Club History
Text Box: A Brief History Wilmslow Lacrosse Club, in its present form, was established in 1978 at Wilmslow Grammar School by two inspirational teachers John Bardsley (later to become Head Coach of England) and Mike Spreckley as a junior club based at the school for the pupils. After some initial successes the club entered the senior league and moved to Oakwood Farm in Styal with a ground lease from Macclesfield BC on approx 3 acres of playing fields with no other facilities. At the same time, Wilmslow Hockey Club and Wilmslow Wayfarers Cricket Club formed Wilmslow Phoenix Sports Club with the help of Macclesfield BC and moved from the Rectory Fields in Wilmslow to adjoining playing fields behind Wilmslow Albion FC ground and developed a sports pavilion with 3 grass hockey pitches plus a cricket square. The 1988/89 season saw substantial player number growth including the establishment of a women’s section necessitating a requirement for additional playing fields. This was satisfied the following season by a temporary amalgamation with Wilmslow Rugby Club and gratefully received use of the second pitch plus of course the changing facilities, and most importantly, the Bar! Wilmslow Lacrosse had never had it so good! Banished were the days of the water bucket, wet sponged legs and arms after games, pulling clothes over mudded bodies in cars, dodging the rain, and clandestine manoeuvres up the back steps of a be-curtained Farmers Arms. In 1992 Wilmslow LC joined Wilmslow Phoenix as a full sports section and a plan to extend the social and changing facilities was agreed to accommodate the increased use of the club and the expanding needs of the sports sections. League Hockey was no longer played on grass and the need to develop an Astroturf on site became a priority for Wilmslow Hockey’s long term survival and growth. Bramhall LC merged with Wilmslow in 1995 having had an association between both clubs for a couple of years supporting each other with surplus players. A new changing block with separate officials accommodation and disabled facilities was developed in 1997 with the aid of a “Sports for All” grant and eventually the new sand based Astroturf pitch complete with floodlights was opened on the front field in 2005 with help from many different sources. The development of facilities goes on as a refurbishment and extension of the clubhouse was completed in 2008 and a Lottery grant has just been confirmed to fit out the enlarged kitchen. Wilmslow Lacrosse now and in the future Wilmslow Lacrosse is still the newest lacrosse club in the North West as many of the others have a tradition and history going back to the late 19th century when the sport was first introduced to the British Isles through a touring side of Canadian “gentlemen” and a native Red Indian team. Men’s and Women’s lacrosse is very different. Men’s is full contact and the players wear full helmets, padded gloves, arm pads, rib pads and shoulder pads whilst ladies lacrosse has no deliberate contact with only light gloves and a mouth guard for protection. The ball is the same size as a tennis ball but solid rubber and capable of travelling at over 100mph so it will hurt if it hits you! Today the Club regularly fields teams at under 12, 14, 16 boys and girls, under 19 men, 2 senior men’s teams and a senior ladies team in League and Cup competitions. The men’s teams are in the Northern Premiership and Division 3 and boast a number of International and County players and coaches, including current England Lacrosse captain Mark Reynolds. The Club has an enviable list of recent international players representing England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales plus a true Red Indian Iroquois National and some of the emerging lacrosse nations such as Finland, Italy, New Zealand and Spain. For a number of years the Club has employed a professional coach, often from the US and in conjunction with the Governing Body, to go into local junior and senior schools to introduce the sport to children and encourage them to try what is known as “The fastest game on 2 feet”. This year’s coach is Patrick “Ricky” Evans from NCAA Div 1 Hobart College. Ricky also coaches the under 12 boys team and plays long stick straight defence on the 1st team. Kari Slade is the ladies senior coach and all clubs training is done Thursday evenings on the Astroturf from 6.00pm under floodlights. A number of the players have gone on to coach at National level and we currently have a full England coach (Dan Green), head coach for Wales (Jason Perrin) and WLC Founder Member Mark Hodkin a past head and present full Scotland coach. “Hoddy” has played in 5 World Championships and a World Cup, and has the unusual, if not unique, honour of captaining both England and Scotland at international level playing lacrosse. In season 2007/08 Wilmslow Lacrosse had an outstanding grand slam result winning the Premier Division, Senior Flags (Cup), Iroquois Cup and Wilkinson Sword trophies between North and South league and cup winners. They went on to represent the North of England in the inaugural European Club Championship in Hamburg and are still the current European Champions. As part of Phoenix, Wilmslow Lacrosse has outstanding playing, changing and social facilities which rival any other lacrosse club in the country. Consequently, the Club hosts a large number of special events including the British National Championships in May, numerous County, National and International games and is regularly used by England, Scotland and Wales Lacrosse for training and games. The social facilities are often used by visiting teams and members for fund raising, parties and post match entertainment and hospitality. Like all amateur sports clubs we need to constantly recruit new members and funding is always an issue. We depend upon members and their families volunteering their time and commitment to the club and encourage all players and parents who have come through our junior system to “put something back” into the Club. We have always been a Club with a strong family focus and that is one of our major strengths. If anyone is interested in trying out lacrosse, boy or girl, man or woman, novice or seasoned campaigner, we can guarantee a warm welcome at Wilmslow Lacrosse. Call Jan or Clive on 01625 530598 or email cliveperrin@sky.com