The Danish national lacrosse team will have an East Tennessee flavor in the upcoming 2010 World Lacrosse Championships held in Manchester, England July 15-24. Tennessee Wesleyan men's coach Kevin Parker heads Denmark's national team and he will be bringing along women's lacrosse coach Grant Kelam and TWC lacrosse player Ryan Horvath. Denmark finished 16th last year and is one of 30 teams participating in 2010.

"Denmark has had a national lacrosse team for seven years and this is the second time we've been to the Worlds Championships," Parker said. "I think we've got the best team we've ever had and I expect we have a chance to finish second in our group."

Similar to soccer's World Cup, the initial round of play puts teams in groups. Denmark is in the yellow group with Bermuda, Poland, and Finland, the favorite to win the group. The United States and Canada are the two favorites, like they are almost every year, to win the tournament. The U.S. had won the previous four championships until falling to Canada last year.

Parker noted that one of his assistant coaches had to drop out recently and so Parker decided to invite Horvath to take the trip to England.   "He's really excited about it," Parker said. "It will be a good experience for him." Being part of international lacrosse has also helped Parker give some exposure to Tennessee Wesleyan. The Bulldogs have already signed Danish national team player Jordan Herrman, an American who moved to Denmark. "He is a really good player for us and we're excited to have him," Parker said.

If you are interested in watching the games you can go to www.2010worldlacrosse.comwhere you will find a link to the games.