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Jackson Davies, of Meriden, N.H., will be among the athletes representing England in next month’s World Lacrosse Men’s U20 Championship in South Korea. (Courtesy Photograph) -
The World Lacrosse Men’s U20 Championship will take place in South Korea next month, and Mark van der Schoot, of Woodstock, Vt., center, will represent the Netherlands. (Courtesy Photograph – Eli Burakian)
MERIDEN — Two Upper Valley lacrosse players from Kimball Union Academy will soon travel to South Korea to compete in the World Lacrosse Men’s U20 Championship slated to begin next month.
Jackson Davies from Meriden is entering his senior year at KUA and Mark van der Schoot, from Woodstock, is a recent graduate of KUA who played midfield for two seasons for the Wildcats.
The event, which has been played nine times over the years, “will feature the next generation of the world’s best men’s lacrosse players vying for a world championship title,” states World Lacrosse’s website. “Many of the same athletes will likely be in contention to represent their countries when the sport makes its modern Olympic debut in Los Angeles in 2028.”
The International Olympic Committee recognizes World Lacrosse as the international governing body for lacrosse, states the aforementioned website.
Davies plays goalie for the Wildcats and has committed to playing lacrosse at Middlebury College in Vermont. At the same time, van der Schoot is headed to Salve Regina University in Rhode Island, where he will continue to play lacrosse.
“It’s obviously pretty cool. Definitely not something that I imagined happening,” Davies said of the opportunity to participate in the championship, noting that he was a hockey player before transitioning to lacrosse when he got to KUA. “I’m a small-town kid from Meriden, New Hampshire, so it’s definitely a cool opportunity.”
“It’s really a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I mean, I’m going to meet so many people from so many different places,” said van der Schoot, who transferred to KUA from Woodstock Union High School for his junior and senior years. “Being with that many high-level athletes, there’s not much more you can ask for.”
While both athletes reside in the U.S., they will be representing other nations come August. Van der Schoot will play for Team Netherlands, the country in which he was born, and Davies will play for Team England, where some members of his family live, just outside London.
In a way, the journey for these athletes to make their respective rosters, which are composed of around 20 players, was serendipitous.
Last summer, Davies participated in a lacrosse showcase, where he met an official from Great Britain lacrosse. “He kind of referenced me to all these different people, and I flew out in February to go do a training camp with them and met the whole squad, and now here we are,” said Davies.
For van der Schoot, the Netherlands coach had reached out to the Woodstock-native via email and Instagram.
“He said he’d seen my highlights and was curious [to see] if I’d be part of the team,” van der Schoot said, adding that after he connected with some members of the team and squared away his citizenship, he took a spot on the roster.
Nick Antol, KUA’s head lacrosse coach, who has been at the school for 10 years, spoke highly of both athletes.
“The program was pretty habitually 3-13 every year before I got here, with maybe a blip on the radar here and there, and these guys have really helped us turn the tables on that,” Antol said.
Antol described Davies as a “staple,” noting his athleticism and ability to play “outside of the cage” and adding that he is good enough that he could probably play as a midfielder, on top of being able to keep opponents off the scoreboard.
Regarding van der Schoot, Antol said he was an “under the radar” type of player, in that he “does a little bit of everything.” He added that van der Schoot was a bit of an “unsung hero” and that he was a significant part of the Wildcats’ playoff run to the finals two seasons ago.
“I think, if they find themselves going up against some of the top countries … and some of the other up-and-coming ones, it’s going to be awesome for them to play against some of the better players in their age group in the world,” said Antol.
The championship may preview a future crop of Olympians who will be featured when lacrosse returns to the Games. This means that the tournament will not only serve as an opportunity for both Davies and van der Schoot to test their mettle alongside and against these athletes but also help prepare them for collegiate lacrosse and beyond.
“I don’t think anything could be better than this opportunity,” said van der Schoot. “So much lacrosse against high-level athletes, that’s how you get better. You can’t really get better from playing bad competition, and this is some of the best competition there is.”
“I’m going to be exposed to some of the best players in the world, and I am going to be able to kind of rank myself against them,” added Davies. “I think it comes at a great time where I can mark where I’m at, at the end of it, and kind of see where I have to be.”
Pool play for the World Lacrosse Men’s U20 Championship opens on Aug. 15. The field includes 20 teams, including the U.S., which has secured nine gold medals, per World Lacrosse’s website. Netherlands is a part of Pool B, with Hong Kong, Ghana, and Japan. England is a member of Pool C with Jamaica, Korea, and New Zealand. Playoff games will be played later the following week, with the medal games slated for Aug. 24.
For more information about the event, visit https://worldlacrosse.sport/events/2025-world-lacrosse-mens-u20-championship/.
Michael Coughlin Jr. can be reached at mcoughlin@vnews.com.