SBL announce 2024/25 Winter Box League coaches

Southern Box Lacrosse (SBL) has announced the 12 coaches to take charge of their six teams at the 2024/25 Winter Box League.

Each team has been allocated two coaches with England men’s box captain Tom Roche, England women’s box Head Coach Rob Clark, and England women’s box coach Jane Lee amongst the appointments.

Knights (men’s) | Johnny Goodfellow & Tom Roche

Johnny Goodfellow and Tom Roche grew up playing lacrosse together for Mellor in the early 2000s. Since then, the two have been involved as captains and coaches in various forms at their respective current clubs Mellor and Spencer.

Goodfellow cut his coaching teeth supporting Knights at the Ales Hrebsky Memorial in 2023 and the North Development Team in the summer earlier this year.

Roche is fresh off the back of captaining the England men’s box team to a second successive fourth place finish at the 2024 World Lacrosse Box Championships and becoming England’s highest capped player and returns to Knights in a coaching capacity looking to win a third Winter Box League title in a row.

Heaton Hornets (men’s) | Cai Jefferies & Jane Lee

Runners up in the men’s competition at last year’s Winter Box League and the reigning Northern Box League champions, Heaton Hornets are led by Cai Jefferies and Jane Lee.

As a player, Jefferies helped the England men’s box team to their first piece of major silverware at the 2022 European Championship in Hanover, Germany.

Lee takes charge of Hornets after a successful outing to Utica, New York where she helped coach the England women’s box team to a fifth place finish at the inaugural 2024 World Lacrosse Box Championships.

Steelheads (men’s) | Sean Gibson & Conor Dockery

The Irish duo of Sean Gibson and Conor Dockery join Steelheads for the 2024/25 Winter Box League season as hugely experienced box players; Gibson is his country’s most capped international with over 100 caps while Dockery has represented Ireland in three major tournaments.

Dockery makes his coaching debut at SBL’s Winter Box League after establishing himself as one of the leading Sixes Lacrosse coaches after winning three The Fly titles in four years.

B-Oxford Blaze (women’s) | Rob Ingham Clark & Millie Geddes

The England men’s box team Assistant Offence Coach Rob Ingham Clark teams up with Millie Geddes from the England women’s box team programme for B-Oxford Blaze.

Ingham Clark and Geddes take up their coaching roles with B-Oxford Blaze after attending the 2024 World Lacrosse Box Championships with their respective England teams and have big shoes to fill after last year’s coach Don McGraw, who helped his team to the title, returned to the USA this year.

Ravens (women’s) | Iain Murray & Eliot Pugh

Scotland’s Iain Murray returns to Ravens hoping to go one better than last year and lift the SBL Winter Box League title.

A key player for Scotland at this year’s 2024 World Lacrosse Box Championships, Murray is joined by England’s most capped goalie Eliot Pugh who retired from international duty earlier this year.

Together Murray and Pugh bring over 10 years’ box playing and coaching experience to Ravens.

Jaguars (women’s) | Rob Clark & Lyndon Stewart

Jaguars join the women’s competition for the first time in 2024/25 and will be led by a formidable pairing that includes the England women’s box team’s Head Coach and Strength & Conditioning Coach.

Rob Clark has just led the England women’s box team to a fifth place finish at the 2024 World Lacrosse Box Championships, the highest finish by a European team, and brings with him many years’ experience of playing, coaching, and officiating box lacrosse.

Lyndon Stewart is also a stalwart of lacrosse and was watching the coaches closely at the 2024 World Lacrosse Box Championships where he was the England women’s Strength & Conditioning Coach.

For more information about SBL’s 2024/25 Winter Box League, click HERE.

Super Sakurai fires Blaze to victory at 2023 Winter Box League

Miho Sakurai scored eight goals as she helped her Blaze team to a 16-9 victory over Ravens in the final game of the Southern Box Lacrosse (SBL) women’s Winter Box League.

