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rachel13
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Lacrosse feature on Sky Sports

Postby rachel13 Thu Feb 02, 2012 6:48 pm

Our favourite sport is going to be featured AGAIN by Sky Sports tomorrow!! Make sure you all tune in...

Follow the two links below for more information:
http://www1.skysports.com/news/24128/7474679/
http://www.englishlacrosse.co.uk/vsite/ ... em,00.html
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Re: Lacrosse feature on Sky Sports

Postby rachel13 Fri Feb 03, 2012 10:58 am

My bad...not today! It's on Saturday (4th Feb)
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Re: Lacrosse feature on Sky Sports

Postby nickspacey123 Sat Feb 04, 2012 9:21 am

Just watched the lacrosse spot on sky news and very dissappointed. No offence to the team they showed but they could have shown a team whos skills were alot more advanced ie catching and shooting, was also extremely dissappointed that they taked about the roughness of the mens game yet they didnt show one clip of the mens game!!! Overall it was a good way to get lacrosse into the public eye but to promote the game i dont think it did alot.
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Re: Lacrosse feature on Sky Sports

Postby Chilli Sat Feb 04, 2012 12:13 pm

There's a saying that all publicity is good, but I think that the Sky Sports feature will have ticked a box for Sky to say that they show support for a wide range of sports but for us it will have simply reinforced the mass perception of lacrosse as basically a women's sport that's catching on at a few Universities, reinforcing the elite/privileged image.

Some stiff armed, egg and spoon, first session awkwardness doesn't exactly sell the sport, a clip or two of the different forms of the game or from the professional men's game would have made the report more useful in changing perceptions.

Don't the ELA have any influence or input to what goes out, is it just a case of being grateful for anything on tv?
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Re: Lacrosse feature on Sky Sports

Postby davewilliams Sat Feb 04, 2012 1:07 pm

Is that Chippy speaking? Good job with the spoken content, well said, and in an enthusiastic manner.
Trouble is from the perspective of men's or women's lacrosse, the mixed format may suit Sky's idea of the whole game in one scene, but it is not "the little brother of war".
Maybe we don't have the big picture on this though; the impact may be that general recruitment and participation rises as a result of this and other intiatives.
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Re: Lacrosse feature on Sky Sports

Postby nickspacey123 Sat Feb 04, 2012 1:16 pm

Those were my thoughts as i was watching it and cringing at some of the passing and shooting. Did the ela not see this clip before it aired? and why did they not make it better?

Would have definitely helped with different clips and definitely some of a elite mens and womens game which would have shown hows its done.

Hopefully people interested in lacrosse will look on the internet and see better examples.
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Re: Lacrosse feature on Sky Sports

Postby UKLaxfan Sat Feb 04, 2012 4:05 pm

The fact that lacrosse is on TV at all is a big improvement.

that's twice now in 12 months that lacrosse has got onto Sky Sports News

I haven't seen the actual feature yet but the reality is 90%+ of the population doesn't even know that lacrosse exists

Even in Stockport if you went down the shopping precinct and asked 100 people you would be disappointed with the results, and lacrosse in Stockport has been established for over a hundred years. Go to Lymn, Knutsford, Northwich, Macclesfield and the results would fall off the chart.

Any Publicity is Good Publicity

Youtube will provide all the highlights to promote the game.

You need a reason for somebody to want to google lacrosse.
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Re: Lacrosse feature on Sky Sports

Postby UKLacrosse Sat Feb 04, 2012 5:32 pm

Maybe we have self-interest here ..... before anyone says it ..... but how do the marketing department of the ELA plan to use the Warrior/ Liverpool FC connection to promote the game? Firstly, before we get accused of showing disrespect to the governing body, when the story first leaked on Good Friday last year, the Liverpook fans worldwide brought the Warrior website to a halt! They were all talking about Warrior .... who were they ... what is lacrosse ... ?? More's the pity that the governing body has/ had tied their flag to Adidas. The irony won't be lost on anyone really understanding the supplier base, and business in general. Who did Warrior replace at Liverpool? For those who don't know, Adidas Lacrosse was not really Adidas, but the name licensed to the Henson Group and run as a totally separate business outside of the Adidas group. Where is the Adidas brand now? Abandoned in its initial guise, but maybe relaunched by Adidas themselves, but who knows? They already have Reebok within their group, so why duplicate a business? Sport in the UK should brace itself for the Warrior brand, because they plan to hit the field hockey, rugby and cricket market as well as football. Until Warrior become known as just another (!!) sports company, there is a narrow window of opportunity when their name hits the Premiership, and they are classified as merely a 'lacrosse' company. More's the pity that the governing body made a bad call at the Worlds and shunned the Warrior brand. Doesn't this come under the heading of 'marketing'?'
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Re: Lacrosse feature on Sky Sports

