New Teams, New Equipment, and New Restrictions: University of Nottingham Lacrosse
JASMINE WAITE
Introducing our Sixth Team
The University of Nottingham have registered four Ladies Lacrosse Teams to compete in BUCS League fixtures for quite some time. However, the 2019/2020 season brought the exciting introduction of a new addition to the family: our non-BUCS fifth team. Its inaugural year proved a great success, and operated as a fantastic opportunity for prospective 4th Team players to improve, before looking to enter the competitive world of BUCS matches. Irrespective of the situation with COVID-19, recruitment for our Ladies Lacrosse Team continued to surpass capacity last semester, resulting in an oversupply of players and the requirement for even further expansion to the club this season. In response to this, Nottingham welcomed a new and exciting sixth team on the 18th October 2020. The purpose of the 6s is to provide a more relaxed and intermediary training opportunity alongside the 5s- to bridge the gap between Beginners and BUCS team training- for players who are entirely new to the sport when they arrive at university. Alongside the 5s, the 6s have joined our Beginners Tier Membership Programme, allowing them to a non-BUCS-registered reduced membership fee, once weekly training sessions, and the opportunity to participate in all of our charity and social events. The introduction of a 6th Team has allowed 18 more players to officially join the club and will hopefully help to prevent the oversubscription of players at our Beginners and Engage sessions in the future. National lockdown has put a pause to all university sport, however everyone is looking forward to seeing how the 6s evolve, once training sessions are allowed to resume!
Club Charity Fundraisers
In November, the club completed the ‘Move Movember Challenge’. Each of our six teams aimed to complete sixty kilometres of walking/ cycling/ running, for the sixty men which we lose to suicide each hour, every hour across the world.
Collectively, this amounted to a minimum of 360kms, with every player involved donating a £3.50 participation fee. To visit our ‘mo space’ fundraising page and view the total raised, visit: https://movember.com/m/14346906
The club was also eager to get involved in Student Minds’ ‘Facilitating Friendships Initiative’. This pairs new students with second, third, or fourth year students, so they can contact a familiar face with any worries or concerns throughout the year.
Finally, the team raised £122.59 in support of the Stonewall #RainbowLaces campaign, held on 9th December 2020. This endeavors to empower the LGBTQ+ community and create positive change to support diversity and inclusivity in sport.
We also held a lacrosse themed giveaway via Instagram @uonladieslax! The prize comprised of a selection of merch and lax stash from Lax Lounge- including a hoodie, t-shirt, sliders, bottle opener, and socks! Follow us to see more!
A Final Thanks to England Lacrosse
Many thanks to Kasey Allen for helping us to expand our equipment supply to a sufficient level, in light of our ever-growing number of beginners players! Not only our Beginners and Engage Lacrosse Teams, but the entire club are incredibly appreciative of this kind gesture and cannot wait to put our new kit to good use as soon as match play can recommence! (Photographs and video footage pending!)