ASTON Fields Middle School pupils have been getting into the swing of lacrosse, with the under-13s team taking part in the Rathbones National Schools Lacrosse Championships.

The school, keen to increase the number of sports open to pupils, purchased some equipment to play a smaller version of the game.

This progressed to pupils receiving extra curricular coaching from qualified coaches David Abini and Andy Kilmister.

After funding was received from Rathbones Financial Corporation, the school was selected to be the only state school in the country in the U13s category at the competition.

The team struggled through their group stage matches as they came up against some extremely experienced independent schools.

Towards the end of the day, the children were offered the chance to compete against Writhlington School based in Bath, who were competing in the U14s age group.

Writhlington were also funded by the Rathbones bursary and had entered the championships for the first time, and Aston Fields finally got the better of one of their opponents, finishing with a fully deserved 3-1 win.

Director of PE and sport at Aston Fields Ryan Molesworth said: “I cannot stress enough how much of an achievement this has been for the girls, who under the guidance of David and Andy have made huge progress with their lacrosse.

“We always knew the competition would be tough but a huge thanks must go to the coaches, representatives at Rathbones and also English Lacrosse for making it possible.

“We hope the event will build an even stronger link between all parties and increase lacrosse participation throughout the school.”