Members of Jamaica's team celebrate a goal at the Lacrosse Men's World Championship in San Diego. (Inset) JLA president Calbert Hutchinson.
Peeved by the fact that the sport has been underrated and the support minimal, Jamaica Lacrosse Association (JLA) president Calbert Hutchinson, is hoping the performances of the country's young prospects at the ongoing Men’s Lacrosse World Championship, will now attract the attention of the powers that be to throw their financial weight behind the sporting body.
Despite making significant strides over the years since the sport's introduction to the island in 2014, Hutchinson pointed out that continuous appeal for funding have mostly fell on deaf ears but says the men’s unbeaten run in San Diego so far, is another testament of their growth and development that should issue another clarion call to join the movement.
The Jamaicans drawn in Pool D, opened their campaign with a 5-3 victory over more illustrious opponents Germany, followed by 10-5 and 6-4 wins over Switzerland and Poland respectively. They then rewrote the history books by blowing away New Zealand 10-6 on Monday to enter the playoffs as one of five unbeaten teams, with their next assignment scheduled for Tuesday against Italy.
"I am extremely pleased with the overall performance of the team, considering the limited time they had to gel together. I know we had the talent and coaching abilities to demonstrate to the world that Lacrosse and Jamaica are the perfect match, so it may be a surprise to many but for me, this historic accomplishment is just another feat that I think, speaks volumes of our growth over the years," Hutchinson told SportsMax.tv.
"However, the lack of support from home has hit a new low. Financial and moral support from entities that would be quick to throw their names and money behind a traditional team or individual sport that is doing well in the moment has been slow in coming so we are still hoping that corporate Jamaica will throw some support behind the sport. I'll say again that your support is an investment in our youth because there are so many opportunities where lacrosse is concerned," he added.
Over the years, Hutchinson has stressed the importance of providing a platform for aspiring players to come to the fore, and this tournament is one such example behind the JLA's intentions to improve and expand the sport, particularly from a local perspective.
"A positive exposure on the international scene is always a major positive for local development which is why we ensure that we have local talents getting the well needed international experience to come back and transfer that knowledge. So, an outstanding Kingston College player Samuel Henry and KC's head coach Kenneth Subratie, are currently a part the Jamaican team and coaching staff making waves," Hutchinson shared.
"We want to establish more meaningful partnerships with selected stakeholders who are in a position to help us grow the sport for the youths of today and tomorrow. So, again, we are hoping that these performances among some of the best teams, will translate into more scholarships for our players coming out of the high school league, more sponsorship opportunities, and more meaningful partnership with local and international entities," he noted.
Given their remarkable performances so far, Hutchinson acknowledges that there are heightened expectations that the team can possibly snare an historic medal, but to do so, they have to maintain the high standard starting with the next assignment against Italy.
Should the Jamaicans come out on top, they will then meet another powerhouse in Canada for a chance to progress to the quarterfinals.
“I have always said that this sport is one that captures the spirit of the Jamaican people, the excitement, the intensity and the desire to succeed on every occasion. Every time you win the expectations are greater, and so we want to live up to those expectations, by continuing to execute efficiently and improving our opportunities to create problems for teams on defence," Hutchinson stated.
"But regardless of what happens, we are very proud of the grit and determination displayed by the team and hope we can build on this achievement going forward by getting the Government and Corporate Jamaica to pay a little more attention to non-traditional sports like ours that has the greatest growth potential when compared to the traditional sports and especially when we are out performing those sports with our world rankings," the president ended.
Jamaica's senior men's team is currently ranked 13th in the world and 28th among the women, while the Under-19 male team is ranked 9th and the women currently positioned at number 30.
Sherdon Cowan is a five-time award-winning journalist with 10 years' experience covering sports.
Katie Boulter eager to continue rankings rise after ‘very special’ San Diego win
Katie Boulter has set her sights on pushing further up the rankings after winning the biggest title of her career.
The British number one defeated five top-40 players to win the San Diego Open, bringing her a first WTA 500 trophy and elevating her ranking to 27.
With Cameron Norrie slipping to 28, it means Boulter is the highest-ranked British singles player of either gender heading into the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, which begins on Wednesday.
