English Teams for the 30th annual of the Aleš Hřebeský Memorial
1.3.2025
On Wednesday 23 April, the matches of the 30th edition of the Aleš Hřebeský Memorial will start in the LCC Radotín arena. This year's tournament will bring an exceptionally large participation of top teams from overseas and we can certainly look forward to great matches and a unique atmosphere. The draw of the tournament's round-robin groups will take place on 20 March at 6 pm. CET.
The thirty in the tournament logo invites a little pause and reflection. While Aleš Hřebeský (*1972, †1993) is still a part of the memories for the tournament organizers and older coaches as a teammate and friend, most of the active players in the tournament were born later than this tournament was ever established. While this year's edition won't be much different from last year's, the difference from 2001, when the tournament was first international, let alone the first modest editions in the early 1990s, is incredible. The tournament has gained a great reputation and prestige in the lacrosse community around the world, and perhaps even the organizers themselves will not catch up with how the tournament has contributed to the development of box lacrosse in various European countries.
Also this year the organizers had a difficult dilemma who to invite from the 24 applicants for the 9 available spots in the tournament. The first fifteen teams get an invitation to the next edition automatically. This fifteen includes of course the defending champions Nova Scotia Privateers from Canada and the home team LC Custodes, who lost to them in the final. Also returning are the Canadian team Alberta Lacrosse and the American selection Megamen. This foursome will be seeded from the first performance pool for the March 20 draw of the preliminary groups.
The other four will be made up of the German Shepherds, London Knights, Green Gaels from Ontario, Canada and the Canadian-American team Purple Reign. From the third pool we will draw the Finnish Turku Titans, the Swiss team Chocolax, the Israeli Tel Aviv LC and the domestic rival Lakros Zbraslav, which will surely secure several overseas reinforcements. Also qualifying from last year were international selection Adler Lacrosse, the American Moon Bears and Istanbul Sultans, who also have a number of players from overseas. The Haudenosaunee team Rez Dogs, Bats Bratislava and the Czech teams SK Lacrosse Jižní Město and TJ Malešice have also been invited.
Newcomers to the tournament will be the Frog Pond Maulers, a Haudenosaunee team that has twice been a semifinalist in the LAXNAI tournament. Let's see what line-up they will come to Radotín with. The new American participant will be Minneapolis Wheat Kings from Minnesota. We can expect a very solid game from them as well. Two new Canadian teams will be observed with high expectations: the Victoria Leprechauns from British Columbia with players with ties to the elite Victoria Shamrock club and the Peterborough Lakers from Ontario, a lacrosse powerhouse in Canada. The final newcomer will be a team from Korea, Seoul Box Lacrosse, for whom participation will be probably about gaining international experience.
The tournament system allows for any team to achieve victory.
The Aleš Hřebeský Memorial 2025 will take place from Wednesday April 23, the opening ceremony will be at 7 pm CET, but the matches will be played from the morning. The semi-final matches will be played on Friday evening and the tournament will culminate on Saturday April 26 with the final match. The full schedule and further information will appear at www.AHMemorial.cz. All matches will be streamed on the LCC Radotín YouTube channel.
Author: Ondřej Mika | Section: 2025 | Print | Send article to friend
