Wooster's Liz Ford Gets Opportunity to Coach at International Level
Ford will guide Haudenosaunee at Women's Lacrosse World Championship
With the FIFA Women's Soccer World Cup having just completed in Germany, another international competition is set to get underway, and The College of Wooster's Liz Ford will be on the sidelines. She's coaching the Haudenosaunee under-19 team at the Women's Lacrosse World Championship, which is run by the Federation of International Lacrosse.
"Back in January 2010, I noticed that the Haudenosaunee team needed a head coach, so I applied for the job," said Ford, who has directed Wooster's women's lacrosse program to a 67-28 record and three North Coast Athletic Conference championships in her six years at the helm. "I ended up getting invited to Canada for a tryout, which led to a rigorous interview process, and thankfully I was chosen for the head position."
Ford became involved with the team as soon as she was hired, selecting her roster based on a tryout and then holding practices periodically throughout the last year and a half. Early this month, Ford traveled with the team to a lacrosse camp in Canada, where they got a chance to sharpen their skills and play in several games against local competition.
The Haudenosaunee people, also known as the Iroquois, are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America. Ford's roster is made up of girls from four different Indian reservations, including ones located in New York and Canadian provinces British Columbia and Ontario.
"I think this is a great honor for me to be able to lead such proud people into these games," said Ford. "It has been exicting so far to learn about the different nations, and bond with the girls and their families. This is going to be an amazing experience to be able to coach a team at this level of competition."
The Women's Lacrosse World Championship begins on Aug. 3 in Hannover, Germany, and culminates with a gold medal game on Aug. 13. The Haudenosaunee team is grouped into "Pool A," which includes Australia, Canada, England, Japan, and the United States.