Postby SIMO Sat Feb 04, 2012 7:41 pm

http://www.lacrosse.brooklandssportsclub.co.uk/
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Re: Lacrosse feature on Sky Sports

Postby nickspacey123 Sat Feb 04, 2012 7:48 pm

I think the ela missed alot of oppotunitues with the world championships.

Firstly i saw no advertising this was a massive time to get lacrosse everywhere with some of the best players in the world being there.

Secondly i know the ela thinks that lacrosse is only played in the north by seriously the place where it was held was a joke the main field with one little stand on one side of the pitch was shocking. I played amateur american football for 5 years and played in bigger stadiums.

I definitely agree about the warrior/liverpool sponsorship this should be a massive time for lacrosse.
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Re: Lacrosse feature on Sky Sports

Postby whopead Sat Feb 04, 2012 8:33 pm

nickspacey123 wrote:I think the ela missed alot of oppotunitues with the world championships.

Firstly i saw no advertising this was a massive time to get lacrosse everywhere with some of the best players in the world being there.

Secondly i know the ela thinks that lacrosse is only played in the north by seriously the place where it was held was a joke the main field with one little stand on one side of the pitch was shocking. I played amateur american football for 5 years and played in bigger stadiums.

I definitely agree about the warrior/liverpool sponsorship this should be a massive time for lacrosse.



That stand wasnt full for most of the games, only weekend ones, so it was probably the right strategy financially
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Re: Lacrosse feature on Sky Sports

Postby UKLaxfan Sat Feb 04, 2012 8:55 pm



Thanks for posting the link...

excellent work by Dave Abini again

some of the same footage as last time but nothing wrong with fit totty in the sunshine playing lacrosse.

little mention of senior clubs and university players joining established clubs

also didn't explain "little brother of war line" or any mention of oldest team sport in the world, baggataway, "medicine game" etc

still excellent job though, it had a University feel to it - as though they discovered it and it is a New Sport.... All good :wink:
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Re: Lacrosse feature on Sky Sports

Postby UKLaxfan Sat Feb 04, 2012 8:58 pm

UKLacrosse wrote:Maybe we have self-interest here ..... before anyone says it ..... but how do the marketing department of the ELA plan to use the Warrior/ Liverpool FC connection to promote the game? Firstly, before we get accused of showing disrespect to the governing body, when the story first leaked on Good Friday last year, the Liverpook fans worldwide brought the Warrior website to a halt! They were all talking about Warrior .... who were they ... what is lacrosse ... ?? More's the pity that the governing body has/ had tied their flag to Adidas. The irony won't be lost on anyone really understanding the supplier base, and business in general. Who did Warrior replace at Liverpool? For those who don't know, Adidas Lacrosse was not really Adidas, but the name licensed to the Henson Group and run as a totally separate business outside of the Adidas group. Where is the Adidas brand now? Abandoned in its initial guise, but maybe relaunched by Adidas themselves, but who knows? They already have Reebok within their group, so why duplicate a business? Sport in the UK should brace itself for the Warrior brand, because they plan to hit the field hockey, rugby and cricket market as well as football. Until Warrior become known as just another (!!) sports company, there is a narrow window of opportunity when their name hits the Premiership, and they are classified as merely a 'lacrosse' company. More's the pity that the governing body made a bad call at the Worlds and shunned the Warrior brand. Doesn't this come under the heading of 'marketing'?'


Absolutely agree that this is a great opportunity to promote lacrosse and the Warrior Brand in a Win-Win situation

It takes two to tango, both Warrior & Lacrosse should benefit - this opportunity does have a shelf life though before Warrior just become Liverpool's Brand for Footy in the public perception.
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Re: Lacrosse feature on Sky Sports

Postby UKLaxfan Sat Feb 04, 2012 9:02 pm

nickspacey123 wrote:I think the ela missed alot of oppotunitues with the world championships.