The win saw Blaze overcome Ravens in the first ever women’s edition of the competition and win the four-game series 3-1.

Other notable performers in the women’s final match were Lauren Lewis, who chipped in with four goals for Blaze, and Izzy Keane (Ravens) who added four goals to the six she had already scored in the first three games.

In the men’s competition, Knights retained the trophy they first won last year after a narrow 7-6 win over high-flyers Hornets in the final.

Hornets were unbeaten in this year’s Winter Box League before the final match and had even beaten Knights 4-3 in the group stage on the opening day.

But reigning champions Knights proved too strong in the final despite scoring in just two of the four quarters, with Tom Bracegirdle and Rob Harris each hitting a brace.

Ollie Allsop, representing Hornets this year, is certainly one to watch in the future as he rounded off his Winter Box League debut with two goals to take his total for the season to 10.

Steelheads claimed third spot after seeing out a tense third place play-off match against Capitals, winning by a single goal and being helped along by the ever-dependable goal-scorer Louis Alhage who hit seven.

Ben Buchanan and Andy Thomas both scored hat-tricks in that one for Steelheads with Sam Perry and Jamie Powell doing the same for Capitals.

Watch all the action from the final day at SBL’s Winter Box League on Lacrosse Live UK’s YouTube channel HERE.

Day 3 results

3rd Place Play-Off | Steelheads 14-13 Capitals (4-2, 3-3, 4-3, 3-5)

Steelheads scorers | Alhage (7), Buchanan (3), Thomas (3), Murray
Capitals scorers | Perry (3), Powell (3), Farrer (2), Watson (2), Payne, Rawlins, Rodberg

Final | Hornets 6-7 Knights (0-0, 1-4, 3-3, 2-0)

Hornets scorers | Allsop (2), Collins, Jefferies, Marsh, Schildt
Knights scorers | Bracegirdle (2), Harris (2), Burke, Krommenhoek, Page-Laycock

Final | Blaze 16-9 Ravens (5-3, 4-4, 5-1, 2-1) Blaze win series 3-1

Blaze scorers | Sakurai (8), Lewis (4), Bottrill, Gage, Racle, Wright
Ravens scorers | Keane (4), Bathurst (2), Beaman (2), Lee

Final standings

Men’s

1. Knights

2. Hornets

3. Steelheads

4. Capitals

Women’s

1. Blaze

2. Ravens

Top points scorers (points include goals and assists)

1. Miho Sakurai (Blaze) 19

2. Louis Alhage (Steelheads) 16

3. Ollie Allsop (Hornets) 15

4. Harris (Knights) 14

5. Ben Page-Laycock (Knights) 13

6. Izzy Keane (Ravens) 11

7. Matt Marsh (Hornets) 10

8. Sam Perry (Capitals) 10

9. Jamie Powell (Capitals) 10

10. Lewis (Blaze) 10

11. Jane Lee (Ravens) 10

Unbeaten Hornets to play Knights in SBL's Winter Box League men's final

Hornets will take on reigning champions Knights in the Southern Box Lacrosse (SBL) Winter Box League men’s final on Sunday after both teams won their final group stage game to finish first and second respectively in the table.

Hornets made it three wins in three at this year’s competition with an impressive 10-4 victory over strugglers Capitals who end week three rock bottom of the table.

Knights picked up a second victory in a row after a convincing 11-5 win over Steelheads who finish in third spot.

Over in the women’s competition, Ravens ensured there is still something to play for on finals day as they claimed their first victory of this year’s series with an 8-4 win over Blaze.

Ravens now have the chance to level up the series at 2-2 when the teams meet for a fourth and final time in Oxford on Sunday.

Watch all the action from week three on Lacrosse Live Uk’s YouTube channel HERE.