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The same week a year ago, Boulter was ranked outside the world’s top 150, and she does not have many points to defend until the grass-court tournament in Nottingham in June, where last year she picked up her first WTA title.
“I feel like I’ve started the year very well and I’ve given myself the best opportunity to set myself up for the rest of the year,” said 27-year-old Boulter.
“I’ve got a free swing, I don’t really have too much pressure. I’m just here enjoying myself and working as hard as I possibly can with a great team. You never know what could happen so I’m looking forward to the rest of the year.”
The weekend was made even more special for Boulter by the success of boyfriend Alex De Minaur, who successfully defended his title in Acapulco on Saturday before catching an early morning flight to cheer on the British star.
They join the likes of former couples Jimmy Connors and Chris Evert and Lleyton Hewitt and Kim Clijsters in winning titles on the same weekend, and Boulter said: “I think that is very cool.
“I had no idea other people had done it. To share something with my other half is going to be something that we won’t forget.”
While the two titles both earned their recipients 500 ranking points, De Minaur took home around £325,000 and Boulter just £112,000, highlighting the continuing disparity between the ATP and WTA Tour away from the biggest joint events.
Boulter has mixed feelings, saying: “I’m obviously very happy with my first WTA 500 title, not too many players can say that they’ve won a 500 so I feel very special.
“Regarding the prize money, I feel like there’s a lot of equality in our sport in the biggest events. I really hope that the WTA can continue to help bridge the gap between the other events.”
There is parity in Indian Wells, where the tours come together at a big event for the first time since the Australian Open.
Boulter’s elevation to the top 30 comes too late to earn her a seeding and she will be back in action on Wednesday against dangerous Italian Camila Giorgi.
If she can maintain or improve her ranking through to the French Open and Wimbledon, she will earn herself a seeding, meaning she would not face a player in the top 32 until at least the third round.
“It’s definitely an aim of mine,” said Boulter. “I want to make sure that I can get as close to a seeding as possible. At the moment I’m in but it takes time to build more ranking points and to get myself to that place.
“Every single place in the ranking counts and I’ve just got to do my best because obviously it makes a difference as to who you play in the tournaments.”
Boulter is joined in the Indian Wells draw by Emma Raducanu, who has been given a wild card and will take on a qualifier in the first round.
Raducanu enjoyed one of her best weeks in the Californian desert last year, defying the wrist problems that subsequently forced her to go under the knife to reach the fourth round.
Norrie has a bye in the men’s event as the 28th seed while Andy Murray plays a qualifier, Jack Draper meets Christopher O’Connell and Dan Evans plays Roman Safiullin.
Rafael Nadal returns to the tour for the first time since suffering a muscle injury in Brisbane in January and will take on fellow veteran Milos Raonic, while Novak Djokovic makes his first appearance in Indian Wells for five years following the relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions.
A closer look at the five sports given the go-ahead for the 2028 Olympic Games
Five sports – cricket, squash, baseball/softball, lacrosse and flag football – will either be making their Olympic debut or returning to the programme at the Los Angeles 2028 Games.
The proposal was approved at the International Olympic Committee Session in Mumbai on Monday, with only two delegates voting against the new events.
Here, the PA news agency looks at all of the confirmed additions and picks out a few current British standouts in each.
Cricket
Cricket returns to the Games for the first time in 128 years in the form of six-team men’s and women’s T20 tournaments. It last featured as a men’s-only competition for the Paris Olympic Games in 1900, which means Great Britain’s men will somewhat be going into the competition as defending champions, while the sport’s inclusion is also hailed as a brilliant showcase for the exponentially-growing women’s game.
Leading lights: Sophie Ecclestone/Sam Curran
Squash
Squash, one of the sports debuting at LA 2028, has been overlooked by the IOC at the past three Games, and the squash community reacted with incredulity at being ignored in favour of breakdancing for Paris 2024. Monday’s announcement will be welcome news for Great Britain, with three English players currently within the men’s and women’s world top-10 rankings, boasting world and Commonwealth titles between them.
Leading Lights: Mohamed ElShorbagy/Georgina Kennedy
Baseball/Softball
Great Britain’s baseball and fastpitch softball teams have never been in a better position to qualify for an Olympic Games. Not only did the men’s baseball team qualify for and play in a maiden World Baseball Classic – a bit like the sport’s World Cup this year – they also won a game and did enough to qualify for the next edition, following that up with a third-ever European silver medal in September.
