Happy Easter...
Dear Friends,
We just wanted to wish you and your families Happy Easter! We're working hard to prepare for our tournaments in Slovakia (women, May), Austria (men, June) and our own Sofia Lacrosse Cup (men and women). We thank you for your continued support and we wish you successful seasons!
2011.04.24
Lacrosse Demonstration...
From 21 to 25 February 2011 in 54th School "St. Ivan Rilski" in Nadejda district, Sofia, members of the Bulgarian lacrosse community held a presentation of the sport. This meeting was a part of our program "Lacrosse in Bulgarian Schools 2010-2014".
2011.02.27
Thank you Mr. Ellsworth...
The Bulgarian Lacrosse Federation would like to thank Mr. Bill Ellsworth for his generous donation to our program. The biggest need for the development of our strategy "Lacrosse in Schools 2010-2014" is for equipment for youth lacrosse and Mr. Ellsworth's donation has given us a big push forward. Thank you, Bill! WE AND US!
2011.02.06
Sofia Lacrosse Cup 2011...
Want to play lacrosse against some of Europe's best club teams and party at the Black Sea for a week after that? Only the Sofia Lacrosse Cup can offer you a great 10-day summer lacrosse experience, just in time for pre-season training. Three days men's and women's tournament in the capital Sofia, followed by 7 days of relaxing vacation at Perla Beach (Primorsko, Bulgaria). Unbeatable prices and an unforgettable beach trip, what more can you wish for? Referees from Canada, USA, the UK and Germany. Teams from the UK, Germany, Austria and more!
Sign up now at sofiacup@bulgarianlacrosse.org and visit www.sofialacrossecup.com for more information! Don't have a team? Sign up as a pick-up player at sofiacup@bulgarianlacrosse.org .
2011.02.01
Lacrosse Spreads Around Bulgaria, Reaches Hayredin...
At the special invitation of the Mayor of Hayredin Municipality, Mr. Radoslav Stoykov, and the management of the "Vassil Vodenicharski" School, the Bulgarian Lacrosse Federation organized a lacrosse demonstration on the field in the town of Hayredin on 13 November 2010. The demonstration on a beautiful Saturday morning was attended by more than 150 students from 4 towns and villages in the area. The idea first struck a P.E. teacher from the local school, Ms. Emilia Petrova, who is also in charge of the athletic events in the Municipality. She contacted the Bulgarian Lacrosse Federation two weeks ago, having seen the sport on TV thanks to the extensive media coverage of the first international lacrosse tournament in the Balkans - the Sofia Lacrosse Cup 2010, held in the capital of Bulgaria in mid-October. The Federation responded swiftly to the request and within 10 days, a six-car motorcade with the newly-arrived National Head Coach of Bulgaria, Mr. John Laden (who had just arrived three days ago), and more than 20 lacrosse players drove up to the small town two and a half hours away from Sofia. The unusually good November weather made for a very picturesque ride which was Mr. Laden's first visit to the Bulgarian countryside. After the demonstration, the hosts from Hayredin set up a long banquet table for a celebratory brunch. A great time was had by all, and, to quote a local favorite, this was most certainly the beginning of a beautiful friendship between BLF and Hayredin.
2010.11.13
Three More Schools Host Lacrosse Demonstrations...
Three schools in Sofia played host to lacrosse demonstrations today - 67th School "Vassil Drumev", 147th School "Yordan Radichkov" and 57th Sports School "St. Naum Ohridski". The demonstrations were led by players from the Bulgarian Lacrosse Federation, and were made possible with the support of each of the schools' principals - Mr. Krassimir Vulkov, Mr. Lyudmil Lachev and Mr. Orlin Todorov. The demonstrations were part of BLF's program "Lacrosse in Schools 2010-2014".
2010.10.04
Sofia Lacrosse Cup...
From 15th to 17th of October, 2010 the capital Sofia became the host of the inaugural international lacrosse tournament in Bulgaria – Sofia Lacrosse Cup 2010.
After ten hotly contested matches spanning three days of games, the Austrians from Vienna Monarchs won the event’s title. The tour team from Germany’s Southern Lacrosse League BLS AllStars claimed second place and the hosts from the Bulgarian Khans took the bronze. Fourth and fifth were the English tour team DreadLAX and the first Serbian team – Belgrade Zombies.
