Sussex teacher plays at world lacrosse championships

Mr McColl, who also teaches Science, played in three of the eight fixtures as the Scotland squad finished 18th out of 28 nations, which was slightly disappointing as a nation but nonetheless a wonderful experience.

Having gone through a tough selection process to earn his place in the squad, Mr McColl played in fixtures against Jamaica, US Virgin Islands and Austria to give him three international caps.

He said: “It was an amazing experience. Being in that environment and getting to see the best in the world was amazing. Now I am aiming to make it into the Euros squad in two years’ time.

“Scotland underperformed by finishing 18th but we lost to US Virgin Islands by a goal and if we had won that match that would have put us in the top 12.”

Mr McColl, who qualifies for Scotland through his late granddad, added: “In the first game we were piped out, singing along to the first verse of the national anthem and then the second verse we were singing with no pipes. That was a hair-raising moment. The second game would have been my mum’s birthday and that was emotional.

“To see a goal come to fruition from where I was caring for my grandad during COVID was amazing. The hard work over all these years paid off and hopefully that is a lesson to students to work hard towards a goal.”

Under the direction of Mr McColl, who is a is a Level 2 coach and umpire, lacrosse at Worth has grown at a fast rate and the school now offers the sport to both boys and girls.

Mr McColl hopes his experiences in New York will benefit Worth's students. He said: “From a coaching point of view, it was fascinating to see how different coaches encouraged, managed and nurtured to get the best out of their players. My experiences can help me become a better coach for the students and hopefully what I took from it will be infectious to them.”

Box lacrosse is an indoor version of lacrosse which is played mainly in North America but this year there was a record number of 28 nations competing in the Men’s World Championships while, for the first time, 10 nations competed in a women’s edition of the championships for the first time.