Southern Box Lacrosse Set to Host Outdoor Box Lacrosse Sessions

On Sunday (25 October), Southern Box Lacrosse will hold an outdoor box lacrosse session at Shenley Leisure Centre, Milton Keynes, welcoming players from all over the country to take part in the hotly anticipated return of box lacrosse.

Apart from a small, low-key outdoor session in August, this will be the first box lacrosse to be formally played since the big North vs South game held at the Midlands Roller Arena, Lutterworth on 15 March!

The session will be open to anyone “regardless of experience and ability” but, due to COVID-19 restrictions, each player is asked to bring their own box-specific protection (rib and biceps pads) and lacrosse equipment as none can be shared on the day.

It is hoped, in the absence of further future restrictions, more outdoor box lacrosse sessions can take place in the coming months.

As it looks to be a while before lacrosse will be able to be played indoors again, the President of the South of England Men’s Lacrosse Association (SEMLA), Rob Gooch, believes it is more important than ever to start to reintroduce box lacrosse in an adaptive setting.

“It is important to restart box lacrosse for the same reasons as field and other outdoor lacrosse; for enjoyment, exercise and people’s mental health.

“For those looking to play in European tournaments next year and feature in national squads, it's an opportunity to practice box-specific skills and continue their box lacrosse development”. 

The session will run from 1-3pm and is described as “different venue, different details, same great Southern Box Lacrosse session”!

You can sign up for the session by clicking the button below then scrolling to the bottom of the page:

Please note, the session will be following all Government and England Lacrosse coronavirus guidelines, all of which can be found HERE.

Oxford City Lacrosse to Hold a Community Lacrosse Day!

Oxford City Lacrosse Club have announced they will be hosting a COVID-secure Community Lacrosse Day taking place on Sunday 25 October.

It is hoped the day will demonstrate how clubs and players can still enjoy lacrosse safely during a global pandemic and, in a statement released today, they said:

“Since our return to lacrosse in early July, Oxford City Lacrosse Club have trained weekly, following the most up-to-date guidelines to keep all our players and their families safe.

“Despite the national restrictions, we have grown in numbers and are looking forward to playing competitively and safely throughout the winter.

“To promote the sport, we are organising a City of Oxford Community Lacrosse Day on 25th October, whilst strictly following COVID-19 protocols to demonstrate how a local lockdown does not have to spell the end of safely enjoying lacrosse.

“We will be playing three matches - men's, women's and mixed - spread throughout the day, with independent bubbles of players on each pitch, at our home ground at the Oxford Academy school.

“We will be inviting players from the local lacrosse playing schools, local residents, as well as students from Oxford Brookes and Oxford University, who themselves have been restricted to only playing opposition from the local area.

“Unfortunately we cannot invite any spectators, but if you would like to know more about the sport, or want to try it for yourselves please email Oxfordcitylacrosse@hotmail.com".

All the latest coronavirus guidance can be found HERE.

New County Academies Begin this Weekend!

England Lacrosse’s County Academies, new for the 2020/21 season and replacing the existing Regional Assessment Days, will commence this weekend (17 October).

The new Academies will act as the first rung on the England Lacrosse Talent Pathway ladder for lacrosse players aged 12 & 13 years old. 

The change will benefit young athletes as they will be assessed over four days to give them the best opportunity to demonstrate their abilities, specifically decision making under pressure, athleticism and resilience.

Open to young lacrosse players in year eight, there are seven County Academy regions this year (Yorkshire/Greater Manchester/Cheshire, Surrey/West Sussex, Central London, Kent, Wiltshire/Dorset/Hampshire, Worcestershire/Gloucestershire, Bedfordshire/Hertfordshire), allowing ambitious lacrosse players from all over the country the opportunity to join the England Lacrosse Talent Pathway set-up.

As was the case with the previous Regional Assessment Days, schools and clubs were asked to nominate talented players who were then invited to one of the seven four-day County Academy sessions.

The sessions were originally due to take place during April this year but had to be postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

They will now take place periodically starting from this weekend until the 27 October when successful girls will be invited to join the Regional Academy.