Wolfgang Griessl from BLS AllStars (Germany) was named MVP of the tournament, while Stefan Lazic from Belgrade Zombies (Serbia) was chosen as Best Goalkeeper, Sean Allen (all-team pick-up) – Best Defense Player, and Richi Hauer and his brother Klaus Hauer from Vienna Monarchs (Austria) took home the Best Midfielder and Best Attack Player titles.
The Director of 57th Sports School in Sofia, Orlin Todorov, along with the Vice Presidents of the Bulgarian Lacrosse Federation and organizers of the tournament – Plamen Cholakov and Svilen Rangelov gave special plaques to each member of the all-star referee team – Jim Price (Canada), Mike LaLeune (Canada) and Alexander Frey (Germany).
Next year’s Sofia Lacrosse Cup will be held in the summer – from 19th to 21st of August, 2011 and will include both men’s and women’s teams. It will also include the extra option for a week-long trip to a resort at the famous Black Sea coast right after the end of the games, for a memorable summer vacation at the Bulgarian beach! Check out www.sofialacrossecup.com for more information.
2010.10.15-17
Lacrosse Demonstration...
Today in 101st School "Bacho Kiro" in Nadejda, Sofia, members of the Bulgarian lacrosse community held a presentation of the sport. This is the first school that signed up for our program Lacrosse in Bulgarian Schools 2010-2014. The presentation began with a 30-minute 6-on-6 exhibition match in which the Green team won over the Blue team. Immediately after that, more than 50 boys and girls learned in small groups the basics of catching and throwing, and participated in a shoot-out. Due to the huge interest, a second demonstration is scheduled at the same school for this Friday at 08:00 am.
2010.06.14
Donation from Thomas Stone High School...
The Bulgarian Lacrosse Federation would like to thank Thomas Stone High School Lacrosse Team and its coach, Adam Lowe, for its generous donation of equipment and balls to the BLF. It is just another amazing example of the camaraderie of the great sport of Lacrosse.
We look forward to the growing connection between Bulgaria and Charles County Maryland.
2010.05.24
Bulgarian Khans win 3 games in Vienna...
Bulgaria’s representative all-star lacrosse team, the “Bulgarian Khans” came back from the Austrian Lacrosse Open with a 3-2 record and 29-29 goal difference which won it 9th place out of 12 teams. The Bulgarians began with losses by two of their opponents from last year – 4:10 against the Reading Wildcats (UK) and 3:6 against the hosts from Vienna Monarchs – which sent them to play for the 9th-to-12th place, where they won all of their 3 games – 8:7 against Konstanz (Germany), 5:1 against TASIS (Switzerland) and 9:5 against the Ljubljana Dragons (Slovenia). With the winning 3-2 record, this year’s performance was much better than last year’s, especially given that this year the tournament was the biggest and most fiercely contested. First place went to the National Team of Austria, who beat Slavia Praha (Czech Republic) by 7:4. Third place went to the Danish team KFB Raiders.
2010.05.14-16
First Referee Lacrosse Clinic in Bulgaria…
The Bulgarian Lacrosse Federation organized the first referee lacrosse clinic in Bulgaria with lecturer Jon Harrop (South of England Referees Training Officer). A total of 14 participants took part in the clinic titled "Fundamentals of Lacrosse Refereeing". Two of them were guests from Turkey's (Patrick Dougherty) and Serbia's (Brian Gorodetsky) lacrosse movements. BLF would like to thank the American College of Sofia for the hospitalily.
2010.03.27-28
Happy Holidays...
The Bulgarian Lacrosse Federation would like to thank all of its members, friends and fans for the support without which we wouldn't have made it this far. We wish you all a Happy Holiday Season and a very successful New Year!
2009.12.24
Summer Lacrosse Camp 2009…
We have the honor to invite you to become a part of the biggest lacrosse camp on the Balkans, organized by BLF with the help of The Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) and The European Lacrosse Federation (ELF).
7-9.08.2009 - Men's Lacrosse Clinic with Jack Kaley (USA) - Head Coach NYIT NCAA Div.II; Karl Hedstrom (USA) - NYIT, formerly Hofstra University; Kyle Witt (CAN) - Welwyn Warriors, formerly Drexel; Henning Schmidt (GER) - E.L.F.
8-9.08.2009 - Women's Lacrosse Clinic with Mary Schwartz, Head Coach Roakone College NCAA Div.III (USA) and Nick Gough - a former all PAC-10 track athlete at the University of Southern California.
For more information check out the official Facebook group - www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=90421571546 or events@bulgarianlacrosse.org .
