Growing the Game means a lot of things, but a big part of it is going to new places, meeting new players and exchanging knowledge and ideas. The LAS crew is headed to Thailand to do this in less than a week, and I did this in 2001, when I lived in Perth, Australia, and played for the Wembley Lacrosse Club’s Men’s Division 1 team. Now, nine female players from the Wembley Lacrosse Club are heading to Hawaii to play in the Hawaiian Invitational international lacrosse tournament this October (2011).
This female Australian team will be the first ever team from Australia to compete in the tournament. Other teams will travel from countries like Japan, Canada, the USA, and Germany to play. The tourney has a huge international draw. The team will have the opportunity to play against teams from all over the world, learn from other nations, and experience lacrosse on an international level.
Team Captain Shendelle Oliver said, “the whole team is so pumped for this tournament. For many of us, this will be our first experience of playing against elite teams from these countries. We are going to be mixing with some of the world’s best lacrosse players in paradise. Lacrosse just can’t get any better than that.”
The idea to play in this tournament came about after a team from the USA came to Wembley Lacrosse Club in July of 2010 (nine years after I was there!) to compete in the WA Cup lacrosse tournament. This inspired the Wembley girls to find themselves an international opportunity and the idea to go to Hawai’i was born.
A good year is ahead for the Wembley women, as three of the club’s junior players head off to compete in the Under-19 World Championships, being played in Germany in July.
The Wembley Lacrosse Club is located at the pristine Floreat Oval, Floreat, which is in Western Australia. For more information visit the Wembley Lacrosse Club’s website. Green and gold for life! Go Waves! Go Wolves!