WALA History

The introduction of Lacrosse into Western Australia was the direct consequence of gold discoveries in the Eastern Goldfields. The earliest records of playing Lacrosse in the Goldfields suggest that the game was first played in ??? It was not until 1895, when two players from the eastern states, F Parsons and F Wingrove, arrived in Perth that formal Lacrosse began in the coastal plains. These two Lacrosse pioneers helped form two Perth clubs - Perth and Fremantle in 1896. Two further clubs Mercantile (based on a merchandising warehouse) and Cottesloe (later Banks) were formed in 1897. A formal competition commenced in 1898 with Mercantile winning the first premiership in that year.

During 1899, a "Coastal" team visited the Goldfields where local devotee, Arthur O'Connor, was nurturing the sport - principally from Coolgardie. This exhibition game became a regular feature of the Western Australian sporting calander till 1914, when a downturn in the gold industry and the outbreak of World War 1 signalled the end of the Goldfields team. Later attempts to revive the game in Kalgoorlie in the 1930's and in the 1980's both failed.

The game received a boost in 1907 with a visit by a team from Canada. The local players welcomed the international competition, and relished the opportunity to learn from the Canadians who had been playing for the previous 100 years. Four matches were played in WA -two at Perth (at the WACA), one at Fremantle, and the other at Kalgoorlie. Canada won all games convincingly. One city game received particularly good attendance when authorities cancelled all local sporting events.

One critique of the four match series stated "our capless and gloveless veterans, wielding clumsy crosses tightly strung, and reaching the players shin, found their game of long throwing and hard running quite ineffective against the clever short passing with the short, loosely strung crosses and the trickery of the visitors " (1931 Historical Vol.1 History of WALA).

After an initial surge of interest following the Canadian visit, and despite Western Australia's participation in interstate competition in 1910 and 1912, Lacrosse began to languish. By 1914 only 3 teams existed. Between 1915 and 1920, due to WW1, all Lacrosse games were suspended.

Of the registered players at the time 136 enlisted and 24 did not return.Changes adopted in the local competition subsequent to the Canadian team's visit persisted for the next 50 years when further overseas developments became evident. Further, the Canadian visit exposed the absence of a national competition controlling body. The differences in the rules of the two dominions were known but nothing was organised to iron them out. The State Associations were conscious of this weakness, so in 1910 they met for a conference with the aim of setting up a Lacrosse Union. The majority of the States failed to ratify the proposal and with the oncoming of World War I the idea was not revived till 1931 when the Australian Lacrosse Council was formed.

Mainly through the vision and enthusiasm of stalwarts like Mr C E B Hickey and Mr I Taylor (the donor of the I J Taylor Shield which is still awarded to the WALA Division I premiers) lacrosse was reestablished in Perth and Fremantle regions in 1921. Both of these gentlemen became and remained dominant forces in the Western Australian Lacrosse Association and the Australian Lacrosse Council for many years. In 1930 eight clubs were involved in senior competition and a Lacrosse Old Players and Referees Association was established.

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