Expanding Australian Lacrosse

[12345]

What are everybody's opinions on expanding lacrosse in Australia? I would love for lacrosse to become a lot bigger, and it sort of baffles me that Lacrosse Australia do not regularly field teams from NSW, Qld or even Tassie at tournaments. I know they are developing assosciations, but surely the only way for them to get better is to send a team to play higher quality lacrosse, have a great time and spread the word back in their home state. I know that they have all sent teams at one time or another, but if they became a regular fixture it would improve the game in their state and also provide more of a competition for the trophy (which, by the way, these states can't even win because they are not member states of Lacrosse Australia).

Also, where do you stand on the "State v Regional" argument for the Under 17s national tournament?

[shooter]

I think they should start lacrosse up in Canberra. I know it has fewer people but it also does not have a dominance by any of the footbaling codes so there is an opening there i think, at least more of a chance of success than in Qld or NSW.

I think U17 should be regional, but with fewer teams than U15, whilst U19 mens should be state.

[lightningmvp]

yeah this would be handy for us smaller assoociations. It would benefit the whole of australia to one day get a tournament where everyone is able to win it. just like the cricket...everyone is able to win it

[lukeoz]

it just needs people who are willing to set up a system in unchartered territory to compete against a plethora of other sports and individual pursuits who are trying to attract the same people!!

it would be good if lacrosse australia could (if they haven't already) produce a serious strategy and mission plan to expand lacrosse into new areas, as well as how to strengthen the foothold in the established states... they could produce a "starter kit" for a small group of people who would like to establish a new club or competition

i think a good place to start targeting is our universities, where people often look for new challenges in life... i know these people are less likely to become national representatives but i think they are more likely to fall in love with the game and be committed to take it to new places after uni and plant the seeds for further growth... also as students they are likely to have the free time to help support and expand the club, make it sociable and attractive to everyone

shooter, do you live in canberra? there would be the ideal opportunity to start up a uni comp, you would have ANU, Canberra Uni, the Defence Force Academy, even a campus of Australian Catholic University I think, that's enough to start up a competition... it could start off mixed and then as it grows, then hopefully add separate men's and women's comps

places like sydney, northern NSW and southeast queensland have plenty of unis that could be targeted, and even in the established areas really only Adelaide and Melbourne unis have teams

i think it's an untapped market of huge potential

[endoftheline]

the problem with having unis is people are likely to stop playing after they finished their course and few would stick around. Another way would be to get private school to include lacrosse as one of their saturday morning sports sort of like Melbourne High. If there was a private schools lacrosse comp on saturday and then a club comp on sunday a lot of the private school kids who really like lacrosse would spill over into club. It would be no good if it became like AFL clubs when clubs struggle to field under 16, under 17s team because all the kids have to play for school.
Probably the most effective way to get people to play is just to get people from clubs to go to more and more schools and recruit kids. Then if they have really enthuiastic and good coaches they'll hopeful keep playing. I know most clubs do this but they don't cover every school and it would good if lacrosse victoria could get fuding to hire a couple of guys who know lots about lacrosse to come round to all the schools (primary and highschool) and run clinics and just say the names of clubs in their area and not push towards any one club. It would also be good if they could get some agreement with eddy toomey from auslax to have some bargain starter pack with all the gear for like half price because buying lacrosse gear is expensive and i expect most parents (mine were) will be reluctant to hand out $400 or whatever.
On the subject of eddy toomey he is such a stooge he tried to short change my friend by giving him a fijian ten cents instead of a dollar but my friend was to quick for him.

[lightningmvp]

yeah its the neccesities that each association needs. a mate of mine is moving to canberra and he'll be keen to keep playing lax coz otherwise he'll have to play box up in sydney. LaxAustralia should buy some cheap gear and pay ppl to live out in areas and start up associations.

it just needs people who are willing to set up a system in unchartered territory to compete against a plethora of other sports and individual pursuits who are trying to attract the same people!!

it would be good if lacrosse australia could (if they haven't already) produce a serious strategy and mission plan to expand lacrosse into new areas, as well as how to strengthen the foothold in the established states... they could produce a "starter kit" for a small group of people who would like to establish a new club or competition

i think a good place to start targeting is our universities, where people often look for new challenges in life... i know these people are less likely to become national representatives but i think they are more likely to fall in love with the game and be committed to take it to new places after uni and plant the seeds for further growth... also as students they are likely to have the free time to help support and expand the club, make it sociable and attractive to everyone

shooter, do you live in canberra? there would be the ideal opportunity to start up a uni comp, you would have ANU, Canberra Uni, the Defence Force Academy, even a campus of Australian Catholic University I think, that's enough to start up a competition... it could start off mixed and then as it grows, then hopefully add separate men's and women's comps

places like sydney, northern NSW and southeast queensland have plenty of unis that could be targeted, and even in the established areas really only Adelaide and Melbourne unis have teams

i think it's an untapped market of huge potential

And definately UNI's should be targetted. this is where ppl learn most about themselves and gain new friends. eg...2 mates decide to play lax 4 uni...they love it...tell all their mates...they play......tell mates, etc. this would make lax HUGE!

[lukeoz]

uni lax is definitely booming in the south of england where i am living at the moment, and so many new players, many of whom have never heard of the game before, love it and want to play as much as they can...

one thing that probably helped it here is that in the south the women's game is established and many of the men were drawn to the women staffing the lacrosse stall in fresher's week!

all the same i think it won't take too much of a catalyst to start off a lacrosse comp of some sort or other between uni teams in places with high student populations... it doesn't have to be full field rules to start with, but if it gets a foothold then it might become an established presence

endoftheline has a point in that people are likely to stop playing after they leave uni, but that's not always the case and so many people only play for a couple of years anyway, whether it's juniors or seniors... when they leave uni they might join an existing club, or if they're really keen and move somewhere else, they might try and start a new one (wishful thinking but you never know)

[laxlegend]

1st of all, Don't bag Eddy. He's a good bloke and if he hadn't set up his shop then we would all be driving to Oakliegh to place an order for gear that they don't have.

