Lacrosse is one of the fastest growing sports in England according to Lacrosse England with many new clubs in new areas as well as existing clubs offering new playing opportunities to men and women of any age and playing ability.
The sport itself is popular in Canada and North America; however it is growing quickly across Europe. The sport is regarded as one of the fastest games on two feet and attributes from a variety of games such as Basketball, Rugby, Ice Hockey, Field Hockey and Football can be seen in a match.
The sport is played with ten players on each side divided up into three attackers, three midfielders, three defenders and a goalkeeper.
Players wear protective helmets and use Lacrosse sticks (stick with a meshed net on the top to hold a ball) to move a lacrosse ball around (small rubber ball). With the objective of putting the ball into the opposition’s goal, the game is divided into four quarters with a half time break at end of the second quarter.
Lincoln lacrosse was founded by Aiden Jakubik a player and chairman for the club hoping to carry on the sport for the long term and help it grow in Lincoln. The club are currently 6th in the North of England Men’s Lacrosse Association Premier 3 (NEMLA).
Jakubik hopes to develop a partnership abroad but is restricted by finances “It would be great to have the experience of a Canadian or American on our team to assist with coaching and playing.”
The team’s main aspiration for the future is to develop a junior system to grow potential talent and continue to be competitive in the future. “We rely on the university every year bringing in freshers which is good but we want to have that root of players coming in through a junior system.”
With a keen interest in developing younger players the team is full of experienced players. “We already spend a lot of time on freshers and the university to help improve their playing ability which helps us with their players playing for us on a Saturday.”
Unfortunately lacrosse isn’t quite on the same level as football as the club relies on word of mouth to spread interest. They use posters around the city but it’s difficult to get people interested in a new sport said Jakubik.
The only source of players for the team at the present time is the University as people there are more open to trying new things. The club is trying to develop a junior system to encourage younger players to try the sport and grow its own talent in the area.
Lincoln find themselves in unchartered territory as they started the season off really well with 2 back to back wins and 2 losses. Jakubik attributes the teams recent performances to the confidence within the team and the experience developed over the past few seasons.
With the focus on developing young players the team has a lot of players on board with plenty of experience to help coach new players. Fortunately for the team they have a lot of players on board this year so have not needed to rush new players into the sport.
The club offer taster sessions to new players of all skills to try the sport and decide if the sport is for them. Anyone interested in trying out something new and looking for a fast paced sport should definitely look into lacrosse as it might just be what they looking for.