On the road to the Olympics!

What a better way to show the pride for your country than to compete in athletics on international level


Lacrosse in my life

I started playing lacrosse in my late 20s. During my year at the St. Louis Zoo, Missouri in the Midwest of the US, working on my master thesis with Mexican wolves, I got introduced to lacrosse by a friend. He was coaching a high school lacrosse girl's team at the time and was asking me if I wanted to become a lacrosse umpire and help umpiring the season in the summer. I looked at him with big eyes asking: "Umpiring what sport? What is lacrosse?" Until then I have never heard about lacrosse. Since then, though, lacrosse has been a permanent constant in my life and I developed a passion for this beautiful sport and the global community which is attached to it that has not decreased until the present day.

The powerful grace, athleticism, creativity, stick handling and the fact that it has been infusing the life of Native Americans for centuries has always fascinated me. I got my first lacrosse lesson before I left St. Louis in 2001 before returning to Germany and my friend said: "if you practice hard you might play in the national team one day!" Ha, National Team, starting to play a sport in my late 20s, no way - was my thought.

When I returned to Germany, the lacrosse game had just started to grow in Berlin and Munich. The Hannover Lacrosse Club was in its second year of existence. I started playing, continued umpiring and for a fact played in the German National Women's Lacrosse Team for 6 years. The best aspect apart from playing lacrosse as a game was the team experience. I totally emerged in the team spirit and loved training together, aspiring for common goals together and reaching them finally. The most valuable experience for me was winning the National German Lacrosse Championship with my Hannover Lacrosseteam in 2012 for the first time.  

I'll always remember these days with the team, either for practice, games, group activities, team dinners, meeting new girls and making new friends from all over the world. I'll love this sport forever and have been thinking about a way how to grow the sport and give back to the lacrosse community.         

 

 

 

Kenya Lacrosse

The Kenya Lacrosse program caught my eye in the beginning of 2017.  During the Women's Lacrosse World Cup in Guildford, Surrey, UK in the summer 2017 I met with Storm Trentham for a chat to find out if I could support the program. Storm is a former Welsh International Team Lacrosse player and coach and has been very successful on the international stage. She has her own company and supports athletes of different sports. This is Storm's vision:

ONE NATION. ONE DREAM. KENYA LACROSSE TOMORROW’S OLYMPIC HISTORY.

Many are unaware of how new sports get introduced into the Olympics. Let us at Kenya Lacrosse tell you because we hope to be one of the reasons that lacrosse is introduced into future Olympics Games. Los Angeles 2028 to be precise. In order to qualify, amongst other key criteria, lacrosse must be played in all continents and by both sexes. Uganda has a men’s Lacrosse team and we, Kenya Lacrosse (KLA), dream to be the first African Women’s team to compete. This dream began ten years ago when ex Welsh International player and coach, Storm Trentham introduced lacrosse into schools in Kenya through her charity SPORTING CHANCE INTERNATIONAL.

Fast forward to the closing ceremony of the U19 World Championships in 2015 where Storm was Head Coach of Team Wales. She walked into the closing ceremony thinking it was her 3rd and final World Championships but then walked out knowing she had one more lacrosse challenge to complete to give her girls in Kenya hope and opportunity they deserve. Getting the first women’s African team to play on a world stage in 2019 at the U19 Women's Lacrosse World Championship in Canada, would then also mean the sport was eligible to be put forward for future Olympics.

However, this is about more than just lacrosse, it’s about hope and opportunities. The sad truth is that for some, it's also a matter of life or death. Kenya Lacrosse is thriving. Along with over 400 athletes playing the sport and a training squad of 50, they regularly have large groups of coaches from the UK, USA and Australia traveling to pass on their knowledge and be part of making history. KLA has also received huge support from many of the top international teams such as England, Australia, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales through kit and equipment donations. The Federation of International Lacrosse has recognized their effort, awarding them with both the Heart of Lacrosse Award in 2015 and the FIL Development to Lacrosse Award in 2017. 

However, they face some unique challenges. Many of the athletes are orphans or from hugely disadvantaged backgrounds whereby bringing water and lunch to training is not an option. Owning a pair of shoes or sports bra is something they can only dream of. So finding £1 to travel to squad weekends is definitely not an option. KLA therefore have to fund all of the above, not to mention sticks, kit and equipment and the rest that goes with playing international sport. Representing your country in a minority sport is one thing, but if you’re one of our Kenyan athletes it’s almost impossible…. We are looking for all the support we can get from individuals, companies, schools, universities, clubs and national teams to help us change lives of young African girls who deserve to be given the opportunity to make themselves and their country proud. 

I went to Kenya with Storm and her volunteer coaching crew in February 2019 and witnessed first hand the wonderful players of the Kenyan Women's Lacrosse Team. The girls are beautiful human beings with stories of resilience and compassion and an overflowing love for the game of lacrosse. I feel so humbled and honored to get to know them. I learned how difficult it was for Storm and her maangement team to organize the trip to Canada for the World Cup, starting with getting pasports for the girls to be able to travel, with many of them not even having a birth certificate to booking and paying for the flights; not even mentioning official government personel throwing curveballs wherever they could to prevent the girls from going to travelling to Canada. In the end, everything aligned and Storm, her staff and the team travelled to Canada to participate in the U19 Women's Lacrosse World Cup in August 2019 and everybody had the time of their life and an unforgettable experience making new friends and new experiences. It was a life-changing success for everybody and I want to express my gratitude once again to all those who donated.