England Lacrosse National Performance & Talent Development Officer, Jane Powell, believes the sessions are hugely important to the England Lacrosse Talent Pathway and national team set-up and are much needed after their postponement earlier in the year.

“After such a tough year where we were forced to postpone all our scheduled Talent Pathway sessions, this month’s County Academy sessions will provide a boost to the girls taking part as well as the England Lacrosse Talent Pathway as a whole.

“It’s so important we continue to nurture the young lacrosse talent around the country and this weekend marks the start of a relative return to normality which we very much appreciate”.

All the latest news and information regarding the County Academies can be found HERE and any queries can be directed towards talent@englandlacrosse.co.uk.

Please note: Each County Academy session will be following the latest Government coronavirus restrictions. Please visit our coronavirus section HERE for all up to date Government and England Lacrosse guidance.

If you have any coronavirus-related queries, please direct them towards covid@englandlacrosse.co.uk.

England Lacrosse Mixed Lacrosse Leagues Start on Sunday!

Sunday (11 October) marks the formal start of the 2020/21 England Lacrosse mixed lacrosse season with the first set of fixtures seeing Loughborough at home to Nottingham, Oxford away at huge rivals Cambridge, Bradford versus York and many many more!

It’s been a strange year and, with British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) deciding to suspend all competitive sport until January 2021, we invited university teams to join our hyper-local mixed lacrosse leagues for the 2020/21 season.

The leagues had a soft opening day on Sunday (4 October) which saw Oxford City defeat Reading University 17-4 in the first official game of the season.

32 teams in total have registered to take part and have been split into seven leagues containing between three and eight teams depending on locality.

Each league has been organised so teams will not have to travel more than two hours for any away fixture and every team will play a minimum of four games and a maximum of six.

In order to take part in the leagues, each team has appointed a COVID Officer to ensure all England Lacrosse and Government guidelines are being followed at all times.

Due to the current restrictions on the number of people who can be involved in organised sport, each team is permitted a maximum squad size of 14 which includes any coaches, managers, and team medical staff.

England Lacrosse Competitions Officer, Helen Amos, says the leagues are a fantastic way for teams to ease themselves back into competitive lacrosse after six months away.

“It’s been such a long time since we were able to play full competitive lacrosse and, with the restrictions having eased sufficiently, this is a great opportunity for teams to get their match fitness back.

“With 2020 being as turbulent as it has been, the start of the mixed lacrosse leagues marks the start of some welcome relative normality and I can’t wait to see what will happen during the season”!

The first half of the season runs from Sunday until the 22 November and teams who haven’t already signed up for the full season will be given the opportunity to register for the second half and complete the season should they wish to do so.

There will be 14 fixtures played on the first weekend of the season:

Midlands 1 - University of Birmingham v University of Birmingham Medical Society
Midlands 2 - Keele University v Sutton Bonington - The University of Nottingham
Midlands 2 - Loughborough University v University of Nottingham
North East - University of Bradford v University of York
North East - Leeds 1 v Leeds 2
South East & London - University of Cambridge v University of Oxford 1
South East & London - University of Essex v Imperial College London
South East & London - London School of Economics v King’s College London
South East & London - St Mary’s University v Canterbury Christ Church University
South East 1 - Brighton Panthers v University of Surrey
South East 1 - University of Southampton 1 v University of Southampton 2
South East 2 - Oxford City v Southampton Sharks
South East 2 - University of Oxford 2 v University of Reading 2
South West - University of Bath 1 v University of Bath 2

The seven leagues are as follows:

North East

University of York
University of Bradford
University of Leeds 1
University of Leeds 2

Midlands 1

University of Birmingham
University of Warwick
University of Birmingham Medical Society

Midlands 2

University of Nottingham
Loughborough University
Sutton Bonington - The University of Nottingham
Keele University

South West

University of Bath 1
University of Bath 2
Cardiff University
University of the West of England 1
University of the West of England 2

South East & London

University of Oxford 1
University of Essex
University of Cambridge
Canterbury Christ Church University
London School of Economics
St Mary’s University
Imperial College London
King’s College London

South East 1

University of Southampton 1
University of Southampton 2
Brighton Panthers
University of Surrey

South East 2

Southampton Sharks
Oxford City
University of Oxford 2
University of Reading

Regional Leagues Return this Weekend!

