Tudor Grange Academy is a co-ed school and technology college in Solihull and part of the Tudor Grange Academies Trust which consists of thirteen schools (seven primary, five secondary, and one all-through academy).

The school applied to The Lacrosse Foundation (TLF) in January 2023 for a grant to fund the purchase of some start-up equipment and we approved a grant of £2,145 which provided:

• 45 x Newitts unisex England Lacrosse sticks
• 48 x Newitts EL foam lacrosse balls
• 2 x 4ft x 4ft lacrosse goals with nets

Lacrosse was introduced at the start of the 2023 school year and according to one of the school’s PE teachers has really taken off!
They told us: “The children have taken a big liking to the sport. They all enjoyed the initial challenge of developing their skills especially cradling and checking, and the extracurricular club is doing really well, with around 30 dedicated students each week.”

Due to the interest with which the sport has been received in the school, Tudor Grange Academy has already started to spread lacrosse within the Trust. To give the sport a promotional boost, the school hosted Nik Roberts from England Lacrosse, who led a session with all of the secondary school PE departments on an inset day to help them understand the basics of lacrosse.

Three of the five secondary schools in the Trust have been granted funding, and are all now teaching lacrosse within some capacity, either within the curriculum or as an extra-curricular club. Looking ahead, the plan is to organise games and Trust match days for the students to come together and play.

Does the Trust have any other future plans for lacrosse?

It most definitely has! The Trust plans to continue to offer it as sport within curriculum time so that all 1800 students at Tudor Grange Academy Solihull will experience the sport before they leave the school. The Trust also plans to continue to push and develop the sport within the local communities to build up the knowledge and opportunities available for students.

As PE teacher Tilly Francis said: “Within the Trust we want to continue to develop it within all the schools, with the aim of coming together once or twice a year to play lacrosse together.”

Bangor University is located in North Wales (near to the Menai Bridge crossing to the island of Anglesey), and has had a Lacrosse Club since 2010, typically running one Men’s and one Women’s team. 

Faced with a losing a large number of graduating leavers from June 2021, the club applied to The Lacrosse Foundation to fund some equipment which would help support their recruitment of new freshers to the club, and enable these new members to start playing the game

A TLF grant of £1500 (in August 2021) provided essential protective equipment - five sets of men’s kit [helmet, gloves, & arm-pads], ten pairs of eye goggles, a helmet repair kit, plus five sticks. 

As a result, the club could offer novice players full equipment to be able to experience and learn the game of lacrosse safely, and without having to initially buy their own kit just to be able try it out. For the 2021-22 season the University club were successful in attracting 28 new players – in addition to the 32 returning players from the previous year – enabling the club to continue to grow despite the impacts of the pandemic.

Emily Shoults (Women's Captain):
“The generous grant from The Lacrosse Foundation has been crucial to the continued development of the club – helping to promote safety in all of our matches and training, allowing us to increase participation at practice sessions, and removed the stress about ensuring we have enough men's equipment. From every member of Bangor Lacrosse we thank you so much !”

 Glenn Swain (Men's Captain):
“The new equipment helped the Men's team develop massively this past year. The additions have allowed both teams the opportunity to utilise all equipment in all training sessions throughout the year and the helmets and pads provided meant that new members of the team who didn't own their own kit were still able to compete safely without having to worry about the quality of their equipment meaning they could focus fully on their performance”.

Harris Academy Wimbledon is a co-ed academy school located in south-west London – which has only recently opened (2018), and moved into its new buildings in November 2020.   The school PE staff wanted to introduce lacrosse as a formal part of the PE curriculum, and hopefully create an after-school club with fixtures against other schools. 

In March 2021, they applied to TLF for a grant to fund the purchase of some start-up equipment - and we approved a grant of £1830 which provided:

• 40 sticks

• 60 balls

• 4 goals (suitable for 6v6 format)

Lacrosse was introduced at the start of the 2021-22 school year and has made a positive start and been enthusiastically received by the pupils. 

By the end of November 2021: 

• All 130 students in Year 10 have had a taster session in a PE lesson. 

• Around 50 students have selected lacrosse as their Year 10 option for PE – and in the first term have received 8 hours of lessons to learn basic skills and match play. 

• The school hired a new PE teacher who played lacrosse at university so have some subject specialism in the department to plan and lead on the delivery of sessions, and help up-skill other PE staff members.

• An afterschool club (open to all year groups) has been started, and around 25 students have attended for the 1.5 hour sessions each week.

• The lacrosse club is regularly promoted with announcements around school (in newsletter & via twitter), and is included in the daily lunchtime ‘multisport club’ where students have the chance to have a go and practice some basic lacrosse skills. 

With the chance to practice & play some matches, along with the continuing commitment from the PE staff, we hope this early progress can be maintained and built upon.

The school have already made contact with nearby Spencer Lacrosse Club to set up links between them; and also with SEWLA (South East Women’s Lacrosse Association) to support them in the lacrosse community. 

The Harris Federation has over 40 institutions across London (includes Primary, Academy, Sixth Form schools), https://www.harrisfederation.org.uk/36/our-academies# .  Hopefully Harris Wimbledon’s introduction of lacrosse to their curriculum may lead to other opportunities to grow the game at other academies.      

Background:

Over the past five years, Heaton Mersey Lacrosse Club has been working hard to revive its junior programme. By engaging local primary schools, delivering good-quality coaching, and running weekly sessions, the club has gone from fewer than 20 junior boys to 120 boys and girls across a range of ages.

The Application:

However, such rapid growth comes with its challenges. For the boys in particular, who each need a junior-sized helmet and other protective equipment, playing kit can quickly become sparse. With the U12 programme using most of the kit, there’s simply not enough to go around.

Heaton Mersey approached The Lacrosse Foundation seeking a medium-sized application to help tackle this issue. Their plan laid out an approach to help retain enthusiastic young players, who without access to suitable equipment might be tempted by other sports.

Coupled with their own fundraising efforts, the grant would ensure a steady stream of junior boys into the club over the next five years.

The Result:

The Foundation awarded the club £3,600 to help provide playing equipment for 20 junior U10 boys. With the new kit the boys will be able to practice properly and, most importantly, play competitive full-field games against other local clubs.

Junior Head Coach at Heaton Mersey Lacrosse Club, Richard Smith says “The Lacrosse Foundation has been fantastic in its support of our junior development at the club. We share a passion and determination to grow the game and without their support this would most certainly have been held back or even lost.

“They have given an opportunity for us to give a great and enthusiastic group of under 10 boys the opportunity to play field lacrosse in full kit. You should have seen their faces when they saw it!

“We owe a huge debt of gratitude to TLF. Thank you!”