Home Nations Sixes:
Blog 2nd September 2021 by The Brit
The views and opinions expressed in this blog are my own and mine alone. There is no intent to besmirch, undermine or castigate any individual or organisation or to cause offence. They are posted in order to share opinion and promote discussion on topics within the lacrosse community.
If a tree falls in a forest, and there’s no one around to hear it, does it make a sound?
If an International Lacrosse Tournament takes place with no results, no stats available, did it really happen?
The answer to both of these philosophical thought experiments, that raise questions regarding observation and perception.is yes & no.
The Full Home International tournament that last took place in 2019 in Aldershot was cancelled earlier this year. Lacrosse Scotland stepped in to host an event with the new World Lacrosse Sixes format. Men’s & Women’s competition between Scotland, Wales & England.
Similar to English Lacrosse’s “The Fly” some of the games would be streamed Live on YouTube with the coverage produced by www.247.tv as well as being broadcast by Lacrosse Sports Network (LSN).
So the games took place and seven of the twelve games being shown live with 5 cameras covering the action, co-commentators on both men’s & women’s and importantly this time no action replays during live play meaning all of the on field action was shown live and is available On-Demand.
What more could you want?
Well apparently, a lot more
- Live Stats
- Live Results
- Social Media coverage
- Photos
Give them the moon and they will want the stars as well
To organise and host an International Lacrosse Tournament is a massive endeavour and not to be taken lightly. It would be so much easier if people did what they said they would do and would make commitments and then stick to them.
In America the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a bureaucratic behemoth who has a budget of millions of dollars to organise lacrosse events.
The organisers for this event on behalf of Lacrosse Scotland were Lorna & Rob Powell ably supported by a handful of volunteers
To compare the output & Social Media footprint between events seems somewhat unfair but that hasn’t stopped some within the lacrosse community from being quick to criticize.
It must be nice for those within the NCAA to delegate promotion & publicity to individual teams Sports Information Directors (SID) whose full time job is to produce pregame Game Notes, in game statistics, social media updates with video & photos along with graphics of end of quarter scores, then post game match reports, interviews, highlights, Box scores etc.
What were Lorna & Rob doing all day?
The Results
Women’s
England 17-15 Scotland
Wales 4-18 England
Scotland 23-10 Wales
Scotland 9-20England
England 19-2 Wales
Wales 13-14 Scotland
Men’s
England 24-6 Scotland
Wales 4-14 England
Scotland 8-20 Wales
Scotland 7-13 England
England 14-10 Wales
Wales 11-5 Scotland
England were the dominant force on the day as expected, with the majority of their players & coaches having been present at Lilleshall for THE FLY in effect each having 3 days and 12 games more experience at the new format World Lacrosse Sixes as well as having game film to review, analyse and refine strategy & tactics.
On the Men’s side for England
#16 Alex Russell with 22 pts (16,6) was the Top Scorer
#17 Dan Watson with 19 pts (15,4) was close behind
On the Women’s side for England
#1 Torz Anderson with 18 pts (14,4) was the Top Scorer
#3 Alex Drewe with 14 pts (13,1) & #25 Liv Wimpenny with 14 pts (8,6) tied for second
The Coverage & Production by www.247.tv for LSN
As you can see from above, 247.tv learned lessons from “The Fly”
- On screen Graphics & Score
- Real time Game Clock
- Real time Shot Clock
All helped keep the viewer informed & up to date with this newest & fastest format of the game, World Lacrosse Sixes
Scotland won the Best Designed kit for Men’s & Women’s
In Conclusion:
This was an exceptional exhibition of domestic British Lacrosse with skill & athleticism being demonstrated by all the competing Home Nations.
Are there still lessons to be learned, yes. Personally, I look forward to the next domestic & World Lacrosse Sixes event.