“It’s been the best thing that’s ever happened to me, the minute I walked in I felt so welcome and it was just the best feeling ever, it’s such a massive part of my life.
“I think we are so good at gelling as a whole club, I know there are some clubs where they keep their men’s and women’s teams separated, but here we connect both teams as well as our mixed team and our younger players, and I’ve made so many friends, they’re the best people.”
Learning lacrosse whilst at school, Molly Edwards has been playing the sport for over 17 years, and was eager to re-join a club upon moving back to the UK, after living Australia for three years.
Originally joining for the social aspect, she has since become women’s club captain, whilst also coaching.
“We have such a nice community feel, and there’s such a great atmosphere here.
“The club has so many amazing people, you can come and play at any age, any level, there’s something for everyone.”
Inclusivity is a massive part of the club, with their new ‘Introduction to Lacrosse’ sessions massively helping those who are new to the sport to feel more comfortable, whilst learning from some of the county’s best players.
“They’re the start of picking a lacrosse stick and ball, there’s usually around four sessions before they progress to talent development, and from there they can hopefully progress to playing for one of our teams.
“It’s nice we’ve created a development system where we can see how they’ve come on as players, especially if they’re ones who have started from scratch.”
The sport is an incredibly niche one, with an estimated 65,000 people playing in the UK (just 0.1% of the population) and has an image of being a ‘posh’ game, though many involved are keen to shake this reputation.
Edwards believes that introducing people to the sport at a young age is the key to attracting more players, and should help class diversity in the sport.
“It’s genuinely an awareness thing, even now I’ll mention to people ‘I’m playing lacrosse on the weekend’ and they’ll say ‘what’s that?’,” she laughed.
“I think we need to get more universities involved, and getting them involved at club level is massive too.
“And if we can get it into all different types of schools, it would be such a great thing for them to have a go at, especially young girls.”
With lacrosse officially announced for the 2028 Summer Olympics, the first time it’s appeared in the games for 80 years, Edwards believes participation the sport can really take off, if it’s given the right platform.
“Getting it into the Olympics is amazing, I hope that in itself can create that awareness, and people can see how good the sport is for themselves.
“It being in Los Angeles is great too, and that stage should help attract more people to lacrosse.
“And it’s something to aim high for, it’s great playing for your club and playing these international tournaments, but it’s a shame there’s not much to achieve beyond that, whereas being able to represent your country, and compete for a gold medal, it’s incredible!”
