This weekend saw four great games of lacrosse played on the picturesque Bat n Ball Oval in the Centennial Parklands.
The NSW women stepped up, fielding two playing teams which were supplemented by the two travelling ladies from QLD. The ladies produced very competitive, high quality games with great running lacrosse under the Sydney sun. The smiling tanned/burnt faces were evidence of the fun had by all the ladies over both days.
The QLD and NSW men competed for the inaugural B.R. Rosewarne perpetual trophy with the first game seeing NSW go down to QLD 6-7. The second game went in the favour of the hosts 9-8 seeing the incumbent tournament winners, NSW, hold onto the trophy for the fourth straight year. The most tightly contested tournament to date reflected the growth and development year on year that QLD have been injecting into their club league. The quality of play by the newer members of both teams shows that we are heading in the right direction in terms of development here on the East Coast.
Our thanks go out to the Australian Lacrosse Association and specifically Mike Slattery for their tireless support and provision of quality, respected match officials to control the weekend's games. The officiating was outstanding and the commitment to develop our officials and our knowledge of the rules of the sport is greatly appreciated. Also thanks to Natasha Meyer (QLD) and Caroline McLuckie (NSW) for their officiating efforts.
We also appreciate the efforts of the NSW Lacrosse Board of Directors and the tournament organisers from Queensland Lacrosse for creating a spectacular event. Specific thanks to team managers Tim Koodrin and the ever enthusiastic Jacqueline Le. Alice Lo for her design work of the NSW uniforms and Powerplay Sports for supplying them.
To Mr Bruce Rosewarne, your dedication to this sport is appreciated by all of us and your commitment to this tournament and the development of lacrosse on the Sunshine Coast and beyond is a real asset to this sport in Australia. We'd like to extend our thanks to you and look forward to annually contesting for the Shield that bears your name and commemorates the 50th year of your involvement with the sport of lacrosse.
It was a great honour and pleasure to have our patron Judith Halnan and life member Linda Roylance at the tournament supporting the teams, and we look forward to their mentor ship as we continue to grow the sport in NSW.
Final thanks to all the players that made the tournament a success. We look forward to contesting the tournament in Queensland next year!