It’s a fair question, but one that hides a rich history of international success. In Australia, lacrosse isn’t a household name, it doesn’t headline sports bulletins or fill grandstands, but for those of us who play, the sport has taken us well beyond the boundaries of a field. Not only has it allowed me to explore Australia’s beautiful cities, but it has been a ticket across the world and an offering for friendship. Over the past decade, saying, “No way, I play lacrosse too” has become our page in an international passport. Whether in the Americas, Japan, Europe or here at home, there is a special connection made around a sport we so often have to explain.
Through lacrosse, I’ve been lucky enough to travel across the world to Canada, the United States and most recently, Asia. If that’s not amazing enough, the sport has also enabled me, and so many others, to move overseas and experience college life whilst playing lacrosse in the United States. At 19-years of age, I left my home town of Adelaide. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic – unsure of when I would return to see my family – I arrived at Pomona College in Claremont, California with a thick Aussie accent, a body full of nerves and a few tears behind my smile. I was immediately immersed in a world so similar, yet so foreign. It’s hard to explain how, but within months, my guard was down and I let the incredible place of Claremont, and the people within it, become home. These friendships and my new college lacrosse community became too strong to part with, so I stayed.
I recently moved up to San Francisco for work after graduating. Despite being in a new place, the exact sentence, “No way, I play lacrosse too” landed me a perfect housing opportunity with some incredibly funny, kind and amazingly talented Stanford lacrosse alumni. It also landed me an incredible training partner from New Zealand who I’ve bonded with through tough, but fun, sessions preparing for The World Games. I’ve always heard that sport gives you lifelong friends — and I hate to lean into the cliché, but my experiences across the world prove this true.
Back home though, there is a stronger, quieter magic in being part of something so niche. When your community is small, you immediately notice someone else speaking your language — and Australian Lacrosse is exactly that: a language of shared experience, of hard-fought battles on grassy fields, creative resourcefulness in the pursuit of improvement, and a deep, collective love of the game. The bond with my Aussie teammates is like no other, it is one of the strongest examples of mateship I’ve found.
Despite this, the magic of a small community isn’t without the realistic challenges of being a small sport. Yet what I’ve found is that these very challenges define the heart of Australian lacrosse; we’re gritty, we hustle and we never give up. We learn to advocate for ourselves, to balance full-time work or study with elite-level training, and we show up every single time — not for glory, but because we believe in what this sport gives us.
Excitingly, that belief now has a new focus: the Olympics. With LA 2028 on the horizon, our passion has a different kind of momentum. As a community that’s grown without fanfare or fame, we’re ready to show the world what we’ve built and honour the women who paved the way to get us here. We play for them, for each other, for our country and for the chance to take Australian Lacrosse to its highest stage yet.
For me, I am excited about the possibility of the collision of my two worlds; playing lacrosse for Australia in the place I now call home, California.
“No way, I play lacrosse too!”
Top photo – Pictured: Hannah Gough, Source: Supplied/Johanna Schulz
