The Committee would like to share with you that a lot of lacrosse is going on in Victoria right now and Altona Lacrosse Club is very much at the centre of it. As we have said for a long time, our relatively small club has a massive impact on the sport over the spring and summer and this year even more so.
We are in the third year of the Vic Box Lax competition being played at the Alan Lewer Court and it has grown every year. We now have 5 senior men’s teams, 4 senior women’s teams, 6 junior teams and a growing Under 12s training program. We have structured box lacrosse activities running 5 days a week and even some training sessions on the off days. In addition to the over 300 players involved we have had hundreds of spectators come down to watch. The atmosphere and energy around the court is great to see and people recognize the effort and commitment from Altona to help make it all happen.
On top of our local competition, we have had the first two National Team camps where over 100 men and women from across Australia are trying out to represent Australia at the World Indoor Lacrosse World Championships in Utica, New York next year. This will be the first Lacrosse Indoor World Championships to include senior women. The Alan Lewer Court is the best Box Lacrosse Indoor facility in the country, and we are doing our best to make sure our facilities give our teams the best chance of success in the years to come. Our coaches and players have set a very high bar for the Indoor players in Victoria. With the level of our local competition and access that these players have to a top facility, Victorians players are standing out in the camps so far and hopefully we will be well represented in the final teams.
But is it not just box lacrosse that is benefiting from Altona’s commitment to the sport, our grounds have hosted the women’s Under 20s camps and numerous training sessions as the team prepares for their world championships in Hong Kong. The Victorian men’s Under 18s side will begin tryouts this month at our grounds and the coach has highlighted the importance of having a facility accessible by lacrosse all year-round. This is something that we have all worked very hard to make happen and it is wonderful to hear others acknowledge it. Looking ahead, it is very likely that as the 6’s format grows ahead of the Olympics, our field will be in even more demand to host events in the years to come.
On top of everything we are doing for the wider sport we are also running weekly come try sessions to grow our junior numbers and recently we had a local school carnival with 32 teams from across the area competing. It is a very exciting time for lacrosse and our club.
With everything going on, we can use all the help we can get. More members getting involved will mean that we can run the canteen to help make some revenue or more coaches for the juniors or to run clinics. It is still a very small group doing some very heavy lifting, so please have a think about anything you can do to help out.
We are very proud of everything going on and want to thank those that have been involved this year, and in the past, to get us to this point. Altona Lacrosse Club is a special community and those of you in it should be very proud.
