SCHOOLS, SUPER COUNTIES AND JUNIOR REGIONALS
Welcome to all things 'junior'!
Super Counties and Junior Regionals 2024-25​
There was some fantastic lacrosse at our SW Super Counties tournament on Sunday, 1 December - hosted by Cheltenham Ladies College. We fielded 80 U15s in five balanced teams - Adders, Badgers, Deer, Dragons and Foxes. The round-robin matches were highly competitive as the players quickly learned how to play with new teammates and for unfamiliar coaches. However, the undisputed winners, unbeaten all day, were the Adders! Well done to them and all our young players.
​
Invitations will go out shortly to players who we would like to consider at trials to represent the South West at the National Junior Regional Championships in March.
​
Our 2024-25 Super Counties is underway! And here are the coaches leading the programme this year!!
​
​
​
​
And if you are confused with how the Junior Regional representational pathway and the EL Regional/National Academy (Aspire) programmes work side by side, the infographics below should help.
​
Eligibility for Regional representative lacrosse is governed by England Lacrosse Bye Laws. Which are as follows:
​
We are very excited with the revised format of Super Counties and the introduction of the new National Junior Regional Championships, which will take place in the South West on Sunday, 30 March 2025. All three regions are committed to entering the best U18 A and B, and U15 A and B teams they can to make this tournament the most competitive opportunity for representational lacrosse available to junior players. This new format has the support and encouragement of the England Lacrosse Academy pathway who are keen to see players they have coached put skills into practice, and give the Academy a chance to see other players who may not yet be in the Academy programme. And in the meantime, you can still participate in Super Counties!
​
We are delighted to introduce our newly appointed Junior Performance Manager, Eva Maslin, who will be running the Super Counties and Junior Regional programmes. Eva has come through schools in the South West (and played in Super Counties!) and has recently graduated from UWE, Bristol reading Sports Rehabilitation - she is a lacrosse player (middie!), has been deeply involved in university lacrosse and is super keen to get to know the players, coaches and parents in the South West. You can reach her on sc.southwestlacrosseuk@gmail.com if you have any questions, or just to say hello!
​​
If you are interested in coaching at Junior Regional and/or Super Counties you can find the application form and more details here.
How it works:
* Super Counties remains open to all players considered suitable by their coach and has participation and fun at its core as always!
​
* U18s have been selected for invitation to Junior Regional trials following the SWL Schools Rally on 5 October
* U15s will continue to participate in the Super Counties programme (training 3 November, tournament 1 December) - complete this Application form to sign up; selections for invitation to Junior Regional trials will be made at the SWL Super Counties tournament
​​
* If you are U15 but unable to participate in Super Counties you can still be considered for Junior Regionals trials by submitting this Application form - make sure you complete all the relevant sections and you must have your coach/teacher's nomination/endorsement
Key dates:
​
* 3 November - Super Counties training: St Swithun's School, Winchester 09.30-15.00
* 1 December - Super Counties tournament: CLC Health & Fitness Centre, Cheltenham 09.30-15.00
* 12 January - Junior Regional trials U18 + U15: CLC Health & Fitness Centre - invited players
* 16 February - Junior Regional training U18 + U15: CLC Health & Fitness Centre - selected players
* 30 March - National Junior Regional Championships (hosted by SWL, venue tbc)
And we should also mention:
* 4-6 April - Home Internationals (Scotland) - we are waiting to hear whether Scotland are planning to run a Festival alongside the main competition; if they do we would love to take our JR team/s on tour to participate!
Finally, the money side :
* Super Counties entry fee (all players) = £65; payable on submission of the Application form
* Junior Regional trials fee (U18s and U15s) = £15; if you have been invited to trials (U18s) this is payable now; U15s will be invited after the Super Counties tournament on 1 December
There will be a separate player fee for those selected to represent South West at the Junior Regional Championships in March.
Payments should be made to:
Account Name: South West Region Lacrosse
Sort Code: 77-50-32
Account Number: 22933060
​
Thank you for your interest in participating in our reformatted Junior programme. We look forward to receiving your application!
​
Sun Shines on U19 SW Schools Rally 2024!
​Congratulations to St Swithun's 1s for claiming the Championship trophy after a close final against Downe House, to St Mary's Calne 1s for winning the Division 1 Cup and to St Swithun's 2s for triumphing in the B team competition. As for many years, St Swithun's hosted the perfect day of competition for which we are all very grateful. And our thanks go to the team of SWL umpires, led by Wendy Reynolds and Annabel Campbell, for their assessing, observing and mentoring all day - their wise words and cool heads were a fantastic addition to the day.​ See our News section for the pics!
Eligibility for Regional representative lacrosse is governed by England Lacrosse Bye Laws, which are as follows:
Eligibility
England Lacrosse Bye Laws 6.5 - 6.8 set out the eligibility rules for players to participate in Senior Regional representative lacrosse, as follows:
​
6.5 Birth within the Regional boundary, or
6.6 Bona fide residence for a period of at least six months or in the case of a university, college or school, three months for the season in question
6.7 Three seasons as a member of the Regional Team
6.8 Registered to a club, university of school affiliated to EL which is registered to that region, or is competing in the league system of that region, or has previously had bona fide residency in that region for a minimum of 3 years.
​
SWL success at National Schools 2024!
Huge congratulations to the teams from all South West schools at Nationals this year - you had the most successful event ever we think! You can find team photos under the News tab, but here's how some of you did:
U19A (Championship) Runners-up - Godolphin
U15A (Championship) Winners - St Swithun's
U15A (Division 1) Runners-up - Marlborough College
U13 (Championship) Runners-up - Downe House
​
On a more sombre note, we remember Justin Lang, dedicated lacrosse coach and resident house tutor at St Mary's Calne, who tragically died whilst supporting the lacrosse teams at Nationals. Justin had been planning to run the Edinburgh Marathon in May to raise money for the charity 'Young Minds' and the St Mary's community paid tribute to him, remembering and celebrating the impact Justin had by completing their own collective marathons to fundraise in his memory.
​
Super Counties 2023-24
We are delighted to announce our Super Counties coaching team 2023-24 season will be led this season by Matt Tolley, Ben Watts and Connor Macmillan. If you have any queries, please email Matt direct at: m.tolley@sherborne.com.
Dates : Sunday 19th November at Sherborne Girls and 22nd January at Sherborne Girls (tbc)
-
Below is the MS form for players to sign up. Please note the deadline is Monday 13th of November.
​
