St Bartholomew’s School (‘St Barts’) in Newbury has been a non-selective local comprehensive school since 1975, and is now a co-ed state-funded academy school – AND is one of the few state schools offering girls lacrosse.   However, in early 2021 the school decided to end ‘competitive’ lacrosse due to the additional staff time & cost of providing weekend fixtures, although the sport continues as part of the PE curriculum.  

In response to this, a parent-led campaign was started to try to get the school to reverse this decision, but as that was unsuccessful the Phoenix LC was formed in late 2021 to support the continuation of competitive lacrosse for pupils.  

In December 2021 TLF received an application from the founders of the Phoenix LC for funding to support the set-up costs for the new club.  A grant of £1000 was approved in January 2022 which provided:

• Goalkeeper equipment pack (i.e. Helmet, Chest pad, Gloves, Stick, Goalie Pants & Shin guards)

• 120 x balls

• 5 x sticks (STX Crux 100)

• Level 2 coaching course

Lacrosse remains a popular part of the school’s PE curriculum, and the new club provides an outlet for competitive matches.   

This new junior club will initially be providing girls’ lacrosse for teams formed by St Barts pupils, but has a longer-term ambition to create a schools' outreach programme which TLF hopes will help to grow lacrosse in the area. The club will also support players selected for England Lacrosse (EL) Talent Pathway.

St Barts have traditionally played in the EL National Schools’ tournament, and the Phoenix Club is engaged with EL Regional Manager Nik Roberts to enable them to compete as a club.

Update part 1:  Having formally launched in January 2022, they had a great response and were successful in fielding three teams in competitive matches at the end of the month - U12/13, U14/15 and Seniors.

One of the Club founders Alan Moon told us:
“Our plans for the rest of the season are to continue to focus on building the teams, getting the girls motivated with matches and providing them with excellent coaching. 
Post season, we plan to run some outreach programmes to the junior schools to start to introduce the game at an earlier level and also work with some of the local state secondary schools that have dabbled in the game. Over the Summer we will take stock and map our next season out”.

See the gallery of photos on their website https://phoenixlax.co.uk/ 

Update part 2: Several members of the club joined the rest of the St Bart’s Senior Team at the National Schools Competition in Aldershot in March, where they won U19A Division 3. Their success story has also been covered in local press and had lots of attention on social media. See the story in Newbury Today (online) here.

Harris Academy Wimbledon is a co-ed academy school located in south-west London – which has only recently opened (2018), and moved into its new buildings in November 2020.   The school PE staff wanted to introduce lacrosse as a formal part of the PE curriculum, and hopefully create an after-school club with fixtures against other schools. 

In March 2021, they applied to TLF for a grant to fund the purchase of some start-up equipment - and we approved a grant of £1830 which provided:

• 40 sticks

• 60 balls

• 4 goals (suitable for 6v6 format)

Lacrosse was introduced at the start of the 2021-22 school year and has made a positive start and been enthusiastically received by the pupils. 

By the end of November 2021: 

• All 130 students in Year 10 have had a taster session in a PE lesson. 

• Around 50 students have selected lacrosse as their Year 10 option for PE – and in the first term have received 8 hours of lessons to learn basic skills and match play. 

• The school hired a new PE teacher who played lacrosse at university so have some subject specialism in the department to plan and lead on the delivery of sessions, and help up-skill other PE staff members.

• An afterschool club (open to all year groups) has been started, and around 25 students have attended for the 1.5 hour sessions each week.

• The lacrosse club is regularly promoted with announcements around school (in newsletter & via twitter), and is included in the daily lunchtime ‘multisport club’ where students have the chance to have a go and practice some basic lacrosse skills. 

With the chance to practice & play some matches, along with the continuing commitment from the PE staff, we hope this early progress can be maintained and built upon.

The school have already made contact with nearby Spencer Lacrosse Club to set up links between them; and also with SEWLA (South East Women’s Lacrosse Association) to support them in the lacrosse community. 

The Harris Federation has over 40 institutions across London (includes Primary, Academy, Sixth Form schools), https://www.harrisfederation.org.uk/36/our-academies# .  Hopefully Harris Wimbledon’s introduction of lacrosse to their curriculum may lead to other opportunities to grow the game at other academies.      

The Lacrosse Foundation has awarded a grant of £20k to England Lacrosse to provide 24 FE colleges (for age group 16-18) with equipment packs including sticks, balls and pop-up goals, plus funding towards coaching & apparel - enabling them to introduce lacrosse into their curriculum.

The Lacrosse Accredited College Scheme (LACS) initiative is a collaboration betwen England Lacrosse and the Association of Colleges, and aims to bring lacrosse to the FE sector through a coordinated and sustainable programme, increasing the opportunities for more young people to engage with the sport.

The 24 Colleges which applied to be a part of the first year of the LACS are located across the country from Barrow-in-Furness to Weymouth.

The Foundation is also providing funding for in-person Continuous Professional Development opportunities of up to £200 per college, as well as up to £50 per college towards apparel for a Young Leaders programme.

These awards will allow teachers at each of the colleges to continue to develop knowledge and skills in the sport, helping to create a sustainable FE programme, as well as providing young adults with leadership skills in addition to supporting practical delivery of lacrosse.

Read more here.

Background:

Over the past five years, Heaton Mersey Lacrosse Club has been working hard to revive its junior programme. By engaging local primary schools, delivering good-quality coaching, and running weekly sessions, the club has gone from fewer than 20 junior boys to 120 boys and girls across a range of ages.

The Application:

However, such rapid growth comes with its challenges. For the boys in particular, who each need a junior-sized helmet and other protective equipment, playing kit can quickly become sparse. With the U12 programme using most of the kit, there’s simply not enough to go around.

Heaton Mersey approached The Lacrosse Foundation seeking a medium-sized application to help tackle this issue. Their plan laid out an approach to help retain enthusiastic young players, who without access to suitable equipment might be tempted by other sports.

Coupled with their own fundraising efforts, the grant would ensure a steady stream of junior boys into the club over the next five years.

The Result:

The Foundation awarded the club £3,600 to help provide playing equipment for 20 junior U10 boys. With the new kit the boys will be able to practice properly and, most importantly, play competitive full-field games against other local clubs.

Junior Head Coach at Heaton Mersey Lacrosse Club, Richard Smith says “The Lacrosse Foundation has been fantastic in its support of our junior development at the club. We share a passion and determination to grow the game and without their support this would most certainly have been held back or even lost.

“They have given an opportunity for us to give a great and enthusiastic group of under 10 boys the opportunity to play field lacrosse in full kit. You should have seen their faces when they saw it!

“We owe a huge debt of gratitude to TLF. Thank you!”