Firstly i saw no advertising this was a massive time to get lacrosse everywhere with some of the best players in the world being there.

Secondly i know the ela thinks that lacrosse is only played in the north by seriously the place where it was held was a joke the main field with one little stand on one side of the pitch was shocking. I played amateur american football for 5 years and played in bigger stadiums.

I definitely agree about the warrior/liverpool sponsorship this should be a massive time for lacrosse.


the World Championships were very well managed & facilitated, I'm glad you played in bigger stadiums but at Super Saturday there were 5,000 fans watching the games in a great atmosphere (thanks to MAHOU) a bigger Stadium would not have been prudent.

Ask anyone who went to Gigg Lane, Bury to watch Worlds in 1994?
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Re: Lacrosse feature on Sky Sports

Postby chippie Sat Feb 04, 2012 9:03 pm

The feature was based on the increase in participation at university level, around the INTO Lacrosse programme....
It was all about new players to the game, getting into lacrosse not solely on the traditional forms but mainly on a recreational level, so this showed exactly what its about, the fact that all those people who took part in that feature started playing lacrosse from september, yes you may have wanted filming of people who have played for ages/or skilled players/or mens or even womens lacrosse...but what does that show...it shows that to play lax, you have to be skilled, or have all the equipment...not what the message was trying to get across.

I think its great that these people were part of the programme, these guys may have not played long but since starting they love the game and have set up a club at their university, from a non playing institution, we have recreational lacrosse and next year they hope to be entering BUCS.

As you can see from the footage, Sky wanted to catch the whole student thing not just lacrosse, thats why they went into a lecture, students union etc....

but anyway sky got what they wanted and lacrosse got some publicity... obviously wasnt good enough for all :shock:

p.s. dave: there was a lot of stuff edited down like the history of lacrosse etc....

and as far as the warrior deal....what would you suggest uklacrosse...
and i didnt know the governing body had tied its flag to Adidas, (p.s. why did adidas leave liverpool??), do you suggest they tie themselves to warrior?
lot of work to do to break into hockey/rugby/cricket....i wonder if they will be as successful as under armour?
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Re: Lacrosse feature on Sky Sports

Postby UKLacrosse Sat Feb 04, 2012 9:56 pm

chippie wrote:and as far as the warrior deal....what would you suggest uklacrosse...
and i didnt know the governing body had tied its flag to Adidas, (p.s. why did adidas leave liverpool??), do you suggest they tie themselves to warrior?
lot of work to do to break into hockey/rugby/cricket....i wonder if they will be as successful as under armour?


As I indicated David, I merely suggested by my post, that there is a 'window of opportunity', which I believe the governing body should consider how to take advantage of. While we have an interest in seeing the game develop, and anyone who knows us will know that it goes beyond our business interests, we are not the governing body, and marketing of the game is not our remit.

From the end of this season, the Warrior name will start to appear on the Premiership scene, and the general public may be asking who this company is. The obvious is that they were founded on the game of lacrosse, though they are much more than that, because they have a major presence in the ice hockey market in North America, as well as in Europe. Through the acquistion of Brine they acquired a football (soccer) business, field hockey and volleyball. Under the umbrella of New Balance they will undoubtedly be successful in entering the football, field hockey and rugby markets. In my opinion cricket may not be so easy, but don't bet against it.

The ELA have no reason to tie themselves to Warrior, no more than they appeared to tie their marketing to the Adidas brand. However, the ELA believed that the Adidas brand would have far more credibility at their targeted audience outside lacrosse ... or that was how it was explained to me. Sadly, that hasn't worked because Adidas Lacrosse was not Adidas, and didn't have the longer term resource or resolve of that company.

Why did Adidas leave Liverpool? In their words ....Liverpool's asking price (though this was more Warrior's price, than LIverpool's) did not match their performance on the pitch. Interestingly, following the official announcement Liverpool have knocked both Manchester teams out of cup competitions. The tie up with Liverpool was obvious for any true marketeer! Timing - Liverpool's shirt sponsorship deal came up for renewal from the 2012-13 season. Global - Liverpool jerseys hold the 4th largest global sales of replica jerseys at over 900,000. Ownership - John W Henry is the major Liverpool shareholder, and the owner of the Boston Red Sox, who have a major sponsorship deal with ...... New Balance, the Boston-based .....

