I LEFT my first ever lacrosse experience battered, bruised and bloody, but with a big smile on my face. 

After being approached by Joel Castley, captain of Cumbria's only lacrosse club, I decided to head to Brampton on a warm Tuesday night to try my hand at the game known as the oldest organised sport in North America.

While it hasn't quite reached the same levels of popularity in the UK, the sport is on the up, and will return to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. 

Along with around 10 other Twentee-total members, I eventually arrived at the secluded spot in Brampton, where Border City Lacrosse have trained and played alongside the local cricket side since 2019. 

A lacrosse stickA lacrosse stick (Image: Jimmy Moorhouse)

For anyone unfamiliar with lacrosse, you play on teams of 10, with each player carrying a stick with a net which they used to pass and shoot the ball, while also stealing the ball from another player. 

Within just a few minutes of training, thanks to Joel's coaching skills, we were all throwing and catching the ball to each other fairly competently.

We moved onto scooping the ball up from the ground, using the technique of sweeping the floor, before tackling a team exercise which finished with us shooting for the first time. 

The session finished with a friendly gameThe session finished with a friendly game (Image: Jimmy Moorhouse)

I'm extremely competitive when it comes to sports, even in a relaxed atmosphere such as this one, so scoring the first goal of the evening was an excellent ego boost for me.

Our ability to cradle the ball in our nets was also tested with a good old-fashioned game of British bulldog, which I'm starting to understand why they banned in schools when I was younger, given I was whacked and barged several times.

Finally, we played a game, featuring one of the pro coaches on each side, and despite finishing the game with a very minor injury, I'd had a great time running around trying something new. 

For anyone interested in joining Border City Lacrosse, they have a men's, women's and junior side which meets weekly, on Monday's and Saturday's respectively. For more details, you can email cumbrialax@gmail.com.