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This past year has been full of highs and lows but, ultimately, it’s a year we should be utterly proud of. One thing unique to Warwick Lacrosse is that we work hard and we play even harder. However, this year, we wanted to put the emphasis on the work and the sport and put the fun second. We took a reputation of being a social and relaxed (maybe even too relaxed) sports club head on and we did good. Really, really good.
Each of our 7 competitive teams working under 14 brilliant captains showed excellent commitment and dedication to improving their play all year.
The Men’s 1’s came off the back of a league relegation last season to win the league this year. Varsity saw both Men’s 1st and 2nd teams absolutely annihilate our Coventry neighbours and rivals and the entire BUCS year was full of a type of Lacrosse that I can only say was of an utterly exceptional standard. Aakash and Jonah, as Captain and Vice you blew me away. Thank you on behalf of the squad and club for everything you did.
The Ladies 1’s showed once again why they are one the best sides in their BUCS league by staying focused and committed to fitness and skills all the way from Pre-season to the last BUCS match of the season. The girls worked extremely hard to make sure that you can’t even tell that we have no official coaches when we go up against sides who have more professional training and fitness than you can throw a stick at. We went up against Loughborough and we beat them. That is just one of the superb performances from the squad this year and I have been so proud of what you’ve achieved this year regardless of win or loss. If you want to see the spirit of Lacrosse at its finest, come watch our Ladies 1s play. Becky and Ugochi, you were one of the most inspiring Captain and Vice captains I have seen and thank you for all your hard work.
The tough thing about our club is that we have a lot of novices who only started playing at university join our Women’s 2nd team. So this year, we officially established the Development Squad and joined the South West Women’s Lacrosse League (SWWLA) to encourage the development of our newest players and ensure that by the end of the year our novices are now strong Lacrosse player who will form a solid Women’s 2nd Team the following year. I am so proud of Lucy and Laura for running such an excellent development squad and seeing the girls play makes me so proud of their progress. We made the commitment to improve the calibre of our women’s novice players and we did it. Pat yourselves on the backs ladies.
Also congratulations to Luke and Abdi with SEMLA this year, whilst we may not have played as many matches as we would have liked, it was still amazing to see all the development, 1s and 2s boys playing together and you did fantastic work.
The Ladies and Men’s 2nd teams went up against the usual struggles of so many Lacrosse clubs in the country, no coaches, no official fitness sessions and a very massive shortage of kit. However, because we don’t like to dwell on the negatives, the Captains threw themselves at the task and committed to not quit and do their best. I was lucky to have secured a development grant of £1000 which was vital in order to provide kit that we so desperately needed for new players. Unfortunately, the second teams lost a lot of players this year and a lot of novice players stepped up to the mark and joined the BUCS teams. The captains did an excellent job under an extreme amount of pressure. I want to thank the captains for choosing to roll up their sleeves and work on the team’s performance. Whilst we may not have had the wins that we deserved, the teams put in more blood, sweat (and even tears) than any other team they went up against. Congratulations Yonny, Krz, Becca and Em for sticking through one of the toughest seasons of any Seconds team in while.
Mixed proved once again why they are legitimately one of the best Mixed teams in our region by coming 2nd in their league and playing such excellent Lacrosse. Meleesha and Henry you honoured the star studded legacy of Mixed and raised an already high bar for the next Captain and Vice. Well done.
I also want to say thank you to Nik Roberts of England Lacrosse for all of your support at the start of the year. You gave me so many great ideas of how we could improve our performance as a club and vital pieces of advice such as your suggestion to train the Ladies 1st and 2nd teams together proved to be invaluable as our team performances improved. I was inspired by your work with Bath Lacrosse and I hope that you and the next president continue working together to help Warwick Lacrosse go from strength to strength.
Naturally, the rest of my executive committee deserve a thank you. My Vice President Adheeb Saibo was wonderful to work with this year – and you balanced it all with a spot on the Men’s 1st team. You have been a fantastic treasurer and vice and really supported me throughout my presidency. I couldn’t have done it without you. Ella Morrison was such a fantastic Communications and Marketing Secretary that words don’t even do you justice, except for these: thank you. Tobi you were an excellent Kit Secretary and I want to personally thank you for the beautiful new kit and stash you designed and got for all of us. Mitch, Dan and Will as Fixtures and Tour Secretaries you did such a good job, despite some rather significant hurdles and I’m very grateful. India thank you for choosing the James Wentworth-Stanley Memorial fund as our charity and really highlighting how important it is to fight for greater support for those struggling with their mental health and also for putting on such great events. Last, but by no means least, thank you to Social Secretaries Bella and Ryan for making sure that when we were done with all our work, we had some seriously good fun. You were also instrumental in integrating our fresher intake, establishing their commitment to the sport and making sure they were a part of the family.
And thank you to all of our members for joining, playing, engaging and even running for the 2017/18 exec. I am so happy with the next generation of Warwick Lacrosse.
As someone who is not naturally a sportswoman, running a sports club was always going to be a challenge. But for each person around me who also shared my vision for the club’s growth and development, the challenge was that much easier to undertake. I hope I have done you all proud as President and I hope the next person to fill my shoes builds upon the progress the club has already made. Rome wasn’t built in a day and I always knew that we wouldn’t get to the top of every league in one year, but I am grateful for the honour of having been able to contribute to that journey. Good luck and thank you for everything Warwick Lacrosse.
Peace,
Madam President x
