The University of Lancaster Lacrosse Club is a diverse and extremely fun club to be a part of. It consists of three teams – Women’s, Mixed and Men’s, all with varying rules so there is definitely something for everyone. If you’ve never heard of lacrosse – it’s a game played on a large rectangular pitch – the object of the game is to score goals with a rubber ball which is passed using a stick with a triangular pocket or basket at the end.
The basics are as follows: a lacrosse team has ten players: three attack men (or women), three midfielders, three defence men (or women), and one goalkeeper. It looks a lot hockey, but also has a lot in common with basketball. The offensive side of the game involves a lot of fast breaks and picks, or interceptions, and the defensive side of the game can be compared to football with zonal or person on person marking. Although this all sounds daunting, everyone at the club is massively patient and will help teach you the basics, which are surprisingly easy to learn. When I joined I had never played before but I found the people welcoming and the atmosphere really upbeat and comfortable. If you are wary of the idea of contact sports you can play mixed, but if you start feeling a little more adventurous you can move on the Women’s or Men’s which involve more complex rules about what you can and can’t do on the pitch.
Training takes place on the astroturf pitches and will help you master and polish your game skills. For beginners, training will help you with techniques needed to be good enough to manage in a game – these range from basic passing and catching to movement when you haven’t got the ball and reading play to get ahead of your opponent. The team is generally split evenly between people who played before University and people who hadn’t. Those who have played before are always willing to offer tips and advice so you’re constantly improving your game and after a few training sessions you will start to enjoy yourself and will have made new friends. To make all this even better, the club has been kitted out with brand new equipment this year, so there is a strong feeling of potential around the club this year. The Lacrosse club performed above expectations last year and is definitely beginning to establish itself.
The club has three teams, but the socials that take place usually involve the whole club so you will get to know everybody involved. This inevitably leads to a great team bond and you’ll end up supporting each other week in week out. Training this term will take place between 4 – 6pm on Tuesdays and Mixed Training will takes place between 3.30 – 5pm on Thursdays. The team will meet outside the sports centre around ten minutes before training starts so everybody can wander down together.
The Lacrosse club are more than happy to answer any questions you might have on Facebook, or head down to a training session and speak to a member of the exec. You can even just visit and watch a session to get a feel for what the sport actually entails.
