E News August 2015
It has been a busy summer for Centurion Lacrosse. The calm of the closed season has been filled with much activity:
- We’ve been planning members’ events at Davyhulme Park Golf Club, The Market Porter and, with our new sponsor Lord Lee, our next House of Lords dinner.
- We’ve supported Grand Masters lacrosse, the British Nationals, referee training and the South Sixes.
- Three new sides are on the way for next season.
- And, in a major move, we’re breaking into the youth market with social media and our new Facebook page.
Future Events
(1) The Market Porter – Weds 16 Sept 12:00 for 12:30
Our second lunch at this Borough Market hostelry in London sees Jim Quigley, Event Director for the 2018 Lacrosse World Championships to be held in Manchester, talking to us about the championships and much more. The cost of the 3-course meal is just £30.
(2) Davyhulme Park Golf Club – Sunday 18 October
The annual northern carvery at Davyhulme will cost just £25.
(3) House of Lords Dinner – Friday 24 June 2016
Lord Lee has booked the Terrace and Cholmondeley Room for the Centurions. Make a note in your diary now and full details will be announced in the spring.
Sponsorship
British National Championships
We put in a presence at this year’s BNCs and sponsored the first printed programme which we hope will now become self-financing.
North V South Grandmasters
The 4th annual North v South Grandmasters game took place at new club Milton Keynes. The Centurions sponsored the refereeing crew which included two newly qualified student refs who honed their skills under the wise guidance of Buckers, Forces Official of the Year, and me!
Referee Training
Although around 1,000 trainees have passed through referee courses to Level 1, very few go on to achieve Level 2 which qualifies them to be a panel referee. This year The Centurions sponsored a Referees and Rules Committee initiative to involve youngsters in refereeing. Ten Level 1 referees were trained on pitch at BluesFest and some more experienced refs, including two from Holland, received helpful advice. There was very positive feedback from the trainees and The Centurions will be looking for further opportunities to develop refereeing.
Semla Sixes
The Centurions again supported the SEMLA Sixes tournament – this year again at Reading.
New Teams
Plymouth City
The West Country has become a hive of lacrosse activity. Plymouth already boasts two university sides at Marjons and Plymouth University. Stalwarts from Aberystwyth who are used to running sides at the end of the lacrosse universe are now starting Plymouth City LC which will share the university ground. Kit and our best wishes have been provided by The Centurions.
The university is using crowdfunding to raise money to mark out their astro pitch for lacrosse so, if you’d like to help, more information is available on the following site:
City of Stoke LC
The men of the Stoke club have been successful for a while now and are expanding by starting a ladies team with the support of The Centurions.
Sussex University
Brighton University has been a stalwart of BUCS and SEMLA for many years. Its fellow university in Brighton, the University of Sussex, is now starting its first men’s team with Centurion support.
Social Media – We're on Facebook – Look Us Up!
Increasingly young players are using social media as their preferred means of communication and information gathering. In a bid to connect new players to the game and transition them from university to club lacrosse, we’ve launched our Facebook page.
Already we have 340 ‘friends’ and have raised the Centurion’s profile amongst younger players. We launched with a competition to win £100 of kit from either of our friends Northern Soul or UK Lacrosse. There were 170 entries. The winner was Reading captain, Paul Milner, who has decided to buy a new stick from UK Lacrosse with his winnings. Thanks go to UK Lacrosse for donating the prize.