Shrewsbury School make history in Lacrosse National Schools Championship

With the sun shining brightly over the pitches in Aldershot, 50 schools all arrived to begin their campaign to be crowned winners at the 2022 National Schools Lacrosse Championships. 

Shrewsbury School got off to a flying start on Saturday beating Birkenhead 5-1. This was followed by beating Monmouth School for Girls 7-1, before they came up against Caterham, a school which is usually in the Championship division, however, Shrewsbury beat them 3-2 in a close end-to-end game.  

St Bartholomew's were the next opposition who Shrewsbury beat 8-1, before going against Queen Anne's Caversham where Shrewsbury scored the first goal and put Queen Anne’s under a lot of pressure, with the final score ending 2-1 to Queen Anne's. Shrewsbury then beat Marlborough College 2-1, meaning they finished second in the group and qualifying for the Championship division. 

On Sunday they came up against St George's Harpenden, Withington and Bolton and despite their performance, just couldn't get over the line. The girl’s heads were down finishing 4th in the group and up to play against St Catherine's Bramley in the first round of knock outs. But after a refuel and a good warm up, the girls switched it on again and scored the first goal. Shrewsbury weren't going down without a fight and surprised St Cats with our strength and impressive team performance. St Cats retaliated with 4 goals meaning the end of the road for Shrewsbury School.  

Despite the defeat, Shrewsbury School is now ranked as a top 16 school for Lacrosse, and before this competition, had never qualified for the Championship Division before.  

Shrewsbury’s history in the National School Championships dates back to 2016, when the Lacrosse team was entered for the first time. The school finished in the knockouts of division 2, after heading down to the University of Guildford with a small team and minimal equipment – the only school without a tent! 

Since then, the school’s team presence has grown at the event, and after being promoted to division 1 in previous years, this year’s Championship Division place is a personal best for the Shrewsbury team and well deserved.  

Ella Nieper, Graduate Sports Coach and 1st X Lacrosse Coach, said: “The girls deserve this as they left everything on the pitch and were a credit to themselves and their hard work. All the girls play at least one other sport here at Shrewsbury – and to an equally high standard – and their commitment is second to none. 

Thank you to our wonderful parents for supporting us through the tournament and to England Lacrosse for organising and putting on such a wonderful tournament. 

To our leavers - thank you for your commitment and dedication to the sport over your time at the school and good luck with the future.