Winter Classic
When you have a lacrosse mad grandson who has a game in the morning and then has an afternoon to fill before he goes to a 4pm Party at Playfactor e there was a simple answer on Saturday.
Go and watch the Winter Classic at MMU Sports Facility Platt Fields.
What is the Winter Classic? I am not sure who is the driving force behind this initiative but in my view it was a triumph!
In recent years the gap between top class club Llcrosse and the international game has widened. If we are to continue to compete at the highest level then something has to be done. We are probably going to struggle to beat the Canadians and USA but playing them teaches you a lot. In 2018 the Canadians and Americans will be red hot favourites but what happens beyond them is anyone’s guess. The Iroquois (or Haudensaunee or whatever they call themselves these days) should be a great team but are likely to be absentees, sacrificing their players to their political ambitions. The reality is that Australia who have arguably been in long term decline and countries like Israel who depend on attracting American players to their cause stand between England and a possible medal in 2018.
The Winter Classic is a realistic attempt to create a level of lacrosse which is between club lacrosse and (world) championship lacrosse.
The initial event succeeded on a number of levels.
Around 90 of the country’s best players were split into 4 squads who, over 2 weekends played games against each other.
The result was level of lacrosse which was demonstrably at a higher level than club lacrosse. It was fast and skilful –and entertaining.
The games would hopefully have given the England coaches a good look at the talent available for 2018 and from the weekend it was intended to select a squad of 28 to prepare for 2018 and a development squad of a further 28 players as an investment in the future.
The MMU facilities with two juxtaposed 3G pitches and a indoor 3G suitable for all action 7 a side games are a suitable facility for a great weekend of lacrosse.
I am sure that the initial event was valuable for players and coaches and as such deserves a permanent place in the calendar.
It does, however, also present the opportunity to build up a version of super league which could be promoted to provide a showcase for good, entertaining lacrosse, give young players some role models they can perhaps more easily identify with than say the Thompsons on You tube, and even make a few quid to support the National squad players.

Congratulations
Following the Winter Classic English Lacrosse have announced a 28 man Performance Squad which will start the preparation for the 2018 World Championship in Manchester. Coach Wenham has selected a squad with a healthy balance between youth and experience.
Timperley is well represented in the squad with defenseman Tommy Kirkland, middie Mike Armstrong, face off man Tom Bracegirdle and attack man Josh Roden chosen.
The squad will travel to Dublin to play against top NCAA side Towson University and next summer make the long trip to Australia to play Australia and Japan.
Congratulations to all players.
At a later date English Lacrosse will announce a Development Squad which will be chosen with an eye to the future

Timperley Xmas 8s
The 1st Timperley Xmas 8s took place on the Stockport ATPs on Sunday 18th Dec. Fantastically organised by the human dynamo that is Ceniz Ilhan it gave the opportunity for the U13 and U15 junior girls to play competitive and exciting lacrosse.
The event is an important addition to the North West Lacrosse calendar and will, I am sure, be repeated next year.
For Timperley there was the added bonus of being victorious in both the U13 (see report) and U15 competitions. In addition the U13 younger team had a very beneficial tournament finishing 7th and gaining some valuable experience against some good teams. The U15 2nd team gave good account of themselves finishing 5th.
Congratulations to organisers, players, coaches and managers.

Politics for Christmas!!
I am not sure how much people are interested in the complicated and challenging politics that we, as a country, are going to face for the next decade. I have little else to think about but I was struck by the response on the referendum and to the Trump election from Timperley members on social media. And of course Altrincham was very clearly for remain which does create some challenges for local politics.
Politics also does impact on TSC and TLC.
TSC has a project to know how best to take advantage of the nearly £500k we will receive from Trafford MBC to buy out their obligations in respect of the ATP. In my experience to have such an amount you would expect to be able to match it with funding from other sources. Those other sources will depend to a significant degree on the government investment in sport. The outlook in this area is not positive.
For lacrosse the Government policy towards immigration has destroyed the LDO programme and although TLC has been able to respond positively thanks to the efforts of Sarah Baron and Alan Holdsworth the effect has been generally negative and in 30 years Timperley have never been in a position when we have to consider not running teams in an age group. A challenge we will have to address in the coming weeks.
For English Lacrosse their funding from Sport England for the next 4 years will soon be announced. NGBs across the whole sports spectrum will face reduction in their funding. As with every area of life sport will be expected by the government to do more with less.
My final comment would be that people are perhaps a little reluctant to initiate a discussion on politics, (not very British-more European) but if they do the vehemence of their objections to Brexit is clear. The people, and there are many, that I have spoken to, are like me, unable to come up with a reason for voting leave. The “voice of the people” would seem to me have produced a wafer thin majority to leave. Remainers have to live with the stigma of being a part of a metropolitan, educated, liberal elite who want a country which is there for the benefit of all its citizens and believes in equality, opportunity for all, and helping the less able. These days views that are seen as an insult by Leavers. Leavers are presumably happy to be seen as unintelligent, xenophobic, racists who are interested in only their vested interests and willing to sacrifice the futures of the young even if they are their grand children and
wear the badge with pride.