After more than six months without fixtures, the North of England Men’s Lacrosse Association (NEMLA), the North Women’s Lacrosse Association (NWLA), and the South of England Men’s Lacrosse Association (SEMLA) will return to action this weekend.

NEMLA and SEMLA will be returning to a largely regular* full competitive league season while NWLA will be playing a series of friendly matches during the 2020/21 season with no formal competitive fixtures and no formal league table.

After such a turbulent year and with coronavirus restrictions around sports being constantly reviewed, this is welcome news for clubs all over the country and it certainly bodes well for the South West Women’s Lacrosse Association (SWWLA) who begin friendly fixtures next weekend (10/11 Oct).

NEMLA, NWLA, and SEMLA will begin their 2020/21 seasons on Saturday just a week after the South East Women’s Lacrosse Association (SEWLA) played their first games of the season last weekend with Hillcroft’s and Spencer’s wins over Central London 2s and West London 2s respectively proving to be the highlights.

England Lacrosse Regional Core Products Officer, Richard Gartside, says it’s brilliant for the game to have some semblance of normality after such a long time without scheduled fixtures.

“After six months, this weekend marks a welcome return to organised fixtures that will give teams the opportunity to exercise everything they’ve been practicing during lockdown as well as during phases 2, 3, and 4 of Return to Play.

“It’s been a tough year so far and, of course, Government and England Lacrosse guidance still needs to be followed but I’m hoping this is the beginning of a relative and stable normality going forward”.

Saturday’s fixtures for the NEMLA, NWLA, and SEMLA leagues are as follows (all start times 14:00):

SEMLA L-Lon 1

Hampstead v Spencer
Hillcroft v Spencer 2

SEMLA L-Lon 2

Hillcroft A v Camden Capybaras
Reading Wildcats v London Raptors

SEMLA L-Lon 3

Hillcroft B v Buckhurst Hill
Spencer 3 v Spencer 4

SEMLA L-Lon 4

London University v Camden Capybaras 2

SEMLA L-HC

Canterbury City v Purley
East Grinstead v Walcoutian Blues

SEMLA L-SC

East Grinstead A v Guildford Gators

SEMLA L-Pen

Exeter University v Camborne School of Mines
Plymouth Privateers v Plymouth University

SEMLA L-Cot 1

Bristol Bombers v Oxford City
Cheltenham v Bath

SEMLA L-Cot 2

Cardiff Harlequins v Bristol Bombers 2
Cheltenham 2 v Bath University

SEMLA L-EA

Cambridge Eagles v Welwyn Warriors
Hitchin A v University of East Anglia

NEMLA Men’s 1

Brooklands v Mellor
Heaton Mersey v Cheadle
Stockport v Poynton

NEMLA Men’s 2

Boardman & Eccles v Timperley
Sheffield Steelers v Norbury
Wilmslow v Manchester WACS

NEMLA Men’s 3

Cheadle A v Heaton Mersey A
Mellor A v Brooklands A
Rochdale v Stockport A

NEMLA Men’s 4 East

Leeds v Sheffield Steelers A
Norbury A v Heaton Mersey B
Poynton A v Rochdale A

NEMLA Men’s 4 West

Cheadle B v City of Stoke
Cheadle Hulme v Wilmslow A
Timperley A v Liverpool

NEMLA Men’s 5 A

Ashton v Heaton Mersey C

NEMLA Men’s 5 B

Cheadle Hulme A v Cheadle C

NWLA Women’s

Liverpool v Hull
Stockport v Stoke
Mellor v Oxton
Timperley v Leeds
Brooklands v Heaton Mersey

The full list of fixtures and participating teams for this season can be found HERE for NEMLA, HERE for NWLA, and HERE for SEMLA.

*Government and England Lacrosse coronavirus restrictions still apply and can be viewed in full HERE.

