I doubt that many, if any, of you fresh faced freshers arriving this term have ever played lacrosse in your time at school; – unless you went to boarding school around Guildford, of course. Some of you, mainly Americans, will have encountered burly men’s lacrosse, a mixture between American football and some form of weapon wielding team martial arts with a hockey-like ball thrown into the mix. However, almost none of you will have ever encountered mixed lacrosse.

Mixed lacrosse follows broadly the same rules as female lacrosse with teams of 12 on either side (one being a padded goalie) contesting to deliver the ball into the back of the net. It is a fast-paced and uproarious game. Unlike the men’s game, it is dependent much more on technical ability and speed and less on strength, and it has higher stamina requirements than the women’s game.

The two core differences between the BUCS mixed league and the women’s league are firstly the requirement that half the team is male and half female on the pitch (okay, maybe that was a little obvious), and secondly that each player may only hold onto the ball for up to five seconds at a time. This time limit makes the game quicker and more energy-sapping than either the men’s or women’s games.

The question on many of your minds’ now will be simple: is it for you? The university mixed team, although more casual than the high achieving women’s team, are no minnows in the lacrosse leagues, having steam-rolled the southern league with an unbeaten season and an emphatic varsity win leaving us at the top of the table. The training schedule of three sessions, a match and morning fitness is not an easy ask, but is not as tough a commitment as the women’s game or some other university sports. It is accessible for athletic guys, particularly hockey players, with experienced stick skills and high stamina, as they will adapt to cradling balls far better.

Girls usually require prior experience due to the strong competition for places and anyone considering the sport should perhaps give college level mixed lacrosse a go before trying for university level. Nevertheless, all are welcome to turn up at training to try out for a few sessions.

Many of you reading this will have never played a mixed sport competitively and will be wondering how team dynamics can work. In truth, it’s different, but it’s refreshing, and team matches are not devoid of dirty pints and innuendo-ridden speeches. I urge any budding sportsperson to give it a try.

Mixed lacrosse forces you to really engage with large physical differences within one team with the natural differences in physique between the ladies and men being far greater than, say, those between forwards and backs in rugby.