Armed with experience the Belgian Beasts are walking tall as they get set to take on the world. Okotokian Tibor Van den Wildenbergh and Team Belgium stride into the 2018 FIL World Lacrosse Championship this week in Israel with several advantages after making its debut on the stage four years prior. “We’re a lot more organized this time around,” Tibor said. “We know what we’re walking into. We’ve got a core group that’s been part of the team since 2014, which is really awesome actually having guys stick with the program and watch it grow and help the new guys and the younger guys catch up.” Van den Wildenbergh, a veteran of the SFU Clan’s lacrosse program and a former Okotoks Marauder, will be relied on to find the back of the net as an attacker. He can also play a midfield role in a pinch. Belgium played to a 4-4 record and finished 27 out of 38 teams at the 2014 world championships in Colorado. The team is bringing back roughly half the roster with them this time around. One change is in the leadership department where Belgians living at home have been thrust into more responsibility whereas those living abroad, many of whom are the more experienced on the team including Van den Wildbenbergh, are not. “We’ve decided as a group the North American players aren’t going to be take a huge leadership role,” Tibor said. “We’re still going to be out there leading by example, but we’re not going to be captains this time around. We’re going to have the Belgium guys be captains so that when we leave, all of a sudden they’re not ‘oh where has our leadership gone.’ “It’s better for the program to actually have them be the captains.” Belgium is pooled in the Grey Division alongside Czech Republic and Philippines. The Beasts, 15th place finishers at the European championships in 2016, are shooting to finish in the top half of the 46-team bracket in Israel. “I want to be above 23,” Tibor said. “We were 15th at Euros in 2016, that’s exactly where I had planned and hoped for us to be. I’m hoping we can build on that. “It’s going to be tough though. We’re a bubble team along with a lot of other bubble teams.” The world championship format is slated to change going forward with just 30 teams making their way into the event and direct qualification playing a larger role. Finishing strongly at the 2018 event could pay both immediate and future dividends. “This could quite possibly be the last time we compete at worlds,” Tibor added. “It’s definitely in the back of my mind. I don’t want that to be our main focus, I want to us to go out and have fun and get better. “If we have a really good showing here it’s really going to play a lot in our favour come Euros in two years and worlds in four years.” The 2018 FIL World Championships run July 12-21 in Netanya, Isreal. Canada is the defending champion in the event with the United States, Iroquois and England also considered among the top contenders. For more information on the tournament go to worldlacrosse2018.com