2nd, and more importantly, I go to a private shcool in Victoria, and they play sport on a Saturday morning, at almost the same time as lacrosse games, so every Saturday morning in winter, I go and play rugby for school, then come dashing to lacrosse, getting changed in the car, to play. My club (Malvern) has lost dozens of would-be awesome players to Private School sport.

3rd, I reckon that going round to public schools having clinics is a really good idea. That's how I started playing, and even if these clinics only get one person from each school to join, it will be worth it, because they will then tell friends and siblings, who they tell their friends, who tell their friends, resulting in more people joining a club. That's what happened to me and now, even though I don't go to Primary school anymore, heaps of people from that school play.

[piglet]

The Uni system really needs to be targeted as previous writers have noted. I started a team at Monash Uni in 1991 & our mission was to play in the Intervarsity Competition (All University Carnival played annually). We had 3 guys that played lax. The first year I got 10 guys to play the next year we had 143 and the next 16 before the team disbanded - I changed Universities to study something else. (We won the Competition the first two years!!). The players from Monash actually went on to play for Surrey and formed the backbone of a Div 1 Premiership team and continued playing for another 3 years before moving on with their careers. (they are now Corporate CEO's Attorneys & Doctors - good quality Alumni to have if some one wished to exploite them). I did all this while I played State League at my regular club.
This can be done again but it would be better for someone to stay with the Uni team to kep it going.
Thousands of Uni students sign up for sports and activities at Orientation each year at each Uni. Most have never heard of lacrosse. The Uni's will partitially fund the sports teams and look after their grounds ect..
Now with the modern equipment in particular it is easier to pick the game up and become a good player quickly if you train hard. With the students all being together every day they could train 5 days a week without too much of a problem. They also have access to some of the best facilities in Australia at each Uni - clubs are totally unable to compete with the faciliteis that the Uni's ahve to offer. In the states now. Uni's are giving scolarships to students that have never played lacrosse providing that are excellent athletes. They figure they can learn once they get to Uni - and they do!!!!!
Why can't we do the same thing. The students are there and are ready and willing to play.
I would do it but I live in the USA.

[12345]

3rd, I reckon that going round to public schools having clinics is a really good idea. That's how I started playing, and even if these clinics only get one person from each school to join, it will be worth it, because they will then tell friends and siblings, who they tell their friends, who tell their friends, resulting in more people joining a club. That's what happened to me and now, even though I don't go to Primary school anymore, heaps of people from that school play.

Some of you might know Clark Wight, he coached WA for a few years, he is principal of a large boy's school in WA and at the end of this year he organised an exhibition match to be played at the school. The boys saw guys running around whacking each other with sticks and apparently a lot of them signed up to play next year. Something that simple, and it's probably been the biggest single recruitment all year. There should be more things like that.

[shooter]

shooter, do you live in canberra? there would be the ideal opportunity to start up a uni comp, you would have ANU, Canberra Uni, the Defence Force Academy, even a campus of Australian Catholic University I think, that's enough to start up a competition... it could start off mixed and then as it grows, then hopefully add separate men's and women's comps


No I'm a Melbourne boy. But I have applied for entry into the Defence Force Academy, so i could be spending 3 years there. Probably the reason i suggested Canberra, I don't want to go laxless.
There are plenty of sorts club at ADFA but no lacrosse, however a guy i was speaking to said you could try and start up your own club, the problem being that in Canberra there would be no lacrosse competition as things are now.
Maybe unis are the way to go.

[endoftheline]

1st of all, Don't bag Eddy. He's a good bloke and if he hadn't set up his shop then we would all be driving to Oakliegh to place an order for gear that they don't have.

2nd, and more importantly, I go to a private shcool in Victoria, and they play sport on a Saturday morning, at almost the same time as lacrosse games, so every Saturday morning in winter, I go and play rugby for school, then come dashing to lacrosse, getting changed in the car, to play. My club (Malvern) has lost dozens of would-be awesome players to Private School sport.

3rd, I reckon that going round to public schools having clinics is a really good idea. That's how I started playing, and even if these clinics only get one person from each school to join, it will be worth it, because they will then tell friends and siblings, who they tell their friends, who tell their friends, resulting in more people joining a club. That's what happened to me and now, even though I don't go to Primary school anymore, heaps of people from that school play.

Oakleigh (its now ashburton) is more central than Vermont and what i said is if they started a private school comp then they have to move regular comp or at least juniors competition to sunday. Did you go to Lloyd Street because thats where malvern get a lot of there kids from.

[Doski]

piglet, sounds like you've done great...good to hear a story like urs never knew that sort of thing can be achieved... damned that there isn't a monash uni team, otherwise my avatar here (look left) would be a different logo

ne monash uni ppl around? interested in an intervarsity game with melbourne uni?

[piglet]

I'm sorry the second year we had 13 players, not 143. I only recruited buddies but they were good enough to play State league from Scratch within 3 years.
IV Lax is awsome fun!!!!!!!!!!!

[lukeoz]

If you end up going to ADFA and you have the time and energy you may want to put it on yourself to try and start some sort of competition up there. You will probably get some support from Lacrosse Australia, but if you do end up doing so, start small and get it right first time. The problem if you do end up starting something is that when you leave someone will need to carry it on. Somebody started up a league in Townsville a few years ago and it died in the arse a year after he left. A shame!