Stage set for School Challenge Cup this Sunday

The inaugural School Challenge Cup is all set to take place at Aldershot Garrison Sports Complex on Sunday 18 November.

Six schools, invited from the Top 16 at last year’s National Schools, will compete in a new knockout competition across 40-minute matches using the new FIL rules for the first time at school level; including 10-a-side, self-start, and reduced numbers at the draw.

The School Challenge Cup will give the top performing schools in the country the opportunity to test themselves over longer matches than at the National Schools Championships and showcase school lacrosse at the highest level.

Tournament Schedule

Round 1 - (numbers in brackets denotes team seed)
Game 1: 10:30 - Benenden (1) v Berkhamsted (2)
Game 2: 11:30 - Queen Anne’s Caversham (3) v St Helen & St Katharine (6)
Game 3: 11:30 - St James (4) v Moreton Hall (5)

5th Place Play-off
12:45 - Loser Game 2 v Loser Game 3

Semi-Finals
13:15 - Winner Game 1 v Winner Game 3
13:15 - Loser Game 1 v Winner Game 2

3rd Place Play-off
14:30 - Loser Semi-Final 1 v Loser Semi-Final 2

Final
15:30 - Winner Semi-Final 1 v Winner Semi-Final 2

Spectator Entry: £5

Catering provided onsite by Tribal Taste with a selection of curries, grills and burgers and Cupper Joe providing hot and cold drinks.

Lacrosse & World War One: 100th Anniversary

As Sunday marks the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day, England Lacrosse has taken a delve into the archives to uncover the stories of the roles the lacrosse community played during the First World War.

As part of the collective effort, The Ladies Lacrosse Association were keen to offer their support and between 1915-17 set up yearly benefit matches to raise money for war charities.

The match in 1915 was played at Richmond Athletic Ground on 10 April; the England team played a team selected from Roedean School and others in aid of unspecified war charities with the match reported on in several national newspapers and watched by about 500 spectators in which England won 12-7.

The minutes of the General Meeting held on 17 July 1915 report that the proceeds of the match in aid of a war fund came to £35.

It was agreed that this should be increased to £40 and four charities were nominated to be in receipt of the monies: the Officers Families Fund, the Professional Classes War Relief Fund, the French Red Cross and the Scottish Women’s Hospitals for Foreign Service. 

The General Meeting voted in favour of the monies being sent to the Scottish Women’s Hospitals for Foreign Service with £25 being given straight away to endow a bed for half a year and the remaining £15 to be given away later on. 

In 1916 & 17, the England team then continued to play a match for the benefit of the London Units of the Scottish Women’s Hospitals. 

The 1916 match, played at Richmond Athletic Ground, on 15 April was against a combined team of players from Bedford and Dartford Physical Training Colleges in which England won 16-6. 

In 1917 the England team played Scotland at Richmond Athletic Ground on 31 March and monies raised were sent for the upkeep of the bed endowed in the previous year, again won by England 12-5.

A total of £50 was sent to the London Units of the Scottish Women’s Hospitals for Foreign Service to endow a bed at the Royaumont Hospital in France.

The remarkable part of this story, illustrating the true worldwide involvement during the Great War, comes from the thank you letter received by the Association from the hospital.

The letter reports that the bed at the hospital was taken by a wounded soldier named Ali Ben Hassan, from Tunisia.

Ben Hassan was wounded on 1 July 1916 at the Somme, the very first day of battle and known as the bloodiest day in the history of the British Army.

The letter, in full below, received by the Ladies Lacrosse Association details the harrowing situations the young man had been involved in and the devastation caused that tore families apart all around the world.

All the above information has been kindly provided by Karen Davies, curator of the Levick-Boyd Women’s Lacrosse archives.

The archive is always looking for new donations of lacrosse history and memorabilia and can be contacted about the archive collection at bpea@beds.ac.uk.

New FIL Women's Rule Book published

The Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) has published the new FIL International Women’s Lacrosse rule book for 2018-19.

A number of rule changes were voted through at the 2018 FIL General Assembly back in July after trial rules had been tested at particular events over the last year.

The online version of the new rule book can be accessed HERE

Adapted versions of the new rules have been implemented into the Women’s game at various levels in England for the 2018/19 season.

An overview of the rules being played in England this season can be found HERE

We are still awaiting information regarding hard copy versions of the rules being available and will provide an update once more information is available.