Lacrosse mightn’t be a popular sport in Australia, but the Canadian version, box lacrosse, is even more obscure.
Played on a court, or box, instead of a field, box lacrosse is the preferred form of the sport in Canada where it is played in the summer months.
However, in Australia, there is only one box lacrosse facility in the entire country, the Alan Lewer Box Court in Altona North.
And thanks to $42,000 in funding awarded last month by the Westgate Neighbourhood Fund Grants program, it’s a facility that is about to get an upgrade.
“The grant is for improvements to the Alan Lewer Box Court and will go towards the installment of permanent seating,” said Altona Lacrosse Club president James Bleed of what the money will go towards.
Unsurprisingly as the only facility of its type in country, the Alan Lewer Box Court has hosted the last two box lacrosse national championships with another one set to be played there in February.
Mr Bleed said the addition of 200 permanent seats would help the club better accommodate box lacrosse players and spectators from across the country.
“We’ve had to rent seating for $15000 for the spectators,” he said of the previous national championships they’ve hosted.
“The stands are packed every day and over the course of the week-long event you’ll have maybe a thousand people (in attendance). It also means we have a permanent set of seating all year round and there’s a huge cost associated with hosting events that we won’t have to pay.”
With the funding secured, Mr Bleed said the next challenge was getting the seats installed in time.
“We’re trying to expedite the process and move quickly. They have to be in by next February.”
Cade Lucas