England Women’s Under 23 Squad announced for 2020/21 season

England Lacrosse is pleased to announce the England Women’s Under 23 squad selected for the forthcoming 2020/21 season.

Following trials earlier this month, an initial 25-player squad has been announced, with a number of reserves and US-based players also being involved with the group.

With all national squads following England Lacrosse’s Phase 4 Return to Play Guidance, training weekends are currently limited to 30 participants.

As a result, Head Coach, Alex Carnegie-Brown, has named a smaller 25-strong squad to meet the current guidelines with reserves available to boost the squad in case of injuries or absence.

In addition to scheduled training weekends, the U23 squad plan to arrange a number of fixtures and tours across the season, COVID situation dependent.

Carnegie-Brown commented: “The standard of the trials were the highest yet and with the restrictions on squad sizes, selection was made particularly tough.

“It was great to see so many talented athletes enjoying lacrosse together again at such a high standard and we are looking forward to a good season ahead”.

Full Squad

Goal
Livy Schellekens
Dylan Whittington

Defence
Tara Dempsey
Anya Devon-Berry
Lottie Paterson
Alice Ripper
Ellie Simpson

Midfield
Miranda Bate
Bella Bowater
Alex Cant
India Chadwick
Isla Duguid
Zoe Lovibond
Minty Loxton-Barnard
Ella Malik
Anna Neville
Emma Savage
Bella Streule
Bea Webber

Attack
Ella Cohen
Cece Green
Milly Home
Mia Rogers
Zimeng Wu
Chloe Wyner

Reserve List
Bex Ailles
Juliet Banks
Molly Goldsworthy
Millie Hughes
Maddie Sketchley
Philly Stacey
Maddie Turner

US-based Players
Emily Beazley
Issie Edwards
Zoe Macrae
Hannah Thurston

England Lacrosse Walk, Run, or Cycle a Mile for National Fitness Day!

Yesterday, England Lacrosse staff, stationed all over the country, walked, ran, or cycled at least a mile to mark National Fitness Day.

Some of our dedicated staff organised a socially distanced walk, one person did a 5km run while others simply walked their dogs or took a stroll in the green space around their homes.

It was a welcome break from laptops, phones, and other devices and was an opportunity for our team to get a bit of fresh air and enjoy the great outdoors.

National Fitness Day has been an annual event since it was founded back in 2011 and, according to its website, is a “chance to highlight the role physical activity plays across the UK, helping us raise awareness of its importance in helping us lead healthier and active lifestyles”.

The day usually sees a huge range of activity options enjoyed by participants of all ages, “such as ‘plank offs’, yoga and pilates classes, treadmill challenges, high-street HIIT classes, dance-offs, mass walks and many more”.

National Fitness Day 2020 also comes in the same week as the inaugural Great British Week of Sport that aims to “inspire the nation to celebrate the power that sport and activity has on our mental, physical and social well-being”.

Obviously this year has been a little different and, with the current restrictions in place, it is impossible to organise events like mass walks.

But, it’s more important than ever to keep ourselves fit and healthy in both body and mind and National Fitness Day, coupled with the Great British Week of Sport, aims to help us do just that!

England Lacrosse Announce Bespoke Race Equality Project

England Lacrosse are excited to announce the introduction of a bespoke Race Equality Project, in partnership with Sporting Equals, as a demonstration of our real commitment to promoting equality for BAME communities in lacrosse.

This comes after we initially signed the Sporting Equals Charter agreeing that greater progress, positive action, and outcomes were needed to ensure the organisation and the sport of lacrosse is able to create opportunities for, and benefits from, the wealth of diverse talent on offer.

Sporting Equals is an independent body that works to promote ethnic diversity throughout the sporting community and their Sporting Equals Charter directly encourages organisations to become an active part of delivering change in the physical activity sector.

Our bespoke Race Equality Project aims to deliver on six vital points, with Sporting Equals assisting us throughout:

• Policy Review - Sporting Equals will carry out a review of selected key England Lacrosse policies, which will include a review of our recruitment policies, through a race equality lens and highlight areas for improvement.

