Bromley local schools – making history !!
The London Borough of Bromley in SE London covers an area with a long lacrosse heritage – an area which includes Crystal Palace Park (site of the first-ever demonstration games of lacrosse in UK by Native Americans in 1867), and Beckenham (whose lacrosse club merged to become Spencer LC in 2000).
Local coach Mike Barrett is leading a lacrosse revival in Bromley through the ‘Bromley School Games Programme’. With support from TLF, Mike has so far introduced the sport into 30 of its 63 primary schools, and set up a ‘Bromley Junior Lacrosse Club’ to provide a progression for youngsters out of school.
To help to generate local competition, the proposed model is to split Bromley into four geographical sections (i.e. creating four ‘teams’) giving the kids an outlet to play regular age-group matches, against nearby teams thereby overcoming the problem of time-consuming travel to other parts of London.
Amongst the second wave of schools receiving coaching in early 2023, was Poverest Primary School in Orpington, where its Head of PE (Andy Duffin) has enthusiastically embraced the sport. That year, after lacrosse had been introduced to Yr5 & Yr6 pupils, they performed well enough at the London Pop Lacrosse finals in Battersea, and qualified for the national Pop finals at Keele University. As Andy says: “In a relatively short period of time, we have gone from never playing lacrosse to loving Lacrosse”
In August 2023, Poverest Primary received a grant of £800 from TLF which provided them with a new set of sticks, balls & goals to replace their old second-hand kit, plus funding to enable all KS2 school staff to attend CPD sessions so they could deliver lacrosse to more pupils. The grant also provided a one-off payment to support the creation of an after-school club, covering the cost of coaching for the Autumn Term to help get this club off the ground.
The after-school club has been well attended, and has continued into 2024 with parents paying a small sub for their children’s participation – with a model that helps to build sustainability for the sport. Children in Yr2 have now been introduced to the basics of lacrosse, so their skills can develop as they progress through the school – with Poverest hosting another pop tournament at the end of November 2023, with multiple teams from the school taking part as well as other local schools in the two age-groups.
TLF has also funded equipment at four other schools in the Bromley borough, including three other primary schools (Worsley Bridge and St Davids Prep in Beckenham, as well as Warren Road in Orpington), and a local secondary Chislehurst School for Girls.
A couple of months ago in March, the 2024 Bromley Pop Tournament was held at The Ravensbourne School in central Bromley, with 18 schools, and over 170 Year 5/6 pupils taking part. This was a local qualifier for the Regional and National Pop Lacrosse Tournaments – with Perry Hall school finishing first and receiving a straight entry to the Nationals. Poverest and St James Catholic primary schools, being successful in securing their place at the regional finals at the University of Surrey on May 22nd. Since then, they have both qualified for the Nationals at the University of Birmingham on June 26th 2024.
[The Bromley Pop event has grown from just 3 schools providing 5 teams between them in July 2022; to 7 schools and 9 teams in 2023 (with 2 qualifying via regionals for the national finals); and now in 2024, eighteen (18) schools taking part, providing 21 teams]. And the aim for March 2025 is for 28+ teams.
By July 2024, there are plans for the secondary schools to hold tournaments for their Yrs 7/8 and 9/10, with 5 to 7 schools involved (separate boys and girls, as some schools are single gender).
Poverest Primary school will also host the Year 3/4 Bromley Primary Schools tournament on June 20th.
Whilst it is recognised that Pop Lacrosse only introduces the concept of the sport, the key part of the Bromley model is that the structure should facilitate a pathway to the after-school clubs, and the 4 ‘local groups’ teams, as well as the Bromley Junior Club. The engagement of the kids, and the participation of the parents is an important part of sustaining this progress – with Bromley LC getting 35 kids to their weekly Tuesday pm training sessions, which is being driven by a parent’s committee.
To hear more about Mike Barrett’s plans for Bromley, why not have a listen to the recent episode where he was the subject of the ‘At The Face’ podcast.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1051561/14416469-mike-barrett-bromley-lacrosse-jr-s