Colombian Lacrosse by Grace Hazelwood from Pads on a Roll

Play On has introduced us to so many interesting people and when we spoke to Egal aka Pads on a Roll, we met Grace Hazelwood. Southern California resident, Grace has played lacrosse for Colombia and we asked her to share the state of lacrosse in Colombia.

Image Wikicommons, the Colombian women’s lacrosse team 2017 (Carolina RojasT, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

Colombian Lacrosse Origins

The Colombia Women’s Lacrosse National Team was established in 2013. It is currently organized by Colombia Lacrosse, which works to develop the sport not only within the country by organizing local competitions but also involving educational institutions. The roster includes players within Colombia as well as players who have Colombian heritage and live in other countries like the USA.

Colombia Lacrosse Players

Colombia Lacrosse continues to focus on increasing local and international competitions to boost participation. The team relies heavily on Colombian heritage players from the USA to grow this team. Many of the current players grew up here in the US and began playing through youth and club lacrosse programs from a young age through High School. A majority of the current players on this roster are collegiate athletes or previous collegiate players in the US spanning across Division 1, 2 and 3 programs.

One of the biggest challenges this National team faces is cultural competition from more conventional sports like soccer and the economic cost of equipment and travel for the Colombian based teammates.

Colombia Lacrosse on the world stage

The Colombian National team has competed in the World Championships and Heritage Cup for many years and recently attended the USA Lacrosse Experience in October 2024 at the University of Indiana. The team showcased a 6 v 6 Olympic style game which is to be seen at LA Olympics 2028. The USA, Great Britain and Puerto Rico also made appearances.

Colombian Lacrosse Players to Watch! 

Ava Kalmar, the national team goalie who is from Long Island, NY. She’s currently in high school continuing her recruiting journey to play in college. She plays club lacrosse for the Yellow Jackets Gaghan.

Alexis Diaz, the national team midfielder from Nanuet, NY who just committed to the University of Maryland to continue her lacrosse career. She currently plays for the NY club team Prime Time.