• Research Support - Sporting Equals will support and advise England Lacrosse in developing a regional inclusivity plan. Thank you to SEMLA for leading the way in this area as a trial region.

• Report on Findings - This report will detail the findings of the policy review to provide England Lacrosse with policy recommendations for future implementation.

• Manchester Project - Sporting Equals will provide campaign support to the Backing the Best campaign which is providing participation opportunities in Low Socio-Economic Groups (LSEG) wards of Manchester.

• Recruitment Support - Sporting Equals will support England Lacrosse in its recruitment efforts to encourage applicants from diverse communities.

• Marketing and Communications - Sporting Equals will provide document and training both from a national and local perspective to support inclusive communication.

As well as these more national points, we will also be working to promote our Race Equality Project on a regional level; this week marked the start of a series of meetings between Sporting Equals and the South of England Men’s Lacrosse Association (SEMLA) which focuses on increasing BAME participation in lacrosse.

England Lacrosse Chief Executive, Mark Coups, commented:

“England Lacrosse is committed to affecting real change within our BAME participation and workforce.

“We see working with Sporting Equals and creating this bespoke Race Equality Project as important steps towards achieving our goal of real change.

“We know this is a commitment that will touch every function of the organisation and will not be a quick fix.”

“Sporting Equals’ independent expertise will provide key advice on the actions we need to take to improve our sport and help us deliver on our commitment for change”.

The Chief Executive for Sporting Equals, Arun Kang OBE said:

“We are really pleased to be working with England Lacrosse and having them sign up as a Sporting Equals Charter partner.

“We are very happy to see such commitment from England Lacrosse to promote change within the UK sports sector to work with our organisation to make a more equal and inclusive space for sport and physical activity.

“We at Sporting Equals launched the Sporting Equals Charter in April 2019, as we felt that there was a need for our UK sports sector to commit to change and we know that we can support that change and indeed drive it.

“We really look forward to supporting England Lacrosse to assist them in becoming a more open, inclusive and diverse organisation”.

Further information about Sporting Equals can be found at www.sportingequals.org.uk.

England Lacrosse AGM - Sunday 11 October

The England Lacrosse Annual General Meeting (AGM) is scheduled to take place on Sunday 11 October 2020 commencing at 12noon.

In consideration of the government restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the board has decided that the 2020 AGM be held ‘virtually’ with the meeting taking place through the Microsoft Teams platform.

The board has discussed the limitations that come with holding the AGM online and in a review of the articles of association has agreed the following processes to conduct the required business in line with our rule structures.

Attending the AGM

 The AGM will be held on the Microsoft Teams platform and we request that each affiliated member (organisation/institution) submit the details of one representative who will attend the AGM on behalf of your organisation prior to the AGM being held.

Voting at the AGM

The AGM voting process will also be carried out online using a secure voting platform and will be open from Friday 2 October until Friday 9 October inclusive. The results of the vote will be announced at the AGM and then published on our social media platforms.

The relevant documents related to the AGM are now able to be viewed on the governance section of the England Lacrosse website.

Each affiliate organisation should have received email information relating to registering for AGM attendance and AGM Voting through their nominated club contact. If you do not think your organisation has received this information, please contact us at info@englandlacrosse.co.uk

If you have any other questions relating to the AGM, again please email info@englandlacrosse.co.uk

National Lacrosse Day 2020 - Value our Volunteers: Sheena Macrae

Today marks National Lacrosse Day 2020 and to celebrate we are valuing our dedicated lacrosse volunteers from all over the country who have kept their respective clubs and teams going through what has been a strange and stressful year.

Here, we recognise Cobham Lacrosse Club’s very own Sheena Macrae who has played a vital role in keeping the club going at an organisational level throughout 2020 and the coronavirus lockdown.

Despite never having played lacrosse, Sheena has been involved in the sport for 11 years and now runs Cobham.

She says that what has happened this year with the coronavirus pandemic has been difficult to watch but has remained positive throughout.

“I was very sad during lockdown, writing out to cancel training, our annual tournament and other friendly matches.

“However, Club News and our various social media accounts carried on throughout March, April, May, and June.

