With an eye on LA 2028, Women's Lacrosse League to launch next year

A new professional women's lacrosse league will debut in 2025, using the same format of the sport set to be played at the coming Olympic Games LA 2028.

The Women's Lacrosse League (WLL) will debut at the 2025 Championship Series in February in Washington, D.C., the league announced on Wednesday (13 November).

The sixes format will be played in the league, the same iteration of lacrosse set to be used in the sport's Olympic return in LA. It is one of five sports to be added to the Olympic programme in 2028, in addition to cricket (T20), baseball/softball, squash and flag football.

Standout lacrosse star Charlotte North, who recently led Team USA to the title at the World Box Championships (indoor), told Olympics.com recently how much the Olympic platform is helping to grow the sport - both professionally and at the grassroots level.

"The Olympics is the pinnacle of everything as an athlete; it's the highest performers in their craft," North said. "To have that Olympic dream in our sport is electrifying. You can feel it every field you step on. Every young girl I meet who is picking up a stick for the first time and hearing that the Olympics is in the conversation of where she can go is so inspired.

"I can't say enough about what it means to be included in the Olympics in LA 2028."

While lacrosse has traditionally been played in a 10-a-side format on a bigger pitch, sixes is played on a 70m x 36m (239ft x 118ft) pitch featuring goals 10m in from the end-lines.

• Listen: Lacross makes an Olympic return - 100 years later
• Charlotte North on lacrosse's "electrifying" inclusion for LA 2028