Day 3 Results

Ravens 8-4 Blaze (1-1, 4-1, 1-2, 2-0)

Ravens scorers | Keane (4), Bolton (2), Lee, Reynard
Blaze scorers | Sakurai (2), Bottrill, Ford

Knights 11-5 Steelheads (3-2, 5-0, 0-1, 3-2)

Knights scorers | Page-Laycock (4), Harris (3), Burke (2), Edwards, unknown
Steelheads scorers | Alhage (3), Bruce, Thomas

Capitals 4-10 Hornets (1-3, 2-2, 1-2, 0-3)

Capitals scorers | Milner, Payne, Rodberg, Watson
Hornets scorers | Allsop (4), Roper (3), Marsh (2), Harrison

Finals Day Fixtures

12:30 | Steelheads v Capitals (3rd Place Play-Off)
14:30 | Hornets v Knights (Final)
16:30 | Blaze v Ravens (Final)

2023 Winter Box League Final Table

# Team Pl. W. D. L. F. A. GD. Pts.

1. Heaton Hornets 3 3 0 0 30 11 +19 9

2. London Knights 3 2 0 1 29 15 +14 6

3. Steelheads 3 1 0 2 23 33 -10 3

4. SBL Capitals 3 0 0 3 16 39 -23 0

SBL's Winter Box League returns this weekend

The Southern Box Lacrosse (SBL) Winter Box League returns on Sunday with three fixtures across the men’s and women’s competitions.

Ravens take on Blaze in the women’s tournament in the opening game of the day as they look to get off the mark against their opponents who have defeated them twice in the first two games of the season.

Over in the men’s tournament, third placed Steelheads take on Knights who sit in second while rock bottom Capitals are in search of their first points of the season against top of the league and undefeated Hornets in the late game.

Taking place once again at the Oxford Academy School, Oxford, the Winter Box League enters its penultimate weekend after two incredible weekends showcasing some of the very best of box lacrosse talent from around the UK and the rest of the world.

102 goals have been scored by 40 players across the six fixtures in both competitions so far and with one regular set of fixtures remaining before the huge finals day on 14 January, we’re surely in for more over the next two weekends.

All the action from the opening two weekends as well as a live stream of Sunday’s matches can be viewed on Lacrosse Live UK’s YouTube channel HERE.

For more information about the Winter Box League, Southern Box Lacrosse, and how you can get involved in box lacrosse in the south of England, click HERE.

Blaze storm into 2-0 series lead in first women's SBL Winter Box League

Blaze took a commanding 2-0 series lead in the first ever women’s SBL Winter Box League as they overcame Ravens for the second time in a week on Sunday.

Lauren Lewis was the star of the show as her Blaze side won 9-7, scoring a hat-trick of goals, while Lucy Ford and Miho Sakurai both hit a brace, taking them to four goals for the season.

Despite a quick start, a late flurry of goals, and an attacker in red-hot form in Jane Lee, SBL Ravens fell just short once again and they’ll be looking to re-group ahead of the third game of the series on 7 January.

The game started in frenetic fashion with both sides having several shots in the opening exchanges but with three minutes gone in the tie, Lee scored her first of the game to put Ravens a goal to the good as she rifled one into the bottom left-hand corner from 15 yards out after the Blaze defence failed to close her down.

That was to be the only goal of a very entertaining first quarter in which both sides huffed and puffed but were unable to get anything else past the two goalies (Alice Loughran, Blaze, and Lucy Mayers, Ravens) who were in excellent form.

Blaze came out in the second quarter with huge intent and dominated the first few minutes, hitting shot after shot at Mayers.

But it was Ravens who snatched a goal and doubled their lead after Sofia Best’s shot bounced off the head of a Blaze defender’s stick and looped over Loughran who had moved towards the original trajectory of the ball.

Blaze stuck to their game-plan, however, and found themselves back in the game within five seconds of the restart after Lizzie Bottrill won the face-off and fed the ball into Sakurai who finished with poise.

And Blaze were level at 2-2 just a minute later when left-hander Natasha Gage picked up the ball on the far side of the pitch, cut inside, and placed her shot into the top left-hand corner.

