National Volunteers’ Week is an annual celebration of the contribution millions of people make across the UK through volunteering. Volunteers are the lifeblood of lacrosse in England and to mark the week, we will be highlighting just a few of the people that make the game across the country!

We say thank you to all our volunteers who truly make lacrosse what it is!

Deborah Owen: Debs is the 1st team captain & coach at Hawks Lacrosse Club as well as being their Secretary, spending her time in the South East region.

She makes sure everything that needs to get done, gets done! Not only is she a friendly face to everybody at Hawks, but she also organises their umpires, chases their match availability, plans and delivers training sessions, chairs the Hawks committee meetings, sorts out team selections, and organises all sorts of logistics from first aid kits to playing shirts, transport and everything else in between.

Outside of that, Debs is supporting the SEWLA Committee with fixture scheduling for the upcoming season, has volunteered to audit the regions accounts and is Assistant Team Manager with the England Women’s squads!

Antony Thornton: He is currently at the Reading Wildcats and spends his time in the South East region where he was the 2018/19 SEMLA Event Co-ordinator.

Anthony was responsible for the planning and delivery of the SEMLA Flags Finals 2019, held for the first time in the stadium at Aldershot Garrison.

He liaised with England Lacrosse and local Aldershot representatives during the planning phase and the day before the event he spent all day moving equipment from Reading to Aldershot, then set-up and closed down the event whilst making sure it ran smoothly throughout the day.

Without Ant's commitment to volunteering, the successful SEMLA Flags 2019 event held at Aldershot would not have happened.

Karen Robinson: Karen has been the Juniors & Schools North secretary for several years and you would not find anyone more thorough, organised and efficient. She has helped with all the tournaments and runs a very tight ship!

She has been involved with Poynton lacrosse club for many years, and is also involved with juniors and helps with their school programme. She has also been England Senior Men’s Team Manager in the past.

She is a very worthy recipient and definitely doesn’t receive the credit she deserves for the work she does. It would be good to recognise an unsung hero.

Emily Feist: Emily has been on the South West Women’s Lacrosse committee for 2 years and has had a huge impact on the region.

She has been dedicated to improving and developing lacrosse both at her university in Southampton, as well as the local area.

She has been involved with coaching and officiating at nearby St Swithun's School, as well as the playing for Southampton Ladies club.

She has been a key part of the South West committee, and has been a driving force behind the South West League structure as well as their communications strategy.

Jill Sargent-Wilkinson: Jill is the U12, U14, and U19 manager at Sheffield Steelers and spends her time in the Yorkshire and North East regions.

By running 3 teams and recruiting relentlessly, she helps to keep the U12s section and club going.

She has boundless energy, love for the game, and is an all-round hero!