In July 2021, TLF approved a grant to Lacrosse Scotland of up to £11,000, to help expand the game north of the border.  Following some personnel changes, Rosie Hazell took up the leadership of the programme at the end of the year - to begin the delivery at the beginning of 2022.

In addition to the TLF funding, Lacrosse Scotland received a grant from World Lacrosse, which they used to purchase 6 sets of 30 sticks plus balls, bibs & cones for use in taster/beginner-sessions.  TLF then covered the expenses for the coaches to travel and visit schools & clubs.     

Pupils from Glasgow High School

During the first three months (to April 2022), coaching/engagement visits were made to:

• Four schools where lacrosse is already played [Glenalmond (Perth); St Leonards (St Andrews); Loretto & St Georges (Edinburgh)] to give them support, & ensure they knew how to get help to develop their level of lacrosse;

• Six schools who were new to lacrosse

  • Five High Schools at Edinburgh [Trinity & Boroughmuir]; Glasgow [High School of & Hutcheson’s GS];  & Perth [Strathallan]; &

  • One Primary school [Cargilfield (Edinburgh)].

These visits engaged over 650 pupils across the 10 schools – with over 60% of these being new to lacrosse.

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Since May 2022, a further six schools (3 Primary & 3 Secondary) have been visited by student volunteers from Glasgow, Stirling & Dundee Universities with another 1000 pupils engaged in both school-time and after school clubs.

In May 2022 a Rosebowl Tournament was held in Edinburgh with five schools (2 ‘new’ schools/3 ‘existing’ schools) taking part, and then in June a ‘Summer Series of Sixes’ took place, with a mixture of existing players (schools and clubs), beginners, and even a few ex-players who were looking to get back into lacrosse.

The contributions made by the student volunteers, the involvement of members of the senior National squad, plus the co-ordination & management of the programme have all been key to achieving this initial success. 

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From September 2022, after-school clubs are due to continue in all the schools who were introduced to the game before the summer, and a new junior mixed club is being started in Edinburgh in October with training sessions at the weekends.

TLF have agreed to fund a dedicated coach who, starting in September 2022, will visit the schools throughout the 2022/23 academic year, will continue to support the student volunteers to ensure the momentum can be maintained, and will run CPD sessions for school teachers at the schools taking up the sport.

“I have really enjoyed getting involved in the Lacrosse Scotland development programme. Through volunteering in different schools I have really seen the impact that developing both coaches and players can have on the growth of the sport. I can’t wait to get further involved throughout the next academic year” (Zoe Dickson)

In June 2021, TLF approved a grant to the Harris Academy at Wimbledon in SW London for equipment (sticks, balls & goals) to enable the school to introduce lacrosse to its students (aged 11-18).

Based on their positive response, we held discussions with the Harris Federation (which now has over 50 schools in London & the South East), to explore opportunities to introduce the game more widely, and agreed with them a standardised application process & equipment pack [45 sticks, 48 balls, 4 goals] to enable other establishments in the group to apply to us.
 
In the first few months of 2022, we have approved grants for seven other Harris schools based in: Bermondsey; Clapham; Croydon; Crystal Palace; Garrard (Kent); Merton; and Sutton.

We have also funded a CPD (Continuing Professional Development) session for the staff from these seven schools, scheduled for October 2022, to help them continue to support the pupils to learn the basics of the game. We are hopeful that in due course, inter-school matches within the Harris group will be introduced to help raise the profile of the game

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”.

Hills Road Sixth Form College based in Cambridge has a reputation for high-achievement in both A-level academic courses, as well as in a broad range of sports – with many of its students representing the East of England region at the Association of Colleges (AoC) Sport national championships.  https://www.hillsroad.ac.uk/sixthform/student-life/sport

In 2020, the College requested a grant from TLF to enable them to set up a Girls Lacrosse team, and to add the sport to those offered to all students.  We were pleased to provide a grant of £1700 for an initial stock of 24 sticks & balls.  Whilst the introduction of lacrosse was delayed slightly due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the response was good with 15 students signing up, and the regular sessions being run by one of its own students who had previous experience of lacrosse.

For the 2021/22 academic year, more students (25) wanted to join these lacrosse sessions – but this in turn prompted the need to get some of those involved to complete lacrosse coaching courses.  

• The student who had led the sessions in the first season (Christina Hitchin) had moved on to University in Cambridge, and although keen to continue to help, the College requires her to have a Level 2 qualification to coach at the College;

• The Hills Road staff had been in contact with two people with lacrosse-playing experience who were looking to develop the sport in Cambridge, and who were keen to become qualified; and

• The Sports department wanted to establish a rolling programme, to encourage students to get basic qualifications which would help establish Lacrosse at Hills Road, and also continue after they leave the College and move on to university.

As the number of those registering interest in a course (21 plus 2 staff) reached more than twice the initial expected number, we approved a further grant of £1000 towards the cost of coaching courses which were delivered at the College by EL’s Nik Roberts in March 2022. 

Linda Swain (Sports Activator/Netball coach) who is leading the development of Lacrosse at Hills Road, is also developing a partnership link with Cambridge Mixed Lacrosse club to extend the Lacrosse experience outside the College environment.

We are delighted to support the introduction of lacrosse into Hills Road College, and hope that it continues to prosper within the College, in the wider Cambridge area, and across the FE sector as a whole.