Winter Sports - Lacrosse
“These plans did not come to fruition when Barry’s wife decided that she did not want him cluttering up the house, so he still visits the club most days”
players, introducing a rubber ball and a redesigned stick, the basis of which form the modern game. By 1860, lacrosse had become Canada’s national game and, in 1867, exhibition games were played in England. In 1876, Queen Victoria watched a game being played and remarked that “the game is very pretty to watch”. In 1883, a touring team from Canada and and a team made up of Iroquois natives visited Scotland. Obviously, border controls were not as tight then as they were in 2010 as, due to a diplomatic row over passports, the Iroquois nation never actually competed in that year’s World Championships in Manchester, denying the UK of seeing one of the best lacrosse playing nations in the world. The sport is now played in many countries throughout the world, but its heartland is still in North America where the game is played to a professional level. England is the current European champions and have been for every tournament but one since the inception in 1995. They are also currently ranked 5th in the world, having participated in every world championship ever held. The USA being current world champions. Due to the popularity of the game in England, there remains many different forms of contact between the UK as a whole and the USA. Most clubs have a US player who not only plays competitively but also acts as what is termed an LDO - Lacrosse Development Officer - tasked with doing just that, developing the game in local schools and often the junior section of their designated club. They are allocated by the governing body of Lacrosse in England - the English Lacrosse Association - a member of FILA, the Federation of International Lacrosse and the overseer of all things lacrosse in England.
In addition, there are various
programmes run whereby juniors are selected from all of the clubs in the area to represent and play for that area, both in the UK and the US, on either a two or four year programme. These fortunate young people gain fantastic experience living with their host families whilst on
54 PC FEBRUARY/MARCH 2014
their two week tour, playing against various opposition as well as playing for their home club against the touring Americans on their return visit, culminating, on this side of the Atlantic, with the UK v US end of tour game at Stockport Lacrosse club. These games are played here due to it, probably surprisingly, being the oldest lacrosse club in the world. It also sits in the heartland of English men’s lacrosse. Stockport Lacrosse Club was founded in the 1875/76 season and have been going ever since.
The Senior Flags victory of 1896 was the start of the first of two all conquering periods. For eight consecutive seasons - from 1896 to 1903 - Stockport swept aside all opposition to win the Flags, a record that has not been equalled since. In the same period, the Iroquois Cup and First Division Championship were both won six times. A major trophy of the period remains in the possession of the Club. This is the Flags Final Challenge Flag, which was won outright in 1898. The flag is a large, finely detailed embroidered trophy depicting two lacrosse players dressed in the kit of the period stood on each side of a shield, with the winning clubs of the previous seasons scrolled on each side. The Challenge Flag is permanently on display in the clubhouse. More recently, the current first team have been sweeping all aside and a four year unbeaten run came to an end only recently.
Les Grainger, a very important figure in Stockport’s history, laid the foundations for this success and, up to five or six years ago, all players were home grown. However, success breeds success as we all know and, just like in any sport, amateur or pro, to make the national team you need to be noticed and have the ability to play to your potential, which often requires good players alongside you. Over recent years, five players have
been recruited from other clubs. This is a contentious issue as, for one, it restricts A team growth (most clubs have a number of teams playing in different divisions of
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