How have we got where we are?
The Historical Writers Association has recently conducted a poll to decide who is the worst Prime Minister in the last 100 years. The result is probably not that surprising.
Worst was Margaret Thatcher with 24% of the vote followed by David Cameron with 22%. Neville Chamberlain, who had to deal with Hitler, came third with 17%.
Many of the problems which we faced today can be traced back to the disgraceful premiership of Margaret Thatcher.
Our leading historical writers were scathing in their judgement.
Writer Emma Darwin wrote, “She destroyed too many good things in society and created too many bad ones, then left a social and moral vacuum into which the selfishly rich and the unimaginatively fortunate could too easily destroy still more of what they don’t need and can’t see that everyone else does need.”
Catherine Harkin was also emphatic in her views on the “Iron Lady”.
“Thatcher made the idea of society, in the sense of community that cares for all of its members and accepts the premise that people need support and should not be stigmatised for it, an anathema. It is easy to demonise politicians and resort to ad hominum rather than policy attacks, but Thatcher encouraged the worst behaviour across all aspects of society and we are still reaping her poisoned harvest,”
David Cameron cannot be deemed to be a success and I suspect that his legacy will become more tarnished with the passing of time.
Tom Harper was clear in his view. “David Cameron is a mediocrity who has single handed brought on the UK’s biggest crisis in 75 years. Neville Chamberlain had to contend with Hitler, Eden with Nasser. Cameron could not even see off Nigel Farage!”
Angus Donald was equally damning. “He gambled with the country’s future prosperity and lost and then ran from the battlefield leaving the rest of us to pick up the pieces.”
Clearly Thatcher has a questionable record in that her policies led to the destruction of communities and industries and did little to create a positive attitude amongst people to take the country forward. .
One of the legacies of Thatcherism is the vote by the 52% to leave the EU. The Brexiters embrace all the questionable moralities which Thatcher brought to the fore and which created the England we live in but which we might have hoped did not typify the nation.

Brexit; a country divided forever
We have, with a degree of complacency, felt that we are a strong but small country which punches way above its weight .We are a strong economy (5th largest in the world!! Difficult to believe) We have differing views but overcome differences these views create with an over-riding belief that we have a strong national identity which enables us to ride out the challenges of the 21st century.
The 23rd June shattered these illusions and showed us to be a nation with deep divisions which it will be difficult if not impossible to mend.
The decision by David Cameron to call a referendum on remaining in the EU for the simple reason of Tory Party management will create an undeniably negative legacy for him. The terms of the referendum were such as would never be used to decide an issue in the local tennis club and certainly not Timperley Sports Club, never mind a country. The outcome is a deeply divided country where the fissures seem much, much deeper than I could ever have imagined in my life time. We are not only Leave v Remain but young v old, north v south, educated v less educated, cities v small towns and rural areas, pro-immigrant v anti-immigrant. We find that members of our own families hold views that are totally unacceptable to other members of the family and disrupt family links.
The idea that on the basis of a wafer thin majority we should all pull together to inflict lasting on our country seems unlikely and unacceptable.
If Theresa May takes us out of the EU on terms which seem inevitably to inflict lasting damage on our country the next time the Historical Writers Association hold a poll she will certainly be pushing for a place in the top 3 worst PMs.

The Age of the City
One of the perhaps slightly surprising aspects of the referendum was that it was the cities, London, Bristol ,Oxford, Cambridge, Brighton, Liverpool, Leeds, Newcastle, Glasgow and Edinburgh, and of course Manchester which voted remain.(Birmingham voted leave “by a whisker. It always was a funny place) If immigration was the major issue it was notable that it was cities with significant immigrant populations and the greatest ethnic diversity which voted remain.
Manchester, in the 2011 census had 35% of its population from immigrant or ethnic minorities. I would not imagine that figure has done anything but increase in the last 5 years.
One of the phenomena of the 21st century has been the regeneration of British cities. They have become the places where people, particularly young people, though with a smattering of old people like us, chose to live, work and play. Cities are becoming more European in their nature which perhaps goes some way to explaining their acceptance of the EU.
Cities have since time immemorial been the drivers of economies, of education through Universities , of healthcare through large teaching hospitals , culture through music , theatre, museums and art galleries and sport.
Happy Christmas and great New Year.
If you have reached this far in the Newsletter you deserve a holiday!
There will be no newsletter next week but the season restarts on W/c commencing 2nd Jan with the first practice on Wednesday, 4th Jan and the first games on
Saturday 7th Jan.
One thing is certain and that is that Brexit will be even more of an issue in 2017 than it has been.
It will be fun to consider whether “Taking back control” means that we will be subject to the appalling standards of government that have been inflicted upon us by incompetent and more worryingly dishonest politicians.
We will also consider the dilemma that exists in Altrincham politics. The Leavers are vociferously and aggressively demanding that MPs vote in accordance with their constituents’ views rather than their own beliefs. In Altrincham we have in my view an excellent local MP who has been an effective friend to lacrosse and to Timperley Sports Club. However, his views particularly over Europe and possibly on education are in conflict with those of his constituents.

We might even have chance to look at lacrosse issues. 2108 World Championship, the role of the North West Lacrosse Association and even the future plans for TLC.
And even examine the famous Ian Brown quote. Does Manchester have everything except a beach?
Something to think over!
In the meantime have a great Xmas and New Year. Health and happiness.