March 16, 2015, by Lee Chrimes
Big Wednesday’s Big Build Up – Men’s Lacrosse
With the BUCS Big Wednesday finals just over a week away, we wanted to bring you profiles of the teams representing Nottingham in the Cup finals – first up is Men’s Lacrosse, who take on Durham in the Championship Cup final.
It’s been an amazing year for the team – just two losses all season, big wins against Leeds Beckett and a sense of team confidence following comfortable victories over Bristol and Oxford to reach the final. The main goal for the team so far has been to reach the final, so now it’s up to them to give Durham a game they won’t forget.
You can review their progress throughout the season through the BUCS website, follow the team on Twitter and don’t forget to keep an eye on @UoNSport throughout the week for all the latest news and updates.
Team profiles
Men’s Lacrosse 1st team
Joshua Dodd – Mid/Faceoff
Course: Management
Major achievements: Selected for England Universities 2013/14, England U19 Academy 2012/13, South of England team 2012
Season highlight: The first win against Leeds Beckett, as it’s when we knew we were real contenders
Last year’s 1st team captain and this year’s president, Josh is a great all-rounder on and off the field. He’s a great midfielder in attack and defence, with the occasional face off contribution as well. Josh hopes to be part of the first university team to beat Durham since 2010!
Kam Bumpus – Mid/Faceoff
Course: MSc Entrepeneurship and International Business
Major achievements: 2013 National Champion (Le Moyne College), All American, coaching one of the best teams in England.
Season highlight: Lewis failing during his favourite stretching drill!
A unique individual who is a great lover of the sport, always putting in his all on and off the field. Kam’s presence has improved the team significantly this year, alongside additional fast-paced coaching support that has brought the team on in leaps and bounds.
Nick Agrissani – Midfield/Attack
Course: MA Educational Leadership and Management
Major achievements: All American and All Conference player, two-time captain
Season highlight: Making it to the BUCS final by beating Oxford 22-6
A quiet man in person, but when he’s on the field he becomes a goal scoring machine. Nick is also a great coach and motivational speaker, and brings the best out of the players at all times. Nick also wants to pursue educational leadership and become a head teacher or athletic director in the near future.
Henry Tudor-Taylor – LSM/Defence
Course: Product Design
Major achievements: 1st Team captain, being part of the Yorkshire Development team and scoring two goals this season
Season highlight: Beating Leeds Beckett and Oxford, two massive wins
A 1st year whose size is deceptive to his contribution on the field, one thing Henry doesn’t lack is confidence. He’s a valued team player who hasn’t missed a game this season and rarely makes a mistake – even if he still needs to go more than one game without breaking one of his sticks!
Ben Chapman – LSM/Defence
Course: History & Politics
Major achievements: Joining the 1st team, winning Man Of The Match several times for the 2nd team and getting nominated for Player Of The Season
Season highlight: Beating Oxford to make it to the final.
Ben’s main aspiration for the season are to win the Championship Cup, the league next season and a 2.1 in his degree – sounds easy enough! Ben is also an active member of the University community – he’s President of the BNOC Society, has dedicated over 1,000 hours of his time to charity work for Karnival and was also part of the 2nd team’s victory in the BUCS Midlands Men’s Lacrosse league.
Harvey Jennings – Midfield
Course: History and Politics
Season highlight: Finally scoring a 1st team goal
Harvey’s season highs and lows have ranged from a respectable under par score at Pub Golf, expertise in Speed Stacking and joining the elite group of players to have scored a goal against Durham. We’ll find out next Wednesday if he can repeat that achievement for Nottingham!
Matthew Bason – Defender
Course: Physics with Medical Physics
Major achievements: Playing for the 1st team and getting to the final
Season highlight: The trip to Manchester for the away game
Outside of being part of the ‘loser drinks the tub’ celebrations from the match against Oxford, Matthew doesn’t ask for much – just to be the key player that wins all the games. Oh, and to hug a bear. Apparently.