GB’s softball team were one win away from making the Tokyo 2020 Olympics – where the sports last featured – and are currently ranked 12th in the latest WBSC World Rankings. They beat a tough challenger in world number three Chinese Taipei earlier this year and, like their baseball counterparts, hold the European silver medal with promising talent in the pipeline.
Leading Lights: Harry Ford/Georgina Corrick
Lacrosse
Like cricket, lacrosse is preparing for its return to the Olympics for the first time in over a century, having last been included on the programme at St Louis 1904 and London 1908. Sixes, the format premiering in Los Angeles, has been described by World Lacrosse as a “fast-paced and compact” version of the game sometimes likened to The Hundred in cricket. Great Britain narrowly missed the podium at the 2022 World Games, placing fourth in both the men’s and women’s competitions, but could certainly be contenders in LA.
Leading lights: Tom Bracegirdle/Claire Faram
Flag Football
Flag football, a variant of American football, will also make its Olympic debut in just under five years’ time. Unlike the NFL, flag is a pacey non-contact sport where tackles are made by pulling flags off players’ hips. Great Britain’s women are ranked 20th in the world and are the reigning European champions, while the NFL this year launched its first girls’ flag league as part of ambitions to grow the game in the UK.
Leading lights: Brittany Botterill/Charlie Williams
When lacrosse made its Olympic debut in St Louis in 1904 the bronze medal was won by a team of Mohawk Indians whose names included Snake Eater, Rain in Face and Man Afraid Soap.
Well over a century later, the sport is preparing to return to the official Games programme in Los Angeles in 2028 in a form that would have been wholly unrecognisable to its Native American pioneers.
What is said to have started as a game involving hundreds of participants who chased a ball wrapped in deer-hide over miles-wide courses, often for days on end, has been compacted for Olympic purposes into a fast-paced, half-hour, six-a-side showpiece.
Lacrosse sixes, which was developed as a variant of the established 10-a-side format, featured in last year’s World Games in Birmingham, Alabama, and has been confirmed as one of five new sports by the International Olympic Committee.
Great Britain’s men’s and women’s sides both finished fourth in the World Games, raising the prospect of real medal potential, and the kind of improved profile and potentially also funding that until recently would have seemed unthinkable for generations of domestic lacrosse players.
“It’s an immense moment for the sport and Olympic inclusion will give the sport the kind of global recognition we as players have always felt it deserves,” England’s Emma Oakley, who plays for Hawks Lacrosse Club in Richmond, west London, told the PA news agency.
“Since the sixes game has been introduced everyone has got fully on board with it. It is such an exciting version of the sport, it condenses all of its best elements and it is exceptionally viewable for people who are new to lacrosse.”
Sixes is played over four, eight-minute quarters and continues the evolution of the game, which was dropped as a full Olympic sport in 1908 but subsequently made three more appearances as a demonstration event, most recently in 1948, when England and the United States played out a 5-5 draw at Wembley.
Despite its changes, the sport retains huge popularity among Native American communities. The Haudenosaunee, a team representing the Iroquois Confederacy, regularly competes in international tournaments and is currently ranked inside the world top 10 in both men and women.
“As a young girl when I started in the sport I always knew lacrosse had been in the Olympics but I never dreamed it would be back, and it is lovely to have that legacy from so long ago,” continued Oakley.
“I loved the sport from the moment I started and it is great to think that along with the Lionesses and the Red Roses, who have allowed girls to see women competing on a global stage, lacrosse can become another option.”
Although Canada and the United States tend to dominate over the more traditional format, sixes has created realistic opportunities for other nations, with Japan and Australia pipping Britain to bronze medals in Alabama.
British Lacrosse chairman Leslie Rance described Olympic inclusion as a “watershed moment” for the sport in this country and the end of a “long, long wait” to return to the programme.
“We know there is a lot of work to do over the coming years, firstly to qualify for the Games and then to ensure we are prepared to compete for medals,” said Rance.
“But I know that our team of coaches, support staff and players are ready for the exciting challenges which lie ahead.”
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