The momentum shift didn’t worry Ravens who remained calm and regained the lead with just over six minutes left of the half when Isabel Keane cut inside from the right-hand side and fired past Loughran just as the shot-clock ran out.

If the first two quarters had been evenly-matched, the third was a fairly one-sided affair that saw Blaze execute their game-plan perfectly.

It took them 15 seconds to get themselves on level terms once again as Lewis ran onto a pass and scored to make it 3-3.

Blaze just couldn’t shake off the opposition and Ravens were back in front moments later through an incredible individual effort from defender Katya Smith who picked up the ball in the Ravens’ defensive third, shrugged off a couple of Blaze defenders, drove forward, and scored from close range.

From this moment in the third quarter, something changed in the Blaze mentality seeing them pick up the pace of the game and they were level for the fourth time in the match through Lewis’s second goal; an absolute lightning bolt hit low and hard into the bottom right-hand corner of the Ravens’ goal.

And Blaze took the lead for the first time three minutes later when Ford won a ground ball on the near-side, drove towards goal, and scored through Mayers’ legs.

Blaze completed a blistering quarter with a hat-trick goal from Lewis 30-seconds from quarter-time; they played quick through the transition, playing the ball to Lewis over on the far-side who dodged past a defender and wrong-footed the goalie to give her side a two-goal lead.

B-Oxford Blaze continued their scoring run in the fourth and final quarter as they hit three to put the game beyond Ravens.

First, Ford scored her second of the match after being fed in from behind the goal, dodging past a Ravens’ defender, and firing in from the edge of the crease.

Then, Bottrill grabbed her second straight from the restart after she won the face-off, ran towards goal and scored taking the score to 8-4.

Finally, after Lee completed her hat-trick, scoring Ravens’ fifth and sixth goals, and Laura Beaman made it into a one-goal game with a cool finish, Sakurai, who started the scoring for Blaze, scored her team’s ninth goal.

She was played in by Lewis and ripped a shot from a slight angle that flew past Mayers and sealed the win for Blaze.

The result means Blaze are now 2-0 up in the series with two games still to play.

In the other games on day 2 of the SBL Winter Box League, London Knights bounced back from their opening day defeat to Heaton Hornets by beating SBL Capitals 15-6 in the men’s competition.

Rob Harris scored an incredible six goals while England’s Ben Page-Laycock scored four to take Knights up to second in the table and leave Capitals languishing in last place.

But Heaton Hornets continued their impressive start to the 2023/24 campaign by seeing off Steelheads 16-4 to top the table going into Christmas.

Ollie Allsop, Matt Marsh, and Tom Roper all hit four goals to help their side to two wins out of two.

Watch all of the day 2 action by heading to Lacrosse Live UK’s YouTube channel HERE.

Day 2 Results

London Knights 15-6 SBL Capitals (2-0, 7-2, 3-2, 3-2)

London Knights scorers | Harris (6), Page-Laycock (4), Krommenhoek (2), Walker (2), Bracegirdle
SBL Capitals scorers | Powell (4), Perry (2)

B-Oxford Blaze 9-7 SBL Ravens (0-1, 2-2, 4-1, 3-3)

B-Oxford Blaze scorers | Lewis (3), Ford (2), Sakurai (2), Bottrill, Gage
SBL Ravens scorers | Lee (3), Beaman, Best, Keane, Smith

Heaton Hornets 16-4 Steelheads (5-1, 3-3, ?-0, ?-0)

Heaton Hornets scorers | Allsop (4), Marsh (4), Roper (4), Collins (2), Harrison, Jefferies
Steelheads scorers | Leonard (2), Di Siena, Groves

Day 3 Fixtures

12:30 | SBL Ravens v B-Oxford Blaze
14:30 | Steelheads v London Knights
16:30 | SBL Capitals v Heaton Hornets

