The first time womens lacrosse was seen in
Latvia was in 2008, in a small town called Druva. Few girls started practices together with the local mens team. Later, in the summer of 2009 in the capital of
Latvia
Riga, 5 girls from the
SportsAcademy took initiative and began their own trainings. Girls could use a tiny corner of lacrosse field within the boys practice.
Starting with October of 2009, due to some advertising events, the club in
Riga expanded and had a regular number of participants, around 10-14 girls. Dins Bahs was the one who gathered girls together and became the main coach of womens lacrosse club
Riga. Dins is a player as well in one of Latvian mens teams.
In the end of October 2009 two girls from
Riga lacrosse club (Karīna Saidova and Signe Ielīte), went to the
Netherlands for an experience exchange trip. They were welcomed by Den Haag lacrosse club girls and their coach Jessica Stokhof. Girls participated in practices and were present at lacrosse games from the local championships. Coach Jessica was very welcoming and answered all the questions girls had and showed some tips for the lacrosse practices and further development.
In the winter of 2010 a new club joined Latvian lacrosse community a club in Jelgava. Similar to
Riga girls, they started to practice together with mens team. In the spring of 2010
Latvia had two womens lacrosse clubs and each of them had approximately 15 girls. In the April, girls had their first lacrosse game against each other.
There was a goal set for the summer of 2010 to participate in an international tournament. Club
Riga chose a tournament in
Sweden,
Goteborg. In order to get ready for this challenge, in the end of the June with help of European Lacrosse Federation, a coach from
Germany Anna Sody, was invited. 3 days long lacrosse camp for all the players in
Latvia was held in
Riga. There was a significant progress in girls skills after the camp, they improved their throwing and catching technique as well as began to understand the whole concept of a lacrosse game. Later in the summer, coach Jessica Stokhof came to
Latvia and was in charge of few more practices.
In the August of 2010 a team made from both clubs
Riga and Jelgava, went to
Sweden to experience their first lacrosse games with opponents from other countries. First international experience, first wins and as a result 2nd place, that was a huge success for the girls.
This year there is a plan to create another womens lacrosse team and to attract new lacrosse coaches as well. Our goals are participation in European and World Championships.
Women's lacrosse club Riga has returned from it's first tournament with a great achievement - II place. This undoubtedly is a big step towards development of Latvian women's lacrosse. In competition with four teams, Riga managed to win 2 games and in the game for the first place lost to the opponents - team from Copenhagen - only with one point difference (3:4).
In the first round of games WLC Riga won both teams from Gothenburg with results 6:2 and 6:1, but conceded to Copenhagen with result 3:5. In the final game, competing for the first place, Riga met again with the team from Copenhagen. The first half ended with a tie 1:1. On the second half, opponents managed to score two goals in a row. The result 1:3 held until the game clock showed that there are still 10 minutes left of the game time. Riga girls managed to tie the score again - 3:3. When there were 2 minutes left until the end of game, Copenhagen scored again. Riga tried to change the score again, but this time unsuccessfully.
Team has returned home with new experiences, adventures and unforgettable feelings. Photos from the tournament can be found here: selection, first day, second day, third day.
Women's lacrosse club Riga was supported by Latvian Lacrosse Federation, Riga New Technicians Center, Riga Cleaning Service, Hagberg and Finansu un Nodokļu Serviss.
Best scorers:
Name
Position
Goals
Fouls
Karina Saidova
Defense/Center
5
2 min
Laura Šterna
Center
3
Ieva Spradze
Attack
2
Arita Pidža
Center
2
Ilona Reķe
Center/Defense
2
Katrina Kalniņa
Center
1
Santa Muceniece
Center/Defense
1
Madara Ose
Center
1
A Great event for Latvia women's lacrosse 05.08.2010.
This thursday, 5th of August, women's lacrosse club Riga with some help from lacrosse club Jelgava are leaving for the first international lacrosse tournament in Goteborg, Sweden. Lacrosse club Riga is a new club, some of the players have started trainings a year ago, some has joined only six months ago. First international games will be held against two clubs from Sweden and on from Denmark. The team will play 5 games.
In preparation process Riga cluba had a professional help - in the beginning of July 3 days long women's lacrosse camp was held together with coach Anna Sody from Germany and later on club had several practices with coach Jessica Stokhof from the Netherlands.
Lacrosse club Riga:
No
Name Surname
Club
Position
1
Jeļena Uļjankina
Rīga
Goalie
2
Gundega Lākute
Rīga
Attack
3
Santa Muceniece
Rīga
Defense
4
Arita Pidža (A)
Rīga
Midfield
5
Madara Ose
Rīga
Midfield
6
Arta Vēvere
Jelgava
Goalie
7
Karīna Saidova (K)
Rīga
Midfield
8
Ilona Reķe
Jelgava
Midfield
9
Signe Ielīte
Rīga
Attack
10
Katrīna Kalniņa
Rīga
Midfield
11
Laura Šterna
Rīga
Midfield
12
Ieva Spradze
Rīga
attack
13
Antra Roze
Rīga
Defense
14
Evita Mārtiņa
Jelgava
Defense
15
Santa Vertele
Rīga
Midfield
16
Zane Jaunžeikare
Jelgava
Midfield
A Milestone for Latvian Lacrosse as the Womens Team Held their First E.L.F Camp in Riga 06.07.2010.
In preparation for the International lacrosse tournament in
Sweden,
Latvias first womens lacrosse teams collaborated with the European Lacrosse Federation to hold their very first lacrosse camp in
Riga. The camp was held on July 2nd- 4th and was directed by Anna Sody, the head coach of Germanys Dusseldorf Antlers and Rigas head coach Dins Bahs.The camp was sponsored by Captain Lax who generously donated lacrosse balls for the camp and a MVP voucher.Despite the hot weather, the ladies team powered through four practices a day. Even when the sun was at full strength, the girls pushed through every drill without a single complaint, commented Anna Sody.
Over the course of the long weekend, the team learned and improved their individual skills, learned the fundamentals of offense and defense and gained better insight on how to work together as a team.Anna also integrated rules and safety into the practice plan to give a better understanding of the game.Eighteen field players and two goalies from
Latvias lacrosse clubs
Riga and Jelgava participated in camp; three of which had never picked up a stick before the camp!
At the end of the camp, Anna Sody stated, The girls have shown great improvement, potential and diligence. It has been such a pleasure working with them. I look forward to watching their successful future.Anna handed out balls and the Captain Lax MVP award to Karina Saidova for her determination and spirit. The Latvian teams named Anna as
Rigas and Jelgavas unofficial assistant coach.
Watch out European womens lacrosse, the Latvian girls are coming!
The ELF would like to thank all participants for a successful camp. Special thanks goes to Laura Sterna for managing the event and Captain Lax for providing the camp with a prize and Lacrosse balls.