England Lacrosse are delighted to announce that The Lacrosse Foundation (TLF) has awarded a significant grant to fund the Lacrosse Accredited Colleges Scheme (LACS) in Further Education (FE) institutions across England.
The Foundation’s grant has provided 24 FE colleges with equipment packs including sticks, balls and pop-up goals plus funding towards coaching & apparel, to introduce the sport into their curriculums with a focus on Lacrosse 6’s as a simple, engaging and inclusive format of the game for the education sector.
The Lacrosse Foundation is a charity dedicated to supporting and growing the game of lacrosse across Great Britain; and aims to promote community participation, assist in the provision of facilities and advance the education of young people in the sport of lacrosse.
The LACS initiative aims to bring lacrosse to the FE sector through a coordinated and sustainable programme, increasing the opportunities for more young people to engage with the sport.
In conjunction with the Association of Colleges Sport, the 24 institutions applied to be a part of the first year of the LACS and are located across the country from Barrow-in-Furness to Weymouth.
The Foundation is also providing funding for in-person Continuous Professional Development opportunities of up to £200 per college, as well as up to £50 per college towards apparel for a Young Leaders programme.
These awards will allow teachers at each of the colleges to continue to develop knowledge and skills in the sport, helping to create a sustainable FE programme, as well as providing young adults with leadership skills in addition to supporting practical delivery of lacrosse.
Helen Amos, England Lacrosse LACS lead, said: “We are extremely grateful to The Lacrosse Foundation for awarding this grant to support the project.
“This substantial investment will help to accelerate the positive impact of the LACS in increasing regular participation within the 16-18 age group as part of the England Lacrosse Playground to Podium strategy.”
The Foundation has also agreed in principle to fund the expansion of the LACS over the next two years, with the ambition of more than doubling the number of colleges involved in the scheme by the 2022/23 academic year.
Rob Collinge, Chair of TLF said: "The Lacrosse Foundation is very pleased to be supporting England Lacrosse in growing the number of students playing lacrosse.
EL’s new initiative to bring the game to FE colleges will help to create a great feed of new players into both the university and club sides across the country."
More details on The Lacrosse Foundation including further information on the process for potential grant applications can be found at www.thelacrossefoundation.co.uk