Maastricht Lacrosse a new dot on the international lacrosse map
by Edouard Dopper (President of Maaslax)
History
From the Indians to the
French missionaries to the north-Americans, now from the north-Americans to the
Dutch. The circle goes round! Lacrosse found its way, a couple of years ago, on
the old continent. It has found firm ground in Germany, where it has been
staggeringly growing. At least twenty German cities have a lacrosse team. So
why not have lacrosse in its smaller counterpart, the Netherlands! To be more
specific Maastricht, home to one of the treaties of the European Union.
Maastricht is a small Dutch city situated in the most southern part of the
Netherlands, It has a large university with a vast array of subjects and
courses. It attracts many international students from all over the world who by
now are a vital resource to almost any sport played in Maastricht.
How it started
Lacrosse in Maastricht got introduced by a German student, who had the burning
desire to introduce the passion he had developed towards the sport at home,
into his new environment. To get a Team started he brought a couple of old
sticks and collected used equipment from players, made some flyers and started
promoting lacrosse amongst his fellow Maastricht students. The rest is history.
Today Maastricht Lacrosse counts 42 members, has a board, , a coach, a boys and girl’s team, a budget, a local sponsor and most important it has potential. It helped to develop the German league WDLL ( www.wdll.de ), in 2002, in which it participates itself. Until now most of the competing teams are from neighboring cities in Germany. But this hopefully going to change with new teams appearing in the Netherlands.
The future
Maastricht Lacrosse has been founded on one primary
objective: to promote lax in the Netherlands. Why? Because lax is the coolest
sport on two feet. The city of Utrecht just started a team at one of its local
international high schools. Maaslax believes that a high amount of exposure
will get lacrosse up and running in the Netherlands. It serves as a spearhead
for lax in the Netherlands. Like every other country, it wants to be
represented by a national team and compete in international tournaments. It has
therefore setup a national lacrosse web-site www.maaslax.com/dutchlacrosse
in order to assemble interested parties and individuals. It also has become a
member of the European Lacrosse Federation (what is the purpose of this?).
Maaslax wants the established lax nations to notice and acknowledge Dutch
lacrosse. We are here to stay! The Netherlands has already been honored by a
visit from the infamous Creasemonkeys, so that is a promising start.
Sponsors
Dutch Lacrosse seeks friends and sponsors to give our cause some body. It is all in the interest of the growth of lacrosse. Talent can be found on both sides of the Atlantic!
Internet: www.maaslax.com
