England Lacrosse is excited to announce the launch of the new University Aspire Programme ahead of the 2023-24 season.
The programme aims to identify inidividuals with the potential to progress into the England Lacrosse Perform Programme, allowing us to engage with existing university players who are not currently a part of any England Lacrosse programmes but have the potential and ability to become great athletes.
A men’s pilot programme will run over the next academic year with the assistance of university players who will help shape the programme ahead of a full roll out in 2024-25; at this point, a women’s pilot programme will then be launched.
The University Aspire Programme will run regional talent identification coaching days in the south-east, south-west, midlands, and the north throughout October and November with university athletes gaining access via an application process.
Each applicant will then become an England Lacrosse member through the Aspire Programme and an initial assessment fee.
Additional recruitment and scouting of potential Aspire Programme athletes will take place at events such as the British University & Colleges Sport (BUCS) Lacrosse Sixes tournament, BUCS weekly fixtures, and any other relevant events by recommendation from the university coaching system; individuals recruited this way will join the training group for an initial assessment.
Once an initial training group has been formed, the University Aspire Programme will meet to train four times per year between December and April/May.
It is hoped that a triangular Sixes Lacrosse tournament can be held as well as a University Aspire Programme tour each year to expose players within the Programme to different environments and opponents.
England Lacrosse Core Products & Regional Co-ordinator, Richard Gartside, said:
“The University Aspire Programme is an exciting next step in England Lacrosse’s aim to identify the best athletes from around the country.
“There has already been some successes within the university sector with players such Luke Mills-Doig and Ben Buchanan starting their lacrosse journey at university before becoming an established part of the England national team set-up.
“We hope the new Programme will allow us to filter more university players into the England Lacrosse set-up and increase our player pool of top quality athletes.”
Please note, sign up for the University Aspire Programme will go live on the England Lacrosse website once dates for the regional talent identification coaching days have been confirmed.