October 2024: Freshers Recruitment and Retention in Review
University lacrosse has witnessed a fantastic rate of expansion this season, in conjunction with the launch of our Women’s University Aspire programme and the sport’s pending Olympic ambitions! Nationally, many institutions have increased their number of participating athletes quite considerably, with several now offering newly-established casual, beginners, or ad-hoc training opportunities too.
Recruitment Champions
University of Bath yielded a phenomenal result from their Freshers Fair this year, recruiting a whopping 267 freshers to join the club. The society received 100 sign-ups via their interest form, splitting down into a relatively even 51% male, 49% female split, and converting into 97 development session attendees (58 female and 39 male). University of York also witnessed a fantastic uptake in the sport this season, receiving 128 expressions of interest in their club during September 2024 alone. Their ‘Give It A Go’ intiative also welcomed 35 male and 72 female attendees- amounting to over 100 new students trying the sport!
Recruitment in Numbers
On the topic of successful expansion, the University of Sheffield also signed its highest number of boys ever this year, with everyone keen to take part in their ‘Beat the Goalie’ competition. They held an equally as impressive ‘Give it a Go’ session, which attracted over 100 participants. Reaching an almost even split, the session welcomed 65 female and 46 male attendees, including only 12 players with prior experience. A further 14 attended the university’s Women’s Team trials- with 7 making the 1st Team, and 4 joining the 2s- not to mention another 4 pre-existing development players moving up to join the 2s as well! In addition, 3 new players also attended the University of Sheffield Men’s Team trials.
Cardiff Metropolitan University collected an exciting 77 sign-ups during their Freshers Fair this season, with a total taster session attendance of 38, and a further 11 players interested in joining their BUCS squad. Expansion of the sport at university level in Wales was not isolated to the capital, with Swansea University also seeing an increase of 55 men and 49 women join their university lacrosse club.
Similarly, the University of Northampton reported an exciting 64 additional sign-ups to their Women’s club this season, with 19 joining the Men’s side of the society. The University of Leeds also received 40 new sign-ups, converting into approximately 20 students remaining in the club and now attending as regular players.
Mixed Lacrosse Recruitment
In the world of Mixed Lacrosse, the University of Southampton have already gained in the region of 15 to 20 additional retained members so far this year, with a 30:70 percent split between males and females. Their Women’s Team has also increased in players by a similar volume- with all recruits entirely new to the sport. Further still, their Men’s Team has too expanded by an additional 10-15 new regular members.
New Recruits
As a new club on the University Lacrosse Officer Programme this year, over 20 keen students from the University of Warwick Medics Lacrosse Society recently partook in a training session with England Lacrosse’s Nik Roberts, who was on-site to help expand their kit and equipment supply and deliver a dozen sticks and balls to their ULO, Georgie Laidlaw. The evening was reportedly highly enjoyed by all, with Georgie next set to complete her Fundamentals of Coaching Lacrosse training with Nik, to achieve her Level 1 Coaching Certificate. If you are interested in the opportunity to qualify yourself, click here for more details!
Other Honorable Mentions
The University of Reading also held two introductory taster sessions to kick-start their 2024/2025 season, with over 60 attendees taking part in total. A breakdown of 27 girls attended Session 1, with a view to join their Women’s Club, followed by a further 15 at Session 2. They participated alongside 10 boys on the first evening, succeeded by a high retention rate of 8 at Session 2, trialling for the Men’s Club.
Finally, lacrosse at the University of Plymouth continues to grow, with 11 new girls joining the society this year, with only 3 of which holding previous experience in playing lacrosse. Meanwhile, an additional 7 boys- all of which were complete beginners to the sport- also joined the Men’s side of the club.
The Upcoming Season
The season is already well underway, with a number of exciting wins and strong contenders levelling the BUCS playing field! It’s all to play for as semester one draws to a close- but who will come out on top before the Christmas break? Stay tuned via our main website and socials for a round up of all of the results.