About the Governing Body
English Lacrosse Association governs the sport of lacrosse in England. An amalgamation of the All England Women’s Lacrosse Association and the English Lacrosse Union in 1996 brought together the men’s and women’s governing bodies. Lacrosse is now governed as one sport, with 2 codes (Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse). The English Lacrosse Association is strategically directed by an Executive Board. In 2012 the first 10 year strategy for the sport was released by the English Lacrosse Executive Board.
English Lacrosse 10 Year Strategy
English Lacrosse employs a central staff of 21, and sponsors in excess of 100 American coaches every year.
English Lacrosse is a Sport England recognised governing body. The sport receives a funding grant from Sport England, every 4 years based on the strength of a Whole Sport Plan.
A Word from David Shuttleworth, CEO English Lacrosse Association
The delivery of the 2009/13 WSP has seen significant progress for Lacrosse with growth in many areas. University Lacrosse is an obvious success. Next year there will be 12 divisions in women’s BUCS with 84 teams and in men’s BUCS there will be 12 divisions with 73 teams -a total of 157 teams. With the mixed teams around 200 teams and with the INTO programme some 5,000 students playing Lacrosse. Growth is continuing at over 10% per year and is estimated to continue, with the very successful INTO Programme, for at least another 10 years. This success was recognised by Sport England with Lacrosse being the only NGB to receive an Active University grant.
Men’s Leagues have grown, particularly in the South. The game is growing geographically with new clubs in areas which have never seen Lacrosse -or certainly not for 75 years! Newcastle, York, Hull, Lincoln , Chester, Stoke, Colchester, Plymouth are names new to the Lacrosse). Sport England has a new philosophy of rewarding success and penalising failure. Sports like Rugby (union and league) Tennis and basketball have seen their grants reduced whilst successful growing sports like cycling; netball and Lacrosse have seen their funding increase.
Much of the last 6 months has seen English Lacrosse senior staff completing the funding submission to Sport England for the period 2013-17. Senior staff will go before a Sport England panel in October and will learn of their funding award in late December early January with funding starting in April 2013. This will be a real opportunity for Lacrosse. We have the base to work from and the success will depend on everyone in the game but particularly the volunteers. We know that there are more people who are looking for a more informal and relaxed involvement with sport, including our sport but at the heart of any growth and progress will be our clubs. Clubs are not what they were 30 or 40 years ago. People’s lives have changed, work patterns have changed, and family pressures are different. Clubs have also changed and demands on volunteers have certainly increased whilst their available time has decreased
To succeed we need to understand and solve the problems. Certainly the opportunities exist; Lacrosse is a modern, cool sport with room to grow. It is our time.
