University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's lacrosse player Julia Ibelings recently represented The Netherlands at the 2026 Women's Lacrosse World Championships Division II.

"I was born in Amsterdam and moved to Canada when I was 8, which is how I am eligible to play for The Netherlands," detailed Ibelings. "After making contact with the coaches, I signed up to play at the Heritage Cup in Boston last May where I met one of the head coaches Hannah Hunt. She then reached out this past fall to ask if I would be interested in the national team, so I went to the Netherlands for a tryout in February and made the team!" 

Ibelings then spent two months in The Netherlands training with the team in preparation for the World Championships and European Qualifiers later in November.

Travelling to Warsaw, Poland for the Division II international showcase which took place from July 11-18, Ibelings provided a boost for the Dutch offence, tallying two goals and six shots on goal across seven total matches. The Netherlands finished the round-robin stage with a lone win, defeating South Africa 15-9. Following a narrow 10-9 consolation semifinal defeat at the hands of Norway, the Dutch were able to secure their spot in Division II for another year with a 13-8 victory over Switzerland on the final day of competition.

"It was a really cool experience to play at such a high level, against other countries," said Ibelings. "Although our team did not finish in the position that we were hoping to, we learned a lot, and it was an absolute privilege to share the field with amazing athletes and compete for a national team."

Completing her third season with the Varsity Blues this past fall, the history major from Montreal was a key component to the U of T game plan from her midfield position tallying one goal and three assists across 11 matches during the 2025 campaign.

"My experience with the Dutch National Team could not have been possible without my coaches trust in me as a player and as the team captain, so a big thank you to Nina Morssinkhof and Kimberly Vuurboom, as well as Hannah Hunts for the coaching in the last two months. Additionally, the support of my teammates and coaches here at U of T has been instrumental in my success with the NL Team!"