on the website for those players who need additional help.