2023 Winter Box League Men’s Table So Far…

# Team Pl. W. D. L. F. A. GD. Pts.

1. Heaton Hornets. 2 2 0 0 20 7 +13 6

2. London Knights 2 1 0 1 18 10 +8 3

3. Steelheads 2 1 0 1 18 22 -4. 3

4. SBL Capitals 2 0 0 2 12 29 -17 0

Hornets shock reigning champions Knights in opening game of SBL's 2023 Winter Box League

Hornets caused a major upset on the opening day of the Southern Box Lacrosse (SBL) 2023 Winter Box League as they overcame last year’s unbeaten champions, Knights, 4-3.

After a ferocious and fast-paced opening five minutes, Taylor Harrison put his Hornets side a goal up in unusual fashion after play was stopped following a foul.

Knights’ goalie, Eliot Pugh, had his back to goal thinking the ball was still dead but the referee’s whistle blew and Harrison saw his chance to fire into an open net from 15 yards out, much to Pugh’s annoyance.

With five minutes left of the first quarter, the ever-dependable, Matt Marsh, showed his international pedigree and doubled Hornets’ lead as he nonchalantly hit home from range after Knights’ defenders failed to close him down quickly enough.

Knights came out in the second quarter seemingly determined to get back in the game but with Hornets’ goalie, Jacob Brindle, playing exceptionally well, an opening goal wasn’t forthcoming.

That was until the final six seconds when Will Walker found himself out wide and played a sumptuous ball to Rob Harris who’d made a diagonal run in front of goal; Pugh was wrong-footed and Harris hammered home to make it 2-1 going into half-time.

Taking that momentum into the third quarter, Knights found themselves level at 2-2 with just over a minute gone when Danny Hilton picked up the ball in a wide area, drove towards goal, and ripped a shot at Brindle who initially thought he’d stopped the shot only to see the ball dribble under his legs and into the back of the net.

Hornets were able to regroup, stemming the Knights’ attack, and found themselves back in front through Marsh once again, scoring a very similar goal to his goal in the first quarter; an unstoppable shot from a wide angle, placed perfectly into the corner of the net.

And any Hornets’ tensions dissipated two minutes into the final quarter when England’s Ming Trinh extended his side’s lead to two goals after a feed from Brindle saw him open in front of the Knight’s goal, one on one with Pugh; Trinh finished with ease, hitting the top right corner.

Knights set up a grand-slam finish with seven minutes left of the game, however, as Walker scored a goal straight out of the top drawer.

Picking up a ground ball on the far side of the pitch at an angle almost level with the Hornets’ goal, Walker ripped an implausible shot that snuck in at the near post.

Knights spent that final few minutes huffing and puffing but Hornets stood firm for their first win of the 2023 season.

In the other game in the men’s competition, Steelheads defeated last year’s finalists, Capitals, 14-6 to record their first win of the season on opening day.

Despite a really close first two quarters, Steelheads’ quality shone through in the second half, scoring six without reply.

Ben Buchanan and Elliot Leonard both scored hat-tricks while Louis Alhage and Corrie Bruce grabbed a brace each to help Steelheads take the win.

And in the first ever women’s competition at the Winter Box League, Blaze came out on top in a close contest with Ravens.

England field goalie Katie Greenwood, playing as an attacker in the Winter Box League, Miho Sakurai, Laura Wright, and Lucy Ford all scored two for Blaze in that one.

All three games can be re-watched in full on the Lacrosse Live UK YouTube channel HERE and head to the Southern Box Lacrosse (SBL) website HERE for more information about the Winter Box League.