“It has been great to offer virtual activities for everyone at home such as sport psychology sessions for parents and online workouts for the girls.

“At every stage we kept our members updated, and with Phases 3 and 4 announced, we were glad to be busy with membership again”!

Sheena’s daughters play a combination of international, US college, and BUCS lacrosse and she recognises how difficult it has been for them, as well as lacrosse players all over the country, to keep up with their training.

“There was (and is) a very strong imperative for the highest quality training and practice which was pretty hard in lockdown.

“Our garage became a gym and training area which was good for the girls and myself in terms of fitness but not so good for the car!

“Our bikes came out, running shoes on and corners of parks used for stick-work and fitness.

“High-level lacrosse requires thinking outside the box; getting workouts planned and executed in the pandemic certainly tested that required mentality”!

Even though it’s been quite stressful, Sheena understands that the health and safety of everyone connected to Cobham is the most important thing.

“England Lacrosse’s web pages on COVID-19 are simply excellent. We trawled through them, and out of that information produced a COVID-19 Members Policy and a Risk Assessment which is our current operations strategy.

“From disinfectant to thermometers, a new training registration system and switched-on Head Coaches and Club Committee, we are hopeful we can cope with all eventualities (and work towards answers to inevitable new problems)”.

And Sheena believes sport is one of the best things we can all do to help get us through these difficult times.

“Lockdown and uncertainty can cause inward-looking loneliness.

“Sport, belonging to a lacrosse club, training again and laughing with friends out on the pitches looks outwards.

“So it’s good to belong. Team sport quite simply is support – as important to a ten year old junior as to a seasoned senior”.

We’d like to thank Sheena for her hard-work and dedication to Cobham Lacrosse Club during 2020 and hope she continues to use her skills to help the lacrosse community for many years to come!

National Lacrosse Day 2020 - Value our Volunteers: Oli Jones

Today marks National Lacrosse Day 2020 and to celebrate we are valuing our dedicated lacrosse volunteers from all over the country who have kept their respective clubs and teams going through what has been a strange and stressful year.

Here, we recognise Liverpool Lacrosse Club’s Treasurer and men’s team secretary, Oli Jones.

Oli, who is 33 and started playing lacrosse while at Liverpool University in 2006 before joining Liverpool Lacrosse Club a year later in 2007, has spent most of his time during lockdown, as Club Treasurer, looking at the club’s finances.

“Unfortunately when the lockdown started we had to stop our coaching sessions in schools and say goodbye to our LDO three months earlier than planned, so a lot of the initial work was involved in sorting those issues out, understanding the financial liabilities to the club, and keeping players/parents informed on training being cancelled etc. 

“As we've started to come out of lockdown thankfully I've moved into getting everyone back to training in a safe manner and ensuring we are complying with the latest guidance etc.”.

In normal times, Oli can often be found organising match day teams as part of his role as men’s team secretary as well as managing the Junior Development Programme and coaching the U12 and U16 boys’ teams at Liverpool.

He has been kept quite busy in his work-life too since lockdown, something which he is really thankful for.

“I've been lucky that my job involves working in a key sector, so I have been pretty busy during the lockdown with a number of work projects.

“Since the initial lockdown period ended, I've also been able to get out and play as much golf as possible during the weekends with teammates so that has certainly kept me sane”! 

Despite the challenging circumstances we all find ourselves in, Oli believes sport is something that can benefit all aspects of our lives.

“I think Sport during these times is really important not just because of the fitness benefits; it gives you an opportunity to escape the everyday issues you might have personally and just focus on doing something you enjoy to the best of your ability, either for yourself or a team.

“Whether that's as a player, coach, ref or volunteer, sport can be anything for everybody which is a pretty rare thing”. 

We’d like to thank Oli for his hard-work and dedication to lacrosse, especially during this year, and we hope he continues as one of our amazing volunteers for many years to come!

National Lacrosse Day - Value our Volunteers: Alison Cara

Today marks National Lacrosse Day 2020 and to celebrate we are valuing our dedicated lacrosse volunteers from all over the country who have kept their respective clubs and teams going through what has been a strange and stressful year.

