‘A mixture of both shock and excitement’: Lancaster Lax on opening for Roses 2023

Recently, it was announced that Lancaster’s lacrosse teams will play at the opening ceremony of Roses 2023. The varsity will take place between April 28th and April 30th and will be hosted at York University this year. As this is the first time ever that lacrosse has opened the event, we spoke to the teams to see how they were feeling ahead of the occasion.

‘A mixture of both shock and excitement’

When asked how they felt when finding out the big news, the club said “it was a big surprise”, as “being the opening ceremony event wasn’t on our radar.”

The teams could potentially be playing in front of thousands of spectators, so for many of them it will be the biggest crowd they have ever played in front of. Lancaster Lacrosse think “it’ll be a massive motivation for our teams and hopefully we can use it to our advantage.”

‘It’s fantastic that the sport is getting publicity it deserves’

The club promise games which are “fast paced with big hits, intensity and lots of goals” and are “looking forward to giving everyone an entertaining watch”. As both the Women’s 1st and Men’s 1st teams are playing back-to-back at the ceremony, it means both teams will have “an equal opportunity to shine”.

Since lacrosse is more of a niche sport at university, Lancaster’s teams are “unbelievably excited to have the opportunity to showcase the sport” and are “very grateful”. They also hope that playing at Roses will encourage others to try out the sport in the future.

‘We’re anticipating a much more hostile atmosphere’

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Last year at Roses the teams experienced a supportive home environment at Lancaster, and so this year they are “anticipating a much more hostile atmosphere” when competing away. However, they know that “Lancaster’s spirit is strong, and our amazing Lancaster away support is something we’re hoping will counter York’s home advantage”.

‘We know what it takes to win, and we know how to hustle to get wins’

Both the Women’s and Men’s teams are “flying in their respective leagues and full of confidence”, and so “York definitely won’t have an easy game in either fixture.

“The Women’s team have only lost one game in the league all season and have scored over 100 goals. The Men’s team have just finished in their joint highest ever position in the BUCS 1A, above York”.

The captains of both teams, Ben and Emma, “have created a great mentality within the club”, putting them in an excellent position for the fixtures.

‘We’re taking preparations very seriously’

Alongside other sports teams, Lancaster Lax will be putting in “extensive time and effort to get teams ready for Roses”. They recognise that “these are two of the biggest games in the club’s history, as as such, we’re taking preparations very seriously”.

Lancaster Lax also has two other matches in the Roses tournament: Mixed Lacrosse and Women’s 2s. For the club, “having all eyes on lacrosse as the opening ceremony sport is amazing for increasing the exposure for both these matches. Our Women’s 2s are preparing hard and are ready for the challenge against York”.

The mixed lacrosse match is made up of a combination of members from both teams, and is “a great way for us to end our seasons as one united Lancaster team”.

‘We’d love to see as many people come and watch us as possible’

The club welcomes as many Lancaster supporters as possible, to get behind them with “loud voices and chanting” as they are planning to “put on two very entertaining games”.

Our interview with Lancaster Lax finished with this: “Hopefully a double back-to-back win can be the springboard for Lancaster University to get its first Roses away win in 38 years”. We can’t help but agree.

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