Day 1 Results

Steelheads 14-6 Capitals (4-3, 4-3, 4-0, 2-0)

Steelheads scorers | Buchanan (3), Leonard (3), Alhage (2), Bruce (2), Di Seina (2), Bascom, Groves
Capitals scorers | Perry (3), Watson (2), Milner

Hornets 4-3 Knights (2-0, 0-1, 1-1, 1-1)

Hornets scorers | Marsh (2), Harrison, Trinh
Knights scorers | Harris, Hilton, Walker

Ravens 7-11 Blaze (3-1, 0-3, 3-3, 1-4)

Ravens scorers | Best (3), Lee (2), Blakeley-Crewe, Keane
Blaze scorers | Ford (2), Greenwood (2), Sakurai (2), Wright (2), Breach, Lane, Stephens

Day 2 Fixtures

12:30 | Knights v Capitals
14:30 | Blaze v Ravens
16:30 | Hornets v Steelheads

2023 SBL Winter Box League squads announced

The full squads for the 2023 Southern Box Lacrosse (SBL) Winter Box League have been released following the player draft last week.

The first set of players were revealed two weeks ago when SBL announced the protected players returning to each team after last year’s event.

England internationals Eliot Pugh, Eliot Leonard, Jamie Powell, and Will Allsop are among the players to have been picked ahead of this year’s competition.

The 2023 SBL Winter Box League will take place over four competition days at the Oxford Academy School and will feature four men’s teams and, for the first time, two women’s teams playing in a separate competition.

This follows the announcement of the first ever England women’s box lacrosse training squad earlier this month; those players will eventually be whittled down to a competition squad to play at the 2024 World Lacrosse Box Lacrosse Championships in Utica, USA.

For more details about the 2023 SBL Winter Box League, click HERE and check out the squads below.

Knights

GK

Eliot Pugh (p)
James Tipple

Def

Albert Whitehead (p)
Callum Counihan
Hamzah Khalid
Joshua Rowland
Owen Edwards
Patrick Kearney
Rob Harris
Ryan Power
Seb Grant
Tom Bracegirdle 
Tom Roche (p)

Att

Ben Page-Laycock (p)
Daniel Aspin
Jack Nichols
Jude Krommenhoek (p)
Nathan Edwards
Will Walker (p)
Danny Hilton
Silas Burke (p)

Head Coach

Tom Roche

Steelheads

GK

Ben Stowe (p)

Def

Ben Stothard
George Bascom (p)
Iain Murray (p)
Jacob Lynch 
Jacob Nichols Cook 
James Small 
Jan-Oscar Huges
Juliusz Bokiej (p)
Kieran Garvey
Michael Byrne
Pete Smith
Peter Shepherd (p)

Att

Corrie Bruce
Dave Groves (p)
Elliot Leonard
Louis Alhage (p)
Andy Thomas
Ben Buchanan
Bence Cserkuti
Michael Boland
Sebastian Di Siena 

Head Coach

Rob Ingham Clark

Capitals

GK

Charlie Albuery (p)

Def

Alan Keeley (p)
Alex Taiano
Ben Young
Billy Rawlins
Dale Haxton
Kristien Warren
Matthew Morgan
Matthew Tatton
Reece Piper (p)
Will Allsop (p)

Att

Jamie Powell (p)
Jonny Howard
Paul Milner
Russell Farrer
Travis Payne
Tyler Rodberg
Ben Harvey
Dan Watson
Harry Morton-Smith (p)
Sam Perry (p)

Head Coach

Sam Perry

Hornets

GK

Jacob Brindle

Def

Alex Tyldesley-Worster
Archie Carr
Asyck Schildt
George Dury
Joe Hodgkins
Kyle MacQueen (p)
Ming Trinh (p)
Oliver Rogerson 
Taylor Harrison (p)
Toby Deans
Tom Hallam (p)
Valts Grinbergs

Att

Ben Collins
James McIlhagger
Matt Marsh
Tom Perera
Tom Roper (p)
Cai Jefferies (p)
Max Biddlestone 
Ollie Allsop (p)

