Croatia have become the 53rd member nation of the Federation of International Lacrosse ©FIL

Croatia have become the 53rd member nation of the Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) following a postal vote among the organisation's members, it has been announced.

The Croatian Lacrosse Association (CLA) was only set up in 2011 after Matej Bodul and Ante Pilić formed Croatia Lacrosse.

Several clubs across the country were then set-up in Zagreb, New Zagreb, and Varazdin.

Following help from key individuals in the United States and the FIL, the CLA was officially established.

Croatia joins Bulgaria, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey as FIL members from the Balkan region.

“The FIL welcomes the Croatia Lacrosse Association as its 53rd member,” FIL director of development Tom Hayes said.

“The addition of Croatia brings the number of lacrosse playing nations in the Balkans to five.

“We look forward to including Croatia in future FIL championship events.”

The Croatian men’s team have begun to compete in more international competitions as of late after they participated in the Celtics Cup Tournament in Klagenfurt in Austria where they went up against Slovenia, Serbia and Austria.

Croatia are now aiming to compete at the top level in world lacrosse
Croatia are now aiming to compete at the top level in world lacrosse ©FIL World Lacrosse Championship

They are also set to take part in the in the Newcomers’ Tournament during this year’s European Lacrosse Championship, due to be held in 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games candidate city Budapest in July.

“The Croatian Lacrosse Association is working hard to expand the men’s programme into new cities and to establish a youth and women’s programme,” Bodul, who is now the CLA President, said.

“These programmes are essential to further developing lacrosse in Croatia and for developing future Croatian lacrosse players that will represent their home country on an international level.

“The organisation is very excited to have the support of the Federation of International Lacrosse.

“FIL membership is a major step forward for the programme.”

The men’s Croatian lacrosse side were recently boosted by the appointment of Dino Mattessich as head coach.

The Croatian-American is the current deputy director of athletics at Hofstra University in New York and was a National Collegiate Athletic Association lacrosse champion with the University of Maryland.

Turkey was the last member nation to become a part of the FIL back in October of last year.