What's Notts to Like?!

Over the last two years, University of Nottingham has cemented itself as one of the leading clubs for student lacrosse.  In 2022, the Women’s 1st team were BUCS Champions, repeating that feat again in 2023, along with their 2nd team winning the BUCS Trophy. This year the Men’s 1st team also reached the BUCS Final, losing to local rivals Nottingham Trent. 

This success undoubtedly raises the profile of the sport at the University, and inspires more new students to give lacrosse a try.   Whilst the Women’s club runs six teams; the Men’s has recently been limited to just two, both of which play at a competitive level that makes it difficult to introduce beginners, so there was limited opportunity to support new players looking to take their first steps in playing the sport.

With increasing interest from students, plans were made to form a new Men’s 3rd team for the 2022/23 season, which would consist entirely of beginners to the game.  There was only enough club kit to fully equip four players (plus some old or borrowed gloves & pads from other players in the club), so providing additional protective equipment - specifically helmets - was vital to enable them to play the sport.  

TLF approved a grant in September 2022 to purchase seven new helmets for the club. The club held taster sessions which attracted 24 new playing members (the largest annual intake) with these beginners able to wear the helmets at the weekly training sessions, as well as take part in their first matches against other universities.  The availability of the equipment, plus coaching, social events & BUCS games also resulted in more of these new members continuing to practice with a consequential development in their skill levels.

This 3rd team has enjoyed some great victories over its first season - particularly impressive as all the players had only started the sport a few months ago.  One of the new players summed up his year as follows: 

“Joining lacrosse at university has been one of the best decisions I've ever made. Lacrosse at the University of Nottingham has provided myself and others with a fantastic opportunity to try out an exciting new sport and form lifelong friendships. The University lacrosse community has been incredibly supportive of the development of the sport for new players, and the massively successful year that the club has had would not have been possible without the grant from The Lacrosse Foundation”.