In June 2012
The sport of Lacrosse arrived in the Kingdom of Bhutan
KINGDOM
OF BHUTAN
Bhutan is a Himalayan Kingdom
located between India and China. Bhutanese are well-educated and
fluent in English. Their passion is conservation and preserving their
pristine wilderness. The landscape is dotted with Bhuddist "Dzongs"
and Monestaries. Villages compete between each other in the national
sport of Archery. In this cheerful nation, they are proud of their
culture and traditions, and they work hard to protect them. Bhutanese
are
also curious to learn from other countries, and they welcome visitors
who wish to learn about their unique and beautiful country.
HISTORY OF LACROSSE
First played by the American
Indians in North America. Different tribes would compete between
villages to train the young braves in endurance and tactics. The sport
developed further in private schools and universities across America, and is now very
popular and spreading around the world. In June 2012, Tom Claytor was
invited by Karma Dorji to introduce the sport of Lacrosse to the
Pelkhil Private School in Thimphu, Bhutan --
History of Lacrosse.
REPORT We arrived with 40 lacrosse sticks and 40 balls. Karma Dorji had suggested
that we would start with years 7-10, so that the sport could grow with
these younger grades. We had initially thought that only the boys would be
interested, but when this was announced, the girls immediately said, "why
can't we play?" One the first day, almost half of the interested students
were women. Our primary concern was safety, because we did not have
helmets nor gloves in this early stage, so we established some rules.
First, no checking the stick. Second, only two people on the ground ball
(the third person in automatically gave the ball to the other team). Third,
no goalies. So a series of sand bags were placed in the goal. Fourth, the
ball had to be passed over the midfield line, because we had too many
sprinters doing end-to-end runs. Fifth, we divided the teams equally with
ladies, big guys, small guys. Then both teams had three shifts -- girls vs girls, small guys vs small guys, then big guys vs
big guys. This system was very successful for maintaining everyone's
enthusiasm and participation. We focused on passing, ground balls,
cradling and shooting for 30 minutes, then we would scrimmage. We had
brought a large supply of Blue and Grey "Bhutan Lacrosse" Tshirts,
so that teams were easily defined. Every afternoon, we would play lacrosse
for 1.5 hours and then the students went home. We had all the boys and
girls using men's sticks. We used the smaller 4' goals with sand bags in
the center. If you stepped into the crease, the ball went to the other
team. We found a quick whistle was essential to prevent escalating chaos
and arguments on the field. Coaching and officiating were conducted in
basic Dzongkha and English. Two lacrosse sticks donated by Warrior were strung with Bhutanese
colors to present to His Majesty the King. STX has just donated 100
sticks.
Kuensel newspaper -- Tom Claytor
with students at Pelkhil School (Jun 2012)
PRACTICE
We have organized the following list of Lacrosse moves that young
players can watch and practice as they learn the game. Every player
has his or her own style, but their unique moves can be adapted from
what they see others do. Good luck.
Split
Dodge
Rollback Dodge
Shots on Goal
Behind-the-back Pass
NEWS
MAY 2012 Ben Claytor advises the best sticks to use for the program and where
to obtain these. He also gets Warrior to donate 15 lacrosse sticks and
strings these with his friends in Bhutanese colors. He organizes shipment
of the equipment to Asia, and then comes to Bhutan to help advise and set
up the program. Thank you Warrior, and special thanks to Ben for his technical and logistical
support.
JUL 2012
I recently came across the website for Bhutan Lacrosse. Your project is of
interest to me as I coached lacrosse at North-Eastern Hill University in
Shillong, Meghalaya, India back in 2006. This location is very close to
Thimphu, Bhutan. Though there currently isn't any lacrosse being played in
India many of the elements necessary to start a program are still there.