Here, we recognise Brooklands Lacrosse Club’s junior, senior, and membership secretary and current England U19 men’s team manager, Alison Cara, who has been dealing with all coronavirus related things since the UK went into lockdown.

Despite never having played lacrosse herself, the 57 year old has been involved in the game since her son started playing around 20 years ago.

She says she’s had a lot of work to do since the prevalence of COVID-19 but that it has been an important part of getting her teams ready for the return to play.

“I am the COVID officer for Brooklands and also the England U19 men’s team; this has involved ensuring that I have the appropriate risk assessments in place which are kept updated for each Phase of the return to play pathway.

“I keep up to date with all the current guidance and monitor/make changes as necessary. I issue the guidelines for the club to all players and members to keep them up to date with the changes put in place.

“Communication is vital for all parties”.

Alison’s COVID officer role also extends to looking after the data collected from track and trace as well as ensuring the club has the necessary PPE.

During lockdown, despite the obvious difficulties, Alison says both Brooklands and the England U19 men’s team were kept busy.

“At Brooklands, we ran sessions for the juniors when allowed as we thought it was key to help them through the difficult time.

“For England, we held online meetings with the players in large and small groups, held one to ones and communicated with the players via vlogs.

“The contact was imperative for us to monitor how they were coping with the lockdown and to maintain contact.

“We have now run two training sessions in bubbles of 30 which the players have thoroughly enjoyed. I ensure we take the necessary measures to enable us to train – track and trace data, temperatures taken, supply PPE etc”.

In normal times, Alison is often seen managing various teams at Brooklands as well as running their school coaching programme. In fact, we’re not sure how Alison fits it all in!  

“I also assist with the junior coaching programme at the club. I attend the sports club playing committee meetings and until a couple of weeks ago I was on the Brooklands sports club board.

“I attend the JNGLA meetings and also the JSN meetings. I have been Chair of JSN for the last 6 years and have also been fixtures secretary on and off for a number of years and will be taking on this role again this year.

“In my role as JSN Chair I sit on the NWLA committee. I am the U19 league and competition organizer for the NW. I sit on the NEMLA committee to assist with the running of the men’s game in the North.

As you can imagine, Alison hasn’t really had much time to do anything else these days after dealing with lacrosse and coronavirus related stuff but says she does enjoy a bit of gardening and watching TV!

But ultimately sport, and lacrosse in particular, is her life and she believes it has many positive aspects, especially given the current circumstances.

“I think that maintaining contact with the players and club members is imperative. It gives you the opportunity to see how everyone is coping with the lockdown and opens up the avenues for communication if they need to talk. Everyone is dealing with the pandemic in different ways and I will do anything I can do to help.

“Giving players the opportunity to train, even if it’s only for a short period, helps maintain a little normality in these uncertain times”.  

We’d like to thank Alison for her hard-work and dedication to lacrosse, especially during this year, and we hope she continues as one of our amazing volunteers for many years to come!

National Lacrosse Day 2020 - Value our Volunteers: Dan Clements

Today marks National Lacrosse Day 2020 and to celebrate we are valuing our dedicated lacrosse volunteers from all over the country who have kept their respective clubs and teams going through what has been a strange and stressful year.

Here, we recognise Border City’s Club Chair and occasional junior/senior coach, Dan Clements who has been ensuring the club has been able to reopen since lockdown restrictions eased in July.

The 46 year old attacker, one time midfielder, and occasional pole has been involved in lacrosse on and off since 1987 (that’s 33 years!) and says planning for the return of lacrosse has been at the forefront of his mind since the lockdown was announced.

“The team have kept in touch and, as soon as we were allowed, we started socially distanced training sessions.

“But the most important thing I’ve been working on has been grant applications so that we could try to provide lacrosse to even more people in the Cumbria and South Scotland area upon our return.

“And, of course, we’ve also been planning for this season as best we can”.

When not playing or dealing with lacrosse-related stuff, Dan runs his own architectural business, is heavily involved in his professional institute, and is a retained firefighter for Cumbria Fire and Rescue.