2009.06.15
A Bulgarian took the third place at the tournament in Vienna…
Bulgaria didn’t only participate with its men’s team in the tournament in Vienna, but also had a female representative. This was Asya Parvanova, who played for the English team of the „Blackheath Tigers” as an attacker. Our girl showed very good game and distinguished herself by two goals and a couple of assistances.
“The Tigers” took the third place in the female version of the tournament. They had wins against Swiss Lacrosse, the Vienna Lady Monarchs and Helsinki Lacrosse, but lost from the National Team of Austria and the Reading Wildcats. The tournament was won by the National Team of Austria, second were the Reading Wildcats. 2009.05.01-03
“Bulgarian Khans” in a tournament in Europe...
In their first international appearance – the Austrian Lacrosse Open, held in Vienna, Austria, May 1st – 3rd – the Bulgarian pick-up team played 5 games and placed 7th. Our boys gave in to the Reading Wildcats (UK) with 2:6 (goals - N.Cholakov, 2), Tübingen/Konstanz (Germany) with 0:5, and the Vienna Monarchs (Austria) with 0:7. In a heated game for the lower bracket semifinal (5th to 8th place), the Bulgarians lost dramatically with a last-minute goal their match with Titans Lacrosse Bern City (Switzerland) – 2:3 (goals – N.Kovachevich, 1; N.Cholakov, 1). In the game for 7th-8th place, the Khans took their revenge from Tübingen/Konstanz beating them 3:2 (goals – N.Cholakov, 1; D.Dyankov – 2), after being led 0:2 for most of the match.
For nine of the Bulgarian players, the Austrian Lacrosse Open was their debut in official games – S.Rangelov, R.Georgiev, G.Georgiev, K.Monov, S.Stoev, V.Vassilev, M.Hristov, T.Ganchev and N.Kovachevich. The playing coach S.Sollohub also demonstrated great goalie skills, and the defender C.Safarowic gave himself out on the field. P.Cholakov and F.Donov were an essential support for the team throughout the trip.
The tournament was won by the Vienna Monarchs who beat their hometown rivals the Vienna Cherokees with 9:3. Third place was won by LC Riga (Lithuania).
2009.05.01-03
The Youth Lacrosse Program will begin on May 9th, 2009...
The practices will be every Saturday at 10:00 AM on the field behind the Bubble on the ACS Campus. Regular practices will continue throughout the summer.
2009.04.14
Bulgarians played in the East Second Division of SEMLA...
Nikolay Cholakov and Hristo Fitsov participated in two champion matches of the East Second Division of SEMLA with the team of the “Welwyn Warriors 2”. The team lost both matches played against “Spencer 2” (1:12) and Northhampton (8:9). Our boys scored one goal each in the second game. Nikolay and Hristo also took part in the organization and realization of two lacrosse tournaments for children and gathered valuable experience.
The Bulgarian Lacrosse Federation expresses its big gratitude to the friends from the “Welwyn Warriors” for the provided opportunity for development and education of our players.
2009.03.20-29
First lacrosse practice for 2009...
The first lacrosse practice for 2009 took place at the American College in Sofia. More than 40 people attended the event.
2009.01.24
The President of BLF visited Baltimore (USA)...
The President of BLF Nikolay Cholakov had a trip to Baltimore (USA). There he participated in the US National Lacrosse Convention 2009, The US Lacrosse Coaching Education Program and visited John Hopkins University, the Lacrosse Museum and the Hall of Fame.
2009.11.14-17
First lacrosse practice in Blagoevgrad...
The very first lacrosse practice took place at the American University of Blagoevgrad. Participants were players from the “Griffins AUBG” Blagoevgrad and the BLF.
2008.11.30
Bulgarian laxers on a visit in the United Kingdom...
Four bulgarians took part in the practice sessions of the "Welwyn Warriors" lacrosse club. They performed well in a game between „Welwyn Warriors 2” and „Reading 2” and scored three goals. The match ended at 10:10.
BLF would like to thank lacrosse club "Welwyn Warriors" for all its help.
2008.11.07-16
Lacrosse introduced to Blagoevgad
On 2008.10.17 in the American University in Bulgaria was held an official lacrosse presentation. The event was organized by the newly-formed lacrosse club in the American University and BLF.
2008.10.17
6th European Junior's Lacrosse Camp
Prague-Radotín, Czech Republic - 6th European Junior's Lacrosse Camp, organized by Lacrosse Club Custodes Sokol Radotín.