Namely these elements include; ten sets each of men's and women's lacrosse
gear, a cooperating institution with good athletic facilities and a
national governing body for the sport of lacrosse. It is my hope that
between us we
can figure out a way to get India's program off the ground again
such that Bhutanese teams will have convenient local international
competition to help motivate their progress. If this of interest to you
let us discuss it further --
Dave
JUL 2012
Gift from Prantarit Nerngchamnong, President, Thailand Lacrosse. Tom, Long
time no see, I didn't see you at practice a few time. Anyway, I wanted to
reach out to you.. and tell you what have I've been working on. My company
made a whole bunch of these t-shirts and donate to Bhutan Lacrosse to help
raise some funding for lacrosse in Bhutan. I think you could sell them up
to $20-$25 dollars per shirt... let me know when you are coming so I can
hand them over to you. Best, Payu --
prantarit@thailandlacrosse.com
OCT 2012
My name is Kevin Gallagher, and I am the Founder of One World Lacrosse
Foundation. We are a non-profit organization which provides youth around
the world the opportunity to improve their quality of life through the
game of lacrosse. I met Jennifer Warden at a surf camp for an organization
called First Descents last week, and she told me about your lacrosse
program in Bhutan. We are currently planning to build a permanent lacrosse
program in India early next year. Bhutan has always been on our radar,
however the visa fees have been too much of a burden for us to bring a
team out there. I just wanted to get in touch with you and gauge your
interest in One World Lacrosse coming out there to help you build your
program. We have access to tons of new sticks, balls, and clothing. We are
also in the process of implementing clean water programs in the
communities we visit. Let me know if you have any questions, and I hope to
hear from you soon. Thanks, Kevin Gallagher --
kevin@oneworldlacrosse.org
NOV 2012
STX donates 100 lacrosse sticks to Bhutan. Special thanks to Emma Hamm and
Kimberly Rwenger of
Duke Women's Lacrosse. STX has donated 50 men's sticks and 50 women's sticks
to the Bhutan Lacrosse program. We are now down to 10 balls, as these seem
to disappear rapidly into the river along the field. Our next mission will
be more balls and eye protection for the students. Thank you STX, Emma and
Kimberly.
MAR 2013
Robert Schneider, the Technical Director at the Smithsonian Institution
Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, is a Lacrosse dad and lover of
Bhutan. He saw our Bhutan Lacrosse sticker at Paro Airport and he helped carry the 100 donated STX
Lacrosse sticks to Bhutan in September 2013.
Lacrosse is the world's fastest
sport on two legs.
KINGDOM
OF BHUTAN
We arrived with 40 lacrosse sticks and 40 balls. Karma Dorji had suggested
that we would start with years 7-10, so that the sport could grow with
these younger grades. We had initially thought that only the boys would be
interested, but when this was announced, the girls immediately said, "why
can't we play?" One the first day, almost half of the interested students
were women. Our primary concern was safety, because we did not have
helmets nor gloves in this early stage, so we established some rules.
First, no checking the stick. Second, only two people on the ground ball
(the third person in automatically gave the ball to the other team). Third,
no goalies. So a series of sand bags were placed in the goal. Fourth, the
ball had to be passed over the midfield line, because we had too many
sprinters doing end-to-end runs. Fifth, we divided the teams equally with
ladies, big guys, small guys. Then both teams had three shifts -- girls vs girls, small guys vs small guys, then big guys vs
big guys. This system was very successful for maintaining everyone's
enthusiasm and participation. We focused on passing, ground balls,
cradling and shooting for 30 minutes, then we would scrimmage. We had
brought a large supply of Blue and Grey "Bhutan Lacrosse" Tshirts,
so that teams were easily defined. Every afternoon, we would play lacrosse
for 1.5 hours and then the students went home. We had all the boys and
girls using men's sticks. We used the smaller 4' goals with sand bags in
the center. If you stepped into the crease, the ball went to the other
team. We found a quick whistle was essential to prevent escalating chaos
and arguments on the field. Coaching and officiating were conducted in
basic Dzongkha and English. Two lacrosse sticks donated by Warrior were strung with Bhutanese
colors to present to His Majesty the King. STX has just donated 100
sticks. 
gain
such that Bhutanese teams will have convenient local international
competition to help motivate their progress. If this of interest to you
let us discuss it further -- 
rosse
program in India early next year. Bhutan has always been on our radar,
however the visa fees have been too much of a burden for us to bring a
team out there. I just wanted to get in touch with you and gauge your
interest in One World Lacrosse coming out there to help you build your
program. We have access to tons of new sticks, balls, and clothing. We are
also in the process of implementing clean water programs in the
communities we visit. Let me know if you have any questions, and I hope to
hear from you soon. Thanks, Kevin Gallagher --