Lewis Paterson – Attack/Middle
Course: Ancient History
Major achievements: Going from a lacrosse newcomer, to 3rd team to 1st in one year
Season highlight: Finally breaking my 1st team scoring drought in the match against Loughborough
Lewis joins the list of players wanting to be part of the first team to beat Durham in five years, but that’s alongside maintaining his reputation as a man of the people and being a full-time legend. So no pressure there, then.
John Lamb – Midfield
Course: History
Major achievements: The honour of being president of the Lacrosse club
Season highlight: Quarter final cup win against Bristol
Holder of the team’s ‘Worst Celebration’ award, John has the honour of having scored twice against Durham in previous games, making him part of a select group of players. If he can repeat that feat, you’ll find him taking on all comers in a pub golf tournament following the game.
Joshua Morris – Defence
Course: MA Nursing Science
Major achievements: Being still alive and breathing
Season highlight: Seeing Lewis score two goals against Loughborough
Once the season is done, Joshua plans to finish his degree and become a nurse.
Charlie Allen – Defence
Course: MEng Product Design and Manufacture
Major achievements: Making the England Universities and Midlands teams
Season highlight: Getting to the cup final
After we win the final, Charlie plans to go on to become a great product designer.
Patrick Land – Goal
Course: Manufacturing Engineering
Major achievements: Playing for the England Universities team in 2014
Season highlight: Beating Leeds Beckett for the first time
Daniel Atkinson – Attack
Course: PG Law
Major achievements: Final selection for the England Indoor Lacrosse team
Season highlight: Semi-final win against Oxford
Our sole Canadian player for this season and a University of Nottingham Sport scholar, Daniel hopes to take part in the World Championships for Team England all the way across the pond in New York State later in the year, and finish in the top four of the world.
Tyler Lee Wilcox – Middle/Attack
Course: MA Research (Geography)
Major achievements: Making it to the cup finals
Season highlight: Watching Lewis score two goals against Loughborough
Another of our American sports scholars, Tyler has had the experience of a lifetime with a great group of guys as part of our Men’s Lacrosse side, and takes his love for the game through to the finals.
Harrison Phillips – Goal
Course: Veterinary Medicine and Science
Major achievements: 1st team goalie (2013-15)
Season highlight: Beating Leeds Beckett for the first time
Harrison has a long history in goal – three years as Reading School 1st team keeper 2010-13, 1st team goalie for the Reading Wildcats in 2013 and now three years as the Nottingham 1st team goalkeeper. That level of experience should help him achieve his ambition of a clean sheet against Durham!
Cameron Tobin – Goalie
Major achievements: Playing 1st team lacrosse in my first year of playing the sport
Season highlight: Schweff touching the ice after the 16th goal of the game
A newcomer to the side but whose ability quickly promoted him to the 1st team, Cameron’s background as a goalkeeper for Surrey (albeit in football) makes him another strong addition to our side.
Ben Robinson – Midfield
Course: Mechanical Engineering
Major achievements: Being in the Midland team and getting to the England trials
Season highlight: Beating Leeds Met 18-15 in the wind and rain
Ben plans to make it into the England Universities team and follow Paterson’s footsteps as an assist-assassin.
A final word from Assistant Director for Sport (Performance) Alexander Perry:
These are exciting times for UoN Sport, who have set inspiring and challenging goals within its Vision for Sport over the next 5 years. One of our key targets is to break into and consistently finish in the top 5 of the British University Sport rankings and to hold national titles across a range of sports. This has been made possible through University and alumni investment into coaching, scholarships and facilities. Our team of international coaches are establishing the University as a hub for sporting expertise which is attracting students of the highest calibre. Our scholar level athletes are impacting extremely positively as role models within the sports clubs, inspiring fellow students to look for more from themselves and be the best they can be. The world class facilities in the form of the David Ross sports village, due to open in Autumn 2016, will provide the environment to support athletes of national and international pedigree and bring high profile, large scale events to the campus.
The collaboration of key partners is also crucial in supporting athletes of this level. The department is very grateful for the cooperation of admissions in supporting athletes through their entry process, along with academic departments who provide the flexibility for athletes to compete in BUCS matches on Wednesdays across the country. This assistance has been crucial to support our student athletes in following dual careers and realising their sporting and academic potential.
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