Head Coach

Cai Jefferies

Ravens

GK Pool

Alice Loughran
Eleanor MacPhee
Lucy Kate Mayers

Def

Alys Johns 
Amelia Geddes
Annabelle Akintoye
Emily Ann Byrne
Emily Todd
Francesca Parshall
Gabby Wroe
Kate Russell
Katya Smith
Lexi Reynard
Meredith Ingham Clark
Phoebe Blakeley-Crewe

Att

Amy Bolton 
Hannah Foxcroft
Helena Prettyman
Jane Lee
Laura Beaman
Sofia Best 
Steph Grimes
Isabel Keane
Rosie Bathurst

Head Coach

Iain Murray

Blaze

GK Pool

Alice Loughran
Eleanor MacPhee
Lucy Kate Mayers

Def

Davina Emetulu
Erin Tufnell
Evie Stephens 
Hannah Gillings
Hannah Warren
Heather Cegla
Laura Wright
Lauren Hurley
Lizzie Bottrill
Sarah Hontz
Zara Russell

Att

Claudia Lane
Ellie Racle
Emily Chong
Esme Breach
Georgina Rutter
Katie Greenwood
Lauren Lewis
Lucy Ford
Miho Sakurai
Natasha Gage

Head Coach

Don McGraw

(p) denotes protected player from 2022 squad

Player draft opens for 2023 Winter Box League

Southern Box Lacrosse has opened the player draft ahead of the 2023 Winter Box League taking place across four competition days in December and January.

Prospective men’s and women’s players have until 9pm on Sunday 12 November to register for the draft by completing the registration form and paying the £90 entry fee on the Southern Box Lacrosse website; the entry fee covers the match fees for the four-game season.

The minimum age for the men’s competition is 18 while the minimum age for the women’s tournament is 16 and all players must hold a valid England Lacrosse membership and not be serving any domestic competition suspension over the period of the Winter Box League season.

Once the registration period closes, the draft will take place during the week commencing Monday 13 November where players will be distributed between the four men’s and two women’s teams.

Reigning champions, London Knights, led by England men’s box lacrosse team captain, Tom Roche, will be looking to continue where they left off at the end of the 2022 Winter Box League season but they face stiff competition from last year’s runners-up, Steelheads, as well as Heaton Hornets and brand new team for 2023, SBL Capitals who replace Thundercats in the four-team format.

For the first time, the SBL Winter Box League is hosting a women’s competition featuring two teams, SBL Ravens and B-Oxford, offering the chance for more women than ever to get involved in box lacrosse ahead of next year’s 2024 World Lacrosse Box Championships.

SBL Winter Box League Draft | How does it work?

• Team coaches may draft up to 25 players per team.

• Team coaches may protect up to seven players from their team squad from last season.

• A player may decline protection and enter the draft as a free agent.

• A team coach or team manager who was a player for a different team last season may be one of the seven protected players for the team they are coaching or managing this season.

• In the men’s competition, SBL Capitals replace Thundercats in the draft order and can protect Thundercats players from last season.

• The men’s competition draft will use a sequential draft with the pick order as per last year’s results (Hornets 1st, 5th, 9th picks. Capitals 2nd, 6th, etc. Steelheads the 3rd, 7th, etc. Knights the 4th, 8th, etc.).

• The women’s competition draft will follow an alternate pick with a coin toss deciding which team has the first pick.

• Players not drafted will receive a full entry fee refund.

• The maximum size of a game day squad is 18 runners and up to two goalies.

• Drafted players who are available for a game but not selected in a game day squad will receive a pro-rata refund of £22.50 for that game.

• Drafted players who are not available for a game do not receive a pro-rata refund.

• Drafted players who withdraw from the league do not receive a refund.

• Refunds will be paid after the conclusion of the season (w/c 15th January).

• The SBL exec reserves the right to consider exceptional circumstances to the above rules.

The 2023 Winter Box League takes places at Oxford Academy School, Oxford, on 10 December, 17 December, 7 January, and 14 January with games commencing at 12:30pm, 2:30pm, and 4:30pm.