Throughout the 2023/24 domestic season, we’ll be highlighting a different club each month to showcase the great work being done in the community by clubs around the country and our club for December is Nuneaton Lacrosse Club.
Nuneaton is a relatively new lacrosse club having been initially founded as a men’s club in 2018 by Chris White, Alex Kelly, Paul White, Alex Rossiter, Tom Porter, Jack Miller, Charlie Allen, Reece McNamara, and Pat Land.
The club had fairly humble beginnings with the first training session taking place on 9 April 2018 at Paul’s Land Park in Nuneaton with goal and equipment stored in White’s garage and car and moved around with the nomadic team as they played in the park, on local five-a-side pitches, and at Nuneaton Sports Academy before finding its now permanent home at Keresley RFC in 2021.
To mark the work the nine founding members did in forming the club five years ago, it was agreed at this year’s Annual General Meeting that they would be awarded ‘Honorary Vice-President’ status, a title that will continue to be bestowed upon those at Nuneaton who have five years’ service and have played a key role in the club’s development.
At the end of April 2019, Nuneaton added a women’s section to their club, driven by Paige Wesley, Amy Johnson, Cari Land, Tayler-Mae Porter, Megan Toop-Rose, and Beth Walker; they continue to be very active in running the team to this day.
The club currently has two men’s teams playing in the South of England Men’s Lacrosse Association (SEMLA) Midlands League with the first team sitting at the top of the table as things stand.
Led by founding member and current Nuneaton Chairperson, Chris White, who has over 25 years’ experience, both men’s teams are incredibly competitive but are also extremely welcoming to new players with and without lacrosse-playing experience.
The men’s second team is ideal for players who are new to the sport as they have a good mixture of newcomers and key experienced players from the club who have leadership roles within the team to help new players learn and improve.
In terms of women’s teams, Nuneaton has one team that is continually growing and welcoming new players of every and all abilities.
Although not part of a formal league structure, the Nuneaton women’s side play friendly matches with local teams on a regular basis and have entered tournaments over the years such as Blues Fest, Bath 8s, the South West Tournament, and Stockport September Sixes.
The women’s team is coached by experienced player, Beth Walker, who began her playing career at Ashton Lacrosse Club in Greater Manchester before moving to Stockport to continue her development.
Walker played at a variety of levels around the country and even across the pond before moving to the Midlands where she played at university and joined Nuneaton.
Rounding off Nuneaton’s teams is their mixed lacrosse team that sees men’s and women’s players playing in the same team against other mixed teams; they tend to play friendlies against clubs in the local area as well as university teams.
Founded as a club whose aim is to have a friendly atmosphere and integration throughout the club, Nuneaton pride themselves in great team cohesion as well as a club-wide friendship, doing things as a club rather than separate teams.
And their big overarching aim is to make lacrosse a larger and more visible sport in the Midlands; before the club was founded, lacrosse wasn’t an accessible sport within the region but since 2018 and Nuneaton’s inception this has changed dramatically.
They’ve had major successes with people who picked up the sport at university and wanted to carry on once they graduated along with people who started playing as children from the north and south who have since moved to the Midlands.
With lacrosse not really being played at school level in the West Midlands, Nuneaton want to grow their name in the local area and have members who live locally, giving them a safe space to play the sport they love.
Despite lacrosse being the club’s bread and butter, they feel the social side of things is what really sets them apart with players socialising after training and, during games, members of the club who aren’t playing are found on the sidelines cheering every member of the team on.
Some of Nuneaton’s biggest social events revolve around annual competitions like Blues Fest and Bath 8s where the whole club spends the weekend together playing and partying.
They also have regular annual socials with the Christmas curry and end of season awards being nice occasions to get together and celebrate their achievements; they love to have regular socials as well with the club’s recent fifth birthday party going down a treat and a game of ‘pass the parcel’ with mini water guns inside quickly turning into chaos!
As the club looks towards the future, they would love to grow their women’s team, increasing the number of players at training sessions and on match days with the aim of playing more matches, entering more tournaments, and coming away with trophies.
The men’s team has a similar goal of growing numbers with the ultimate aim being to add more teams to the two that already exist.
Training takes place at Keresley RFC in Coventry (Burrown Hill Lane CV7 8BE) on Wednesday nights between 7pm & 8:30pm with socialising in the club house afterwards strongly encouraged; home games are held at Keresley RFC usually on a Sunday.
Once players become a regular attendee at the club, there is £20 membership fee along side £3 training session and £5 match fees although those taking part in their first training session at Nuneaton will receive that session free of charge.
Nuneaton’s men’s team captain, Jack Miller, was delighted when he discovered the club shortly after finishing university.
“I picked up lacrosse at Coventry University back in 2013 as a fresher and instantly loved the sport. Just after I graduated there, I saw a post on the SEMLA Facebook page trying to gauge what players were living in the Midlands. A few years after that initial post turned into the start of what is now Nuneaton Lacrosse club.
“I was lucky enough to be one of the original members who founded the club and I can say out of the small time I’ve been playing this sport, of any sport, I think you’d find it hard to match the atmosphere and friendly faces that we have at Nuneaton Lacrosse club.
“This club is all about welcoming in new or experienced players and helping each other develop on and off the field. This club has helped me make some great mates through an awesome sport!”
Club Content Creator, Isabel Brown, believes lacrosse is one of the most welcoming sports and that Nuneaton’s focus on inclusivity is what makes it unique.
“I started lacrosse at university in 2019 and loved the sport and the people I met playing. I found it such as welcoming sport for newcomers and could always be found at every training and game to try and improve my skills.
“Being from Coventry, I never thought I would be able to find a club near me to carry on playing after I graduated, especially a club as wonderful as Nuneaton. However, I found their Instagram, went along to a training session, and was immediately welcomed into the team and the club.
“I’ve loved every minute of being a part of the Bears - togetherness and joy really is at the heart of this club.
“Nuneaton prides itself in the way we’ve grown as a club and welcoming new players to continue our journey.”
For those wanting a little more insight into what Nuneaton Lacrosse Club is like, head to their Instagram, Facebook, or Tik Tok.
If you’d like your club to be featured in our series, please send an email to j.naylor@englandlacrosse.co.uk.