The comparison with Under Armour ... who will be Tottenham's new jersey sponsor from the 2012-13 season, replacing Puma! Under Armour are a very conservative company, as well as being extremely successful, and for these reasons, should never be under-estimated. Their growth could be compared to the success of Warrior .... Warrior founded in 1993 .... Under Armour 3 years later in 1996. The major difference being that Warrior is now owned by New Balance.
Last edited by UKLacrosse on Sat Feb 04, 2012 10:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Lacrosse feature on Sky Sports

Postby chippie Sat Feb 04, 2012 10:14 pm

Keith, thanks for info....
Would be interesting to see how both warrior and UA do down the road, might be some good opportunities for lacrosse in the UK
I hope sky will continue the interest in lax, who knows with the new contacts maybe we could persuade them to attend some highlight events such as flags or national schools
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Re: Lacrosse feature on Sky Sports

Postby Sour37 Sun Feb 05, 2012 10:55 am

Out of curiosity - how many of the people around the country who started as part of into lacrosse aren't now incorporated into the university clubs.

At Newcastle all of the male players are, but the women aren't as there isn't an appropriate team for them, and as such the numbers have dropped off a bit.
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Re: Lacrosse feature on Sky Sports

Postby toonlax Sun Feb 05, 2012 11:26 am

chippie wrote: yes you may have wanted filming of people who have played for ages/or skilled players/or mens or even womens lacrosse...but what does that show...it shows that to play lax, you have to be skilled, or have all the equipment...not what the message was trying to get across.


With respect, the picture on the link was of an England player vs a German player from the World Championships. I think we can all be forgiven in thinking that we were therefore in for at least a few seconds of men's and ladies elite lacrosse. I have to disagree with your opinion that showing elite level lacrosse would put off players. I think it does the exact opposite. In my experience, people want to see what they might end up playing and this attracts athletic and coordinated individuals. You don't show clips of a muddy school game of touch to get people playing rugby...

It sounds like the INTO lacrosse programme has worked at this institution. I am aware of a few places where (male) students turned up for the INTO lacrosse session and were put off as they were playing the ladies game. My concern is that by only showing ladies/mixed lacrosse we will continue to reinforce the general publics misconceptions...

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Re: Lacrosse feature on Sky Sports

Postby chippie Sun Feb 05, 2012 12:33 pm

the picture was chosen by sky...
i understand your point...and when people ask about lacrosse, i generally show them youtube videos of mens lacrosse....
however as mentioned, the feature was about 'getting involved' and a specific initiative....thats what they wanted

and the INTO programme is not about playing mens or womens lacrosse...its about playing recreational lacrosse, any stick, any ball, any where.... allowing anyone to access the game, then the pathway/sign-posting is to go into mens and womens....there are thousands of uni students who want to play recreational sport not competitive sport and thats what the sport england initiative is about..participation not performance!! (but thats another debate...take it up with sport england)

there are still barriers to a male player starting playing mens lacrosse at uni....so you can show as much high level mens lacrosse as you want, but what happens when they turn up to the uni club and there is no club helmets/gloves etc, do we want them not to be involved in lacrosse or do we cater for them the best we can? The guys in the feature were not put off....they have applied for funding for mens equipment, they played in a 6 a side mens tournament hosted at birmingham uni where bham uni lent kit to them (you can see the video on youtube) these guys will be on the forum in the summer looking for local clubs..im sorry to hear that some people were put off....i guess you cant please everyone all of the time, i guess it works some places but not all, hopefully some people got something out of it! This is the first year, if it doesn't work then its something to work on

also there are lots of mens uni teams (mainly south) that have developed through mixed lacrosse teams... so it can work to increase participation in the game! :wink:

lacrosse in one form or the other has now been on sky sports twice this season....im sure there are different people in the lacrosse community that would want different things shown....the hope is they want to cover more and we get more opportunities to do this...

andy...not sure around the county, but just as an example, bham will be entering a womens 3rd team and a mens 2nds into BUCS, other unis have taken INTO players into their teams as they have struggled in the past with numbers....and some people just want to take part in playing something once a week with no commitments

anyways...at least it gets people talking, hopefully we will tick everyones boxes one day :D
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