President of the FIL, Stan Cockerton, announced that the board of directors voted unanimously to approve China’s move to full status.

“The work being done in China to grow the game there has been outstanding,” said Cockerton. 

“They competed in the 2014 Men’s Worlds in Denver, and just recently had an excellent showing at the Men’s Under-19s. 

"China Lacrosse made this an easy decision for the board.”

Raymond Pan, CLA director of finance, said: “We are very pleased to be a full member of FIL.

"This recognition will greatly enhance China Lacrosse’s efforts with local and provincial governments - and other stakeholders - to grow the sport outside of Shanghai and Beijing.

“We’re also excited to have a voting seat at the table for general assembly and postal votes, allowing the CLA to be more involved with FIL decisions.

"It also puts us in a position to be able to contribute more to the FIL’s quest to get lacrosse back into the Olympics.”

China Lacrosse made their first World Championship appearance only two years ago at the 2014 FIL Men’s Lacrosse World Championships in Denver.

They defeated Uganda, another World Championship newcomer, 14-7 to finish in 33rd place out of 38 teams.

China Lacrosse plans, in the future, to focus both on geographical growth as well as vertical growth within their Shanghai/Beijing footprint.

Their targets are more new cities playing lacrosse, with more schools and children at the forefront of the concept.

Similar to what the Hong Kong Lacrosse Association is doing, China Lacrosse will also work to develop coaching levels. 

“We need to develop and train more coaches to help us grow the sport within the world’s largest population base," said Pan.

China Lacrosse also plans to train more local referees and umpires to officiate in cross-city tournaments as well as in local city leagues.