Southampton Tridents Lacrosse Club
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The Southampton Tridents Lacrosse Club formed in 1983 as part of the University of Southampton's Athletic Union and was one of the first University club sides to appear in the South of England.
The team entered the South of England Men's Lacrosse Association (SEMLA), becoming one of the few Southern clubs outside of London and following in the footsteps of Bath Lacrosse club which had been formed the previous year and Oxford and Cambridge universities who already had established sides.
Two decades on and SEMLA has flourished with membership reaching nearly 50 clubs competing across several different leagues. This is complimented by a large pool of second teams and development teams who are currently taking part in friendlies and tournaments. This rapid growth has seen clubs appear all across the south of England and Wales and has increased the profile of the sport in the South. This year Southampton has announced it will form a second team which will enter the league for the 07/08 season, showing the English game's rise in popularity.
Southampton Lacrosse club formed good links with Bath due to their location and the fact that both were recently founded. Early games were hard fought and a red and black beach towel was used as a trophy upon which a players' wife embroidered each result. After a surprise Southampton win the towel disappeared and has not been seen since, though efforts have been made to relocate it.
Throughout its early years, the team was part of the University and so suffered from losing players regularly due to graduation which made competing harder in a league dominated by stable club sides. However, as the years progressed and more clubs and universities joined the league the results began to follow.
Now in its 24th year the Southampton Tridents has a thriving club with approximately 35 men players and are performing strongly in the SEMLA Western division, recent success has been complimented by a move to a new home on the state of the art rubber crumb facilities at the redeveloped University of Southampton Wide Lane sports ground in 2005. The Tridents will also be contesting the inaugural year of BUSA men's Lacrosse competition in November 2006 and the Southern Junior flags competition. The team also regularly take part in an annual tour to Spain as well as other tournaments across the south.
