There has been an incredible amount of interest from teams across not only the UK but mainland Europe for both the men's and women's tournament which will take place on the 2nd and 3rd of May 2026 at Wilmslow Lacrosse Club.
Over the years we have seen changes in the event and 2026 will see some of the biggest and most influential changes to date in that the women's tournament will be extended to include more teams and both men's and women's will see a huge increase in national squads attendance. NKI26 is lining up to be not only a bigger tournament but a more competitive one which will see an overall increase in the level of play.
With more teams and more players and spectators on site, you can expect to see and be a part of a real festival atmosphere. As always the event is staffed by a small army of dedicated volunteers from Wilmslow Lacrosse Club who are are vital to the not only the running of the event but the preparation in the build up and the post tournament tidy up operation. The NKI tournament is not only an important date in the Wilmslow calendar, it is an amazing event that national squads across Europe can access to provide competitive games to warm up for other major international events.
The feedback we got from teams and players from last years event was on the whole very positive but we are keen to make further improvements to provide teams with a better experience and where possible an improved level of competition.
One of the biggest changes we saw as a host club was the support of a number of local and international businesses support the event. Not every business is able to write a check these days when providing sponsorship but we had great success in partnering with businesses who where able to assist with goods or services, this was immensely helpful in the execution of a successful event as well as investment in our growing youth program.
The 12 men's team places are almost full with Scotland and South entering 2 teams each, Yorkshire, Wales, Eire, Nederlands, Midlands and Switzerland U20's all confirmed. Just awaiting the final confirmation from English Universities and the stage will be set for a trilling men's event. We are very excited to have a team all the way from Switzerland and hope that they will be able to use the tournament to gain valuable playing experience for their squad.
On the ladies of the event we have 5 teams confirmed currently with North West, Eire, Yorkshire, Midlands and a team joining us from Prague. We expect 8 to 10 teams compete in the 2026 NKI tournament this year as we once again see the ladies side continue to grow. We love that Midlands is fielding a ladies team and goes to show that the work going on the past few years to develop lacrosse in the Midlands is really paying off.
You might have noticed that last year there was a county U15 girls event on the Saturday, We are hoping to be able to host some youth boys and girls lacrosse on the Saturday this year, as a club we want to see more engagement between youth and adult lacrosse while creating a real buzz around the Nick Kehoe Tournament for players of all ages.
