Iroquois Nationals shooting for a medal

The Iroquois Nationals will be looking to capture some hardware at the world men's field lacrosse championships, which will run July 10 to July 19 in Denver, Colorado.

The Iroquois Nationals are one of a record 38 teams that will participate in the world tournament, which is staged every four years. But they are one of only six teams that will compete in the highest calibre Blue Division. Those in the highest grouping are eligible for the event's gold, silver and bronze medals.

The Blue Division at this year's tournament will also include the defending champion United States, as well as Canada, Australia, England and Japan.

The Iroquois Nationals will play their first game on July 11 versus England. Though they were considered medal contenders prior to the event, the Iroquois Nationals did not compete at the last world championships in 2010 in Manchester, England. That's because of the much publicized incident in which team members were not allowed to travel on their Haudenosaunee passports.
The fallout from that controversy continued to swirl around the team up until last year. That's because the sport's world governing body—the Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) —had a bylaw in its constitution which stated teams are ranked for world championships based on their finish at the previous tournament.

A total of 29 countries had participated at the 2010 tourney. The Iroquois Nationals were originally seeded 30th for this year's event, which would have meant competing against some inferior opponents.

Following appeals, the FIL allowed the Iroquois Nationals to rejoin the Blue Division.