Pop and/or field?
By Jayne Duckett
When I arrived at Millfield in the summer of 1998 there was no lacrosse played at either the prep school or the senior school.
One year later I introduced pop lacrosse to a small group of boys and girls and we were fortunate enough to reach the Nationals which were held in Milton Keynes.
Following that small taste of success we have reached the Nationals every year since, and more and more children who have played pop have carried on to play field.
They (the boys in particular) love field far more than pop because of the freedom, and of course they love to check! They don’t always recognise though, that they also like being skilful — having the ability to avoid a check accurate enough to tackle someone!
Their education in lacrosse is very limited as they are only allowed one hour per week and when their curriculum sport clashes, lacrosse will always lose out. Time learning new skills is often short, but as a result of their grounding in pop they are comfortable with a stick in either their right or left hand.
As an ex-international who was never taught pop, I wonder whether far more children would have played the game if we had all been introduced to the skills via this fun, athletic and skilful version of lacrosse.
Before they learn to play lacrosse with hard balls, ferocious checking and a bigger pitch they play a game where they can score loads of goals and not get hurt! But more importantly, their skills of cradling, throwing, catching and shooting are mastered before someone can hit their stick. They learn to pass the ball quickly because of the 4 second rule, but they learn to mark closely so as to intercept a pass.
My best lacrosse players have all played pop and the ones with weaker skills have not!
I recommend any school to give pop a go. You will be amazed at the success it will bring! But more importantly it allows us to teach this fantastic sport to boys and girls from a very early age.
For more information contact the ELA offices email info@englishlacrosse.co.uk | 