But he feels sport, and lacrosse in particular can be a force for good, especially in such strange times.

“I think team sports in particular are fantastic for mental health, something we are particularly keen on promoting at Border City. 

“People play for a variety of reasons, but it is guaranteed contact from friendly faces each week and has still got to be one of the best physical workouts around. 

“I think most of our players, myself included, were looking forward to getting back on the pitch at the earliest opportunity; it gives everyone a sense of normality in difficult times.

We’d like to thank Dan for his hard-work and dedication to lacrosse and Border City especially during the coronavirus lockdown and beyond!

National Lacrosse Day 2020 - Value our Volunteers: Lara Owen

Today marks National Lacrosse Day 2020 and to celebrate we are valuing our dedicated lacrosse volunteers from all over the country who have kept their respective clubs and teams going through what has been a strange and stressful year.

First up, we recognise England senior women’s manager, Lara Owen, who has played a vital role in ensuring our England women’s team could maintain top level training throughout the coronavirus lockdown.

Lara, who’s 37 and has been involved in lacrosse for a whopping 27 years, is a midfielder for West London Lacrosse Club as well as being involved in the England set-up since 2010, becoming England manager in 2015.

She says the England squad has been desperate to keep in touch on a regular basis since the initial lockdown was announced way back in March.

“We started with weekly situation reporting so that we could keep track of our squad’s physical and mental health and offered support throughout for anyone that needed it.

“We had weekly update emails, and squad zoom meetings every three weeks. We are still continuing with those now.

“We had regular staff and coaches video calls in between as well to keep everything running and we set up a COVID-19 task group for key staff to plan our activities throughout the different phases of play that were allowed.

“The players organised a few squad video quizzes and a lot of online workouts! I think these were all really successful in keeping us connected as a squad, and actually got even more people involved than can usually come to physical training sessions, as we made sure the timings worked for all our overseas players and staff so they could also join”.

Despite the squad’s ability to stay in touch and keep training in an albeit different way, Lara acknowledges that it’s been difficult for all involved.

“It has been a challenging time for everyone, but we have managed to stay connected and keep training throughout the different phases of returning to play.

“Initially a lot of online workouts were done, then players who lived near each other could meet up in pairs to work on skills.

“When Phase 3 was announced, we started to organise small group training in local areas with coaches as well.

“The coaches also set different skills tasks throughout, and the players could still complete this in teams (virtually!) so keeping that competitive spirit going!

“Phase 4 has been the biggest boost to be able to get back together again as a squad. A lot of work has been done by all staff to help keep us going throughout so it has been a real team effort. Our coaches, S&C, physios and psychologist have all provided support to our players throughout so that we could stay ready to return to lacrosse when we were allowed to”!

With the coronavirus pandemic hitting team sport hard, Lara has been tasked with taking on the job of COVID Co-ordinator for both England and West London.

“We appointed the COVID officer quite early on and as manager it made sense to complete most of the COVID paperwork as I’m in charge of the squad logistics in general anyway.

“I have a great assistant manager who started during lockdown who has really helped, and our assistant coach also helped with the intent to train forms. I actually work in facilities management for my job, so have been heavily involved in all the COVID guidance and planning from the beginning, so I was happy to do this for England as well.

“I’m also the COVID officer for my club, West London, so it’s becoming my special skill”!

And with Phase 4 of Return to Play coming into force late last month, Lara thinks sport, in particular lacrosse, is the perfect tonic to what has been a pretty shoddy year for everyone.

“Sport at any level gives a lot of people a place to belong, a community and, most importantly, something in common that we all love. It’s personally such a big part of my life that there would be a huge hole without it!

“There’s the physical benefits to staying fit, but the team aspect and social side is what has kept people going through this period.

“We tried to address some of the key issues that came up during lockdown and not only had sessions on lacrosse, but had sessions on Black Lives Matter, Pride and How to be an Ally as well.

“We see sport as a key place where people and athletes can use their voice for things they believe are right”.

We’d like to thank Lara for her hard-work and dedication to lacrosse throughout her 27 year involvement as well as her enthusiasm to the cause during the coronavirus lockdown!