What do you do when your university doesn’t play your favorite sport competitively? What if they don’t even have a club, let alone a varsity team? If you’re Brian Potter, you create the team.

“With lacrosse being as popular as it is in Victoria, it seemed illogical to not have a lacrosse team at UVic,” said Potter.

He started the project by creating a discussion topic under the UVic network on Facebook last year. The response to creating a field lacrosse team was so positive, Potter turned the discussion into a full-on group.

“There was so much interest in starting a team but just no one willing to make that first and important step,” Potter said. “The support from students, faculty and the community has been tremendous.”

Victoria does have an established lacrosse community, including several club teams and a Western Lacrosse Association (WLA) team, the Victoria Shamrocks. That community has responded well to Potter’s desire to start a team at UVic.

The Facebook group, UVIC Lacrosse, now boasts 40 members with players in all levels, from those who’ve played in the National Lacrosse League (NLL) and WLA, to those who’ve played with Junior A teams, to pure novice players.

In the fall, Potter hopes to turn the Facebook group into a club team. He said that the response he has had from Vikes recreation has been “very positive.” Despite the variance in skill level, Potter said everyone will be welcome on the team.

“This program is for everybody; beginners or experienced players,” he said, noting that the group’s goal of having enough players for both a male and female team has yet to be reached. “We have enough support to field a male team, but we still need more girls to play.”

When those teams get underway, their competition will be vast.

“We will be playing both teams from the community as well as schools from the mainland, Washington, Oregon and California,” said Potter.

Eventually, Potter would like to see the team reach the level of Simon Fraser University’s (SFU) elite club team, currently the only collegiate field lacrosse program in B.C. SFU’s team plays in the Men’s College Lacrosse Association (MCLA) against American schools, such as Gonzaga University and the University of Oregon.

On April 16, UVIC Lacrosse held a pickup game on campus. Even in the middle of exams, about 15 people showed up to play. The team will continue to meet throughout the summer.

Information about those meetings can be found on the Facebook group, UVIC Lacrosse, or by contacting Brian Potter at lacrosse@uvic.ca.