UKC Sports Spotlight: Men's Lacrosse

The interview kicks off with three of the Men’s Lacrosse committee members. Alex Stewart, President of the club and plays in defense on the pitch. Patrick Ward, Social Secretary and is goalkeeper for the team. And finally, Tom Nixon, the development coordinator who plays attack on the pitch.

How is the season going?

Alex: It could be going worst, it could also be going better. Last year we lost all our games, so we’ve done better than that. We’ve drawn three of our matches. In lacrosse, you don’t often see draws, let alone three in the first term.

Patrick: It’s been frustrating for our players. Our games have been winnable.

Tom: The standard has been a lot of higher this year, but I think that’ll pay off by the end.

Alex: We are second from bottom in the BUCS table, Southeast 1A.

Tom: We are not considered about relegation though. We have some easier fixtures coming up.

Alex: The ability of the freshers has been outstanding. Compared to us, it’s so much better. Jacob Fairfax, known as Rainman, is incredible. I’ve never seen a fresher take to the sport so quickly. The freshers are so keen.

Tom: It’s about the willingness to attend socials, training, wallballing in spare time. It seperates good players from great players.

How are the socials going?

Patrick: We have good relationships with Cheer and Women’s Lacrosse, so we are doing joint socials with them. We had our fundraiser with Kent Cheer, which went really well and we are excited to see how much funds we raised. We also have tour socials coming up, a lot of playing going into that. An exciting year for socials. We’re doing Toga Centurion, Anything But Clothes, Noah’s Ark, Charity Shop Social, lots coming up.

Alex: We’ve always had a good relationship with other clubs, us and the girls have been really tight. We’re close with cheer now. We’re just trying to get ourselves our there as much as possible.

Patrick: We are also planning a big four team social with all hockey and lacrosse.

You guys have been on fire with your fundraising. Tell us a bit about that?

Alex: We raised over £3000 for Movember this year.

Patrick: Highest Lacrosse team in the country. We’ve been slamming home the charity as much as possible.

Tom: This is largely because of our Vice-President Harry Copping. We did events to fundraise such as 24 hour passing on the plaza, as well as a mixed match with women’s lacrosse.

Patrick: We are going to do a charity fundraiser in Ballroom. We also got involved in This Kent Girl Can and supported Canterbury Homeless Outreach last year.

Alex: We raised £500 for ourselves with our Peaky Blinders event.

InQuire have noticed how inclusive you are. How would you encourage other clubs to be as inclusive as you are?

Patrick: It’s just our attitude. We do not care where you come from.

Alex: It helps that it’s a new sport. Hardly anyone has played it. There’s a huge difference in standard. Start from scratch, makes it easier to blend in together.

Patrick: Anyone can come in, we push that at freshers fair. Apart from lucky Americans, it’s all new.

Tom: You can play regardless of size or shape. It helps a lot. There are no barriers for entry.

Patrick: You can be like our captain Miran, and train your socks off. Or you can be like me, train a bit and not really exercise, but still have game time.

Alex: Our captain is five foot two or something like that, and other players are fix foot. There’s a position for everyone.

Patrick: We push equality between genders also, which is why we got involved in This Kent Girl Can. I can vouch for anyone when I say that the girls are no different than us. They are a mirror club. Gender shouldn’t be that important. Everyone should be treated the same.

Tom: We try to help whenever we can, pushing the girls events, doing charity stuff together, playing mixed matches.

Why should people take up lacrosse?

Patrick: It’s free. If you don’t like it, you never have to come back again.

Alex: Fun to play.

Patrick: Score a goal, win a match.

Alex: There’s no pressure when you come down here. Everybody who starts the sport gradually builds their way up. Aside from the sporting aspect, our social side is the most fun on campus.

Tom: Everyone starts at the same level and it’s quite humbling. Everyone remembers what it’s like to be a fresher.