2008.08.27-31
Summer Lacrosse Clinic
Lacrosse Clinic with Mary Schwartz and Nikolay Karagyozov
2008.08.14
End of the Season
The last youth lacrosse training session for the season was held in The American College of Sofia on 21st of June 2008. BLF wishes pleasant summer days to all students. Trainings will resume in the autumn.
2008.06.21
Lacrosse Clinic
A lacrosse clinic was held between 1st and 5th of May featuring Kyle Witt from Canada and Chase Safarowic from USA. The coaches came in Bulgaria from Lacrosse Club Welwyn Warriors of the United Kingdom with help from Henning Schmidt. They leaded several trainings at the NSA and visited the youth lacrosse program in The American College of Sofia.
The Bulgarian Lacrosse Federation would like to express gratitude to department „Football and Tennis” and especially to associate professor Nikolay Kolev, D.Sc – dean of the Coaches Faculty in National Sports Academy for providing the training grounds.
2008.05.06
First Youth Lacrosse Program Opening
On April the 19th The Bulgarian Lacrosse Federation and The American College of Sofia started their joined project - The First Youth Lacrosse Program in Bulgaria. The first practice started at 10 AM in the field behind the "Bubble" on campus grounds. The practice will be held every Saturday until the 21st of June from 10:00 till 12:00 AM and will resume in September.
2008.04.19
Article for Lacrosse in LIFE Magazine
In the beginning of April in the first issue of LIFE magazine a few pages were dedicated to lacrosse. The detailed article has plenty of information about the history and development of this particular sport and it is illustrated with great photos. You can read it from this link.
2008.04.05
Bulgarian Lacrosse Federation Celebrated One Year Since Its Establishment.
Friends and sport club athletes gathered for the celebration and joined the cocktail party in hotel „Arte”...
2007.12.22
Vienna Monarchs in Bulgaria
The founder of the lacrosse club „Vienna Monarchs” Chris Mistelbauer and four of his team mates - Navid, Andreas, Michal and Till, visited us and trained with us on NSA grounds. The Vienna Monarchs club is in the leading positions in this year's Austrian Lacrosse Open. Mr. Mistelbauer and his team responded to BLF's invitation to help develop the game of lacrosse in Bulgaria, for what we are most obliged. BLF also wishes to thank the NSA management who were kind enough to let us train and play on their fields.
2007.10.05-07
5th European Junior's Lacrosse Camp
Prague-Radotín, Czech Republic - 5th European Junior's Lacrosse Camp, organized by Lacrosse Club Custodes Sokol Radotín.
2007.08.22-26
A Coaches Lacrosse Clinic
Prague-Radotín, Czech Republic - A practical seminar for lacrosse coaches with the participation of Lars Tiffany, John T. Pirie and Bartolo Governanti, organized by Hamburg Warriors Camps and LCC Radotín with support of International Committee for Lacrosse Development.
2007.08.22-23
Dr. Thomas Vennum Presented a Lecture on the North American Indian Lacrosse History
Dr. Thomas Vennum presented a lecture on the North American Indian lacrosse history. Thomas Vennum is the author of American Indian Lacrosse – Little Brother of War and Lacrosse Legends of the First Americans books.
2007.08.22
Bulgaria Became a Member of European Lacrosse Federation
The President of the Bulgarian Lacrosse Federation Nikolay Cholakov took part at the European Lacrosse Convention in Aachen, Germany. Bulgaria and France joined the European Lacrosse Federation.
2007.05.26-27
First Lacrosse Camp in Sofia, NSA
Dear friends,
Bulgarian Lacrosse Federation (BFL) wishes to thank all of you who accepted our invitation and participated in the first lacrosse camp which took place at the National Sports Academy (NSA). Our guests were Andreas Rossband and Barbara Zelenay, both players and international lacrosse referees. They visited us with the kind help of the European Lacrosse Federation.
2007.04.19-24
First Practice
The first practice of lacrosse took place in National Sports Academy. More than 20 players participated.
2007.03.10
New Equipment
The Bulgarian Lacrosse Federation received equipment, donated by the European Lacrosse Federation.
2007.03.06
Officials from European Lacrosse Federation and English Lacrosse Association Visited Sofia
The President of the European Lacrosse Federation Peter Mundy and the President of the English Lacrosse Association John Maynard visited Sofia. They presented the game of Lacrosse with the lecture “History and development of Lacrosse” to more than 50 people in hall A4 in National Sports Academy.
The meeting was organized by Bulgarian Lacrosse Federation with the kind cooperation of Associate Professor Nikolay Kolev – Head of Football and Tennis Department in NSA
2007.02.23-25