There is no better way to grow our great game than to become a lacrosse coach. Few can make it their full-time job in this country but opportunities are always available for either volunteer or paid coaching roles.
- Volunteer coach with a local club or junior programme
- Paid coach working with a school, college or university
- Volunteer coach working with a representative team, such as South, Midlands or English Universities
- Paid or part-funded coach working with a national team, either for a GB home nation or in Europe
How to become a lacrosse coach
Whether volunteer or paid, all coaches working in England must have the following;
- Be a member of England Lacrosse (EL), our National Governing Body (NGB)
- EL coaching qualification
- A recognised by EL safeguarding course qualification
- A recognised by EL first aid course
- A Disclosure and Barring Service certificate (DBS)
- Get all the above logged on your England Lacrosse Sport:80 profile
1. England Lacrosse Membership
All players, officials and coaches participating in lacrosse activities with programmes affiliated with England Lacrosse must have valid membership of the NGB. Find the "Sign-Up" link on the England Lacrosse Website. This applies to coaches working with SEMLA clubs, representative teams like South and Midlands, and our box lacrosse programme delivered by Southern Box Lacrosse. Membership gives you protection via EL's 3rd party liability insurance for lacrosse activities. You do not need EL membership to coach at a school or other educational institution but you then need your own 3rd party liability insurance cover.
2. England Lacrosse Coaching Qualifications
There are three tiers of EL coaching courses.
The Coaching Fundamentals (Level 1) course is the starting point in most cases and equips you to be an assistant coach.
The Coaching Field Lacrosse (Level2) course takes you to the next level, to be the primary coach for a club or programme. Most institutions such as schools or universities tend to require a minimum of the Field Lacrosse coaching qualification. Experienced lacrosse players who have been coached to a high level can by-pass the Coaching Fundamentals course. The applicability of this will be assessed by England Lacrosse on application.
The Talent Coaching (Level 3) course is specifically designed for individuals who have the qualities and desire to coach talented athletes, including players in Academies and National squads.
Coaches who hold qualifications issued from other countries can have their qualification assessed by England Lacrosse and converted to the appropriate EL qualifications at a cost of £30.
For all questions related to coaching courses, contact Nik Roberts at n.roberts@englandlacrosse.co.uk.
Does you club want to host an EL coaching course?
Contact Nik Roberts (details above) if your club would like to host a coaching course. The requirements to host the Coaching Fundamentals course is access to a grass field (no lacrosse markings or goal requires) and a toilet for 4 hours. Often the course would run over 5 hours with a 1 hour lunch break, so the ideal timing would be 10:00-15:00.
3. Safeguarding Course Qualification
The England Lacrosse Safeguarding course is free and valid for 3 years, and can be accessed from your Profile on the the England Lacrosse membership system via 'Access Learning Platform'. Other safeguarding courses are available.
4. First Aid Course Qualification
A suitable first aid course needs to include use of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) devices. Courses designed for sports and outdoor recreation will be more relevant than courses designed for the workplace.
Many courses are fully online such as the ProTrainings Activity First Aid course.
A physical face-to-face course is still the best way to learn with 2-way interaction with the course tutor. Oodles Sport have courses individuals can book onto and they can run a course at your club, allowing multiple people to get qualified.
Other first aid courses are available. Most first aid courses are valid for 3 years.
5. Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Certificate
You can obtain or renew a DBS certification via England Lacrosse. Email Rebecca Wood at r.wood@englandlacrosse.co.uk and request a "background check". Supply the following information;
- Full name
- Email address
- Type of check (Enhanced, partaking in paid work or Volunteer, partaking in none paid work)
- Who is paying for the check (e.g. yourself, your club, etc.)
EVERYONE who participates in a lacrosse coaching role MUST hold a valid DBS certificate issued through England Lacrosse. Anyone partaking in paid work will need to hold an Enhanced check. For unpaid / volunteer roles will need a Volunteer check.
Costs:
Enhanced check = £55.50
Volunteer check = £14.25
For coaches working with multiple organisations it is recommended to register on the DBS Update Service so that employers can check the status of a certificate, for example, if the paper copy is not available.
6. Get all the above logged on your England Lacrosse Sport:80 profile
The England Lacrosse Sport:80 membership portal is not the most initiative of systems, but luckily EL have uploaded some "how to" videos.
What equipment do I need?
Depending on where you are coaching, all the equipment needed may or may not be provided.
The big ticket items like lacrosse goals, balls and playing equipment should be provided by the host organisation.
Having the following items in your "coaching bag" is recommended;
- Good quality whistle
- Stopwatch
- Stack of coloured cones
- Screwdriver, some stringing laces and tape (for quick stick repairs)
Before coaching at a new venue, ensure you know the following;
- Address of the venue and nearest car parking
- Surface type, e.g. grass, 3G, sand-based astro etc.
- Location of changing rooms / toilets
- Location of the nearest first aid equipment
- Contact phone number for the host organisation
It happens to a coach at least in the their lifetime; You arrive at a venue and it's either locked, the floodlights are switched off, the park is closed or the equipment storage room is locked. Improvisation is an essential skill for a coach. Given a group of players willing to learn but no access to a pitch, goals or balls, you can still coach a session. It could be fitness/agility. It could a walk-through of set plays. It could be positional work for offence or defence formations.
Coaching resources
SEMLA Virtual Coaching Seminars
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020 and we were in lockdown, SEMLA ran a series of virtual coaching seminars. We covered a wide range of topics. Keynote speakers from the SEMLA coaching community, European and International coaches and those from other sports joined us to share their knowledge and answer questions.
All seminars are available to re-watch via our YouTube channel.
SEMLA Coaching Google Folder
We are building a library of useful resources within a shared Google folder. A copy of the coaching seminar videos (above) is also available here as well as coaching plan templates and other things relevant to coaching. This library will grow over time so keep checking for updates.
England Lacrosse Introduction to Lacrosse Videos
Watch the series of Introduction to Lacrosse instructional videos.
They cover the absolute basics which all coaches need to understand to explain the core skills to beginners.
World Lacrosse Training Courses
World Lacrosse have a series of free online training courses aimed not just at coaches, but also athletes, officials and leaders in the sport.
Visit their Virtual Training Centre and subscribe to these free courses, develop your learning and grow the game.
Basic / Essential Training Drills Video Links
Nothing fancy, just the absolute lacrosse basics which every coach should have in their locker to run at practice sessions with groups of any age or experience.
More useful online resources
Tons of good stuff from Mesa Lacrosse, a club lacrosse programme running teams in Pennsylvania, USA
We'll add more as we find them...