In 1991 we changed from being Edinburgh Ladies Lacrosse Club to Edinburgh Thistle Lacrosse Club which honoured the change to a mixed gender membership.

September 2012 marked our Centenary.

The celebrations included a match between the current club members and the “oldies” or Edinburgh Fossils as they proudly called themselves.

The “oldies” team, which included many ex-internationalists, and members who had only ever been Edinburgh Ladies, won!

They had a squad of over 28 showing, not only our age, but the loyalty of our ex-members. It also allowed a healthy level of subbing!

The “oldies” had come from all over Scotland, England and even New Zealand! Many more were on the sideline to cheer them on and delight in their skills (however ‘old – fashioned’). Wooden sticks, which began to be overtaken by plastic ones following the inaugural IFWLA* World Cup in 1982 (which was sponsored by Brine) were in the minority, but the players, one of whom is in her seventies, showed their prowess.
* International Federation of Women’s Lacrosse Associations

I believe, as one of the umpires however, that it was the mental attitude of the older generation that ensured they were not going to be beaten. It was in their eyes!!

Fiona Reid the Captain of the club in our Centenary Year was my fellow umpire, pregnant with Stuart who was to be born the next February (2013) and instantly became our youngest member ever! He supports most of our matches from the sideline, in his club T-shirt, along with an endless supply of pro lacrosse babysitters!

At the 2014 Lacrosse Scotland AGM I was also thrilled to receive the Spirit of Lacrosse Award on behalf of the club in recognition of our “good work” in supporting lacrosse in Scotland. Edinburgh Thistle was also the club to receive the highest number of volunteer certificates.

Over the years we have trained and played at many venues. When I first joined we changed in a hut and spilled out onto The Meadows. As these were the days of no boundaries it was however not only our home ground but everybody else’s – dogs, joggers, parents and pushchairs were often part of our matches!

For training we went from outdoors at the Jack Kane Centre, to indoors at Stewart’s Melville College, but in 1988, as St George’s School for Girls marked its Centenary with the building of a Sports Hall, I, as head of Physical Education at the time, had the home advantage! I booked Wednesday nights from 6:30 – 8pm and we have been there ever since! The school has hosted us most wonderfully and for the last few seasons we have enjoyed the flexible bonus of a floodlit astro pitch and / or an indoor space. We owe St George’s a great deal for accommodating us so graciously and it therefore seemed most appropriate that the school was the site chosen for our Centenary celebrations

Edinburgh Ladies / Thistle has never been without Internationalists at Junior, or Senior level, but that it can also take pride in its beginners who, in some cases have gone on to represent Scotland, is all credit to its Committees, coaches and members over the years.

The club has also been represented on the Scottish Lacrosse Association’s Committee, now the Board of Lacrosse Scotland, for decades and in this way continues to contribute to the survival and development of lacrosse in Scotland.

Several of its members have captained, coached and umpired the National squads and when Scotland had its greatest success at World Cup, a Bronze Medal in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, USA in 1986 there were several Edinburgh Ladies in the squad. Indeed the club has been represented in every World Cup since they began in 1982. Several members have also contributed to Scotland’s European Championship medals.

As President, and a member of the club since 1976, I could not be prouder of being part of a very special community which continues to thrive thanks to the ever present willingness of our members to give generously of their time on and off the pitch, to be able to adapt to changing times, and in so doing ensure our continued presence in the Scottish Lacrosse scene.

Jenny Pearson
President