Walking past the twenty two acres, you aren’t just struck by the vast amount of sport facilities (and Duck accommodation) that York has as to offer, but as I often was in my first year as an unwilling Halifax student, intrigued and amazed by the variety and quality of different sports that you’ll often find training there. One of these is Lacrosse, one of the fastest developing sports in the British University and College Sport (BUCS) league.
This development has enabled the teams flying the York flag to surf the wave of excitement in style, with the Lacrosse team currently one of the most successful clubs on campus. Last season in particular saw the team shine in league and cup alike, with the men’s first winning the Northern B2 league and the Northern Conference cup, while the women’s team achieved the same success, also winning the double, adding to the claim that this is the cream of crop for sport at York.
York took the confidence of this phenomenal success in BUCS to Roses last year, with the men’s team just being piped by a determined home team of Lancaster, who won 6-5 in a very close encounter, the women’s team couldn’t be challenged however and eased to victory against their Lancaster rivals with a score of 13-1.
The team will be looking to improve on last year’s success, though this will be some mean feat with the quality of results and performances displayed by the club in 2013-2014 , but it’s certain this is a club striving to be better and ignoring the limits of success, therefore would showcase to any fresher the philosophy of sport at York. Vision spoke to club president Claire Thomas about why freshers should join the club.
‘Lacrosse is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world, and one of the most popular here at York. We’re a large, mixed club, with a reputation for high performance, inclusivity, and being incredibly sociable.
“We have four teams: two men’s and two women’s, and also a mixed squad and fresher teams. Almost a hundred freshers took up lacrosse last year, and many of them have played for us in friendly matches, or gone on to play for the seconds.
“If you’ve played before and want to take your game to a high level, our first teams went undefeated last season, and have just been promoted into the Northern first divisions for BUCS. We train Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, and play matches weekly, as well as strength and conditioning sessions which we receive as a focus sport.
“The club’s Wednesday night socials are fantastic, and ensure that everyone – from those who’ve played for years to those who have just picked it up at our free development sessions at weekends – spends at least one night a week together: in ludicrous fancy dress, of course’.