Melbourne, Fla. – Senior goalkeeper Cailey Canessa of the Florida Tech women's lacrosse program will represent the Philippines on its inaugural women's lacrosse national team at the 2023 World Lacrosse Super Sixes, Hong Kong Tournament in Wong Chuk Hang, Honk Kong, China from December 28-30, 2023 (EST).

"I have always been proud of my Filipino heritage," said Canessa. "Growing up, I would always ask my grandma to make her Filipino dishes for me and teach me some words and phrases in her dialect. To be able to represent her home country for her is such an honor. Being given the chance to play and compete at an international level is such a privilege."
 
Six different nations of seven teams split into two groups will make up the round-robin style tournament. Group A will consist of the Philippines, Czechia, Germany and Hong Kong, China II, with Group B consisting of China, Great Britain, and Hong Kong, China I. 
 
Compared to the standard women's lacrosse 12v12 games played on a 120x70-yard surface, with 60-minute games and 15-minute quarters, Sixes is a 6v6 game played on a 75x45-yard surface, with each game lasting 45 minutes, with four 8-minute, running-time quarters, with draws only occurring at the start of each quarter.
 
"As I enter my first sixes tournament, I'm thrilled and ready to compete," said Canessa. "The format of the game has a smaller field, which means that there will be more contact and quicker transitions, so I'm looking forward to being able to play aggressively outside the cage."
 
The 2023 Super-Sixes Tournament will be the first time the Philippines will be represented in the super-sixes format of women's lacrosse. When asked about what it meant to be a member of the inaugural team, Canessa said,
 
"As a member of the inaugural Sixes team, I'm looking forward to the experience and hope to come out of the tournament having learned and improved from each game. This tournament marks only the beginning for our team, and I am excited for the growth and potential of women's lacrosse in the Philippines.
 
"As an extension of the tournament, we will be traveling to the Philippines in the days preceding the games to do lacrosse outreach, such as putting on clinics and scrimmages with the local teams in Manila. I hope I can use these experiences to inspire the growth and potential of the sport for future generations to come in the Philippines.
 
Throughout two seasons with the Panthers, the junior goalie has appeared in 21 games, accumulating 677:38 minutes in net. She's recorded a total of 64 saves with an 8-6 wins-to-loss record. 
 
"Cailey making the Philippines Super Sixes team is a great accomplishment," said Florida Tech head coach Kelsey Richardson. "She has put in a lot of hard work over the past couple of months, and it is an incredible opportunity! I'm excited for her to be representing Florida Tech in Hong Kong!"
 
The Philippines will play two games in the first days of the tournament going up against Czechia on Thursday, December 28^th at 11:00 P.M. (EST), Friday, December 29^th at noon (HKT). The Philippines second game will begin a couple of hours later against Hong Kong, China II on Friday, December 29^th at 1:00 A.M. (EST), 2:00 P.M. (HKT). They will proceed to face Germany for their final game of round-robin play on Saturday, December 30^th at 1:00 A.M. (EST), 2:00 P.M. (HKT). 
 
Teams will earn points based on wins throughout round-robin play, two points will be awarded for a win while zero points will be awarded for a loss. 
 
Day three will take place on December 30^th, starting at 8:00 P.M. (EST), 9:00 A.M. December 31^st with the semi-final games.
 
Teams that finish in first and second place in each group will advance to the semi-final games at . In both groups, the first-place team will take on the second-place team of the opposing group with the winner of each game advancing to the Championship game at 1:00 A.M. (EST), 2:00 P.M. (HKT).

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