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A HISTORIC, whirlwind diplomatic and athletic mission swept across Southern Africa this week, igniting a sporting revolution in communities where the game was previously unknown. In an ambitious, three-country, one-week developmental campaign, the Zimbabwe Lacrosse Association (ZLA) has joined forces with the US-based non-profit organisation LaxReach to establish long-term roots for lacrosse in Moçambique, Botswana, and Zimbabwe.
The multi-nation rollout began this week in the coastal capital of Mozambique before moving rapidly inland to the edge of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana, with its grand finale slated for the majestic landscapes of Victoria Falls.
The co-ordinated effort marks one of the most aggressive grassroots expansions the sport has ever seen on the continent, signaling a new era of regional sporting collaboration.
The ambitious tour kicked off with a historic milestone in Maputo, Moçambique, where LaxReach and the ZLA teamed up to introduce basic lacrosse training to an enthusiastic local cohort.
Founded by US-based Zimbabwean lacrosse player Thandi Chisango, LaxReach has made it its core mandate to dismantle geographic and socio-economic barriers to the sport.
Held at the Mahotas Cossa grounds in the heart of the capital, the comprehensive two-day training seminar catered to both prospective coaches and young players.
Chisango personally took the Mozambican pioneers through rigorous, hands-on instructional modules.
The clinics focused on the absolute pillars of high-level play, including handling tricky ground balls, speed and agility work, precise passing, physical checking, and tactical shooting drills.
For many attendees, the weekend was their very first encounter with a sport played on a field between two opposing teams using specialised netted sticks (crosses) and a dense rubber ball.
The objective is elegant yet intensely physical: teams must pass the ball fluidly down the field to defeat the opposition by scoring more goals within the allotted time.
By training coaches alongside players, the initiative ensures that when the regional organisers pack up their gear, the knowledge remains behind to seed future local leagues.
While lacrosse is historically rooted in Native American traditions and has long been dominated by North American teams, it is rapidly transitioning into a genuinely global phenomenon.
Africa is the fastest-growing frontier for the sport. The ZLA has been a critical engine in this regional expansion, steadily spreading the game across Zimbabwe’s provinces.
Through its persistent development structures, Zimbabwe has earned its place as one of the 97 proud World Lacrosse members across four continental federations spanning the globe.
Regionally, these developments are guided by the Africa Association of Lacrosse (AAL), the continental governing body tasked with standardising competition, securing equipment, and earning Olympic recognition for African athletes.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Maputo clinics, LaxReach founder Thandiswa Chisango emphasised that the sport serves as a Trojan horse for holistic youth development.
“LaxReach is dedicated to making lacrosse accessible to all children, enhancing lives through mentorship, youth clinics, and international outreach,” Chisango shared. “It’s about more than just holding a stick; it’s about fostering resilience, building international community bonds, and showing these kids that they belong on the world stage.”
True to the relentless pace of modern sports development, the regional campaign is not resting on its laurels.
Today (Saturday), the cross-border mission takes a critical detour to the northern edge of Botswana.
The training caravan has arrived at Chobe Secondary School in Kasane, where the Botswana Lacrosse Association – spearheaded by its energetic president, Lala Sedirwa – stands ready to welcome Chisango and the ZLA delegation to their home turf.
Tomorrow (Sunday), the final lap of this exhausting but exhilarating continental tour leads to Mosi Oa Tunya High School in the tourist resort city of Victoria Falls.
This homecoming leg will complete the gruelling three-country, seven-day training gauntlet, leaving behind functional administrative hubs and passionate player bases in three distinct nations.
Amid the tactical drills, logistics, and high-energy whistle blows, the emotional heart of the tour surfaced in Maputo through a passionate display of sports diplomacy.
Reflecting on the milestone, ZLA President Sichelesile Ndlovu highlighted the profound impact of the cross-border partnership and the unifying power of the game.
“A priviledge it was to travel to Mozambique as an Association alongside Thando Chisango, a talented young lacrosse player from the U.S. Over the past week, the Zimbabwe Lacrosse Association helped curate training sessions where we shared the little lacrosse knowledge we have and gained so much more in return. Spending the past week in Mozambique with ZLA and U.S. player Thandi Chisango was humbling. We arrived with only a little lacrosse knowledge to share, but we left with a clear truth: passion for sport needs no translation.”
Ndlovu noted how the sport seamlessly bridged cultural divides during the intensive sessions.
“The two-day clinic brought school children, coaches, and the community together around a game most had never seen. The sticks were new to them, but the joy, teamwork, and hard work were familiar. Watching children pick up a stick for the first time, seeing their eyes light up when they scored, and hearing laughter cross language barriers was a powerful reminder: sport is universal. Thandi’s energy and skill inspired every player, but it was the Mozambican youth’s hunger to learn that truly carried the week.”
“We didn’t come as experts. We came as partners. ZLA created the space for that partnership to grow. This is how the game grows: stick by stick, person by person, country by country. Thank you to ZLA, to Thandi, and to Mozambique for showing us what lacrosse can mean—sport knows no language barrier!, ” Ndlovu emphasised.
This collaboration sends a powerful message across the African sports landscape. It proves that the growth of minority sports relies heavily on a regional brotherhood rather than waiting on affluent Western interventions. The ZLA, despite managing its own developmental challenges in Zimbabwe, chose to extend its hand across the border to lift up its neighbouring.
This shared burden brought immense relief to the local organisers.
Behind the headlines, running an amateur sports federation in a developing market is an isolating, uphill battle.
Moçambique Lacrosse Association President, Filipe Antony Cossa, had been navigating an immensely difficult period, facing steep administrative, financial, and logistical hurdles threatening to stall the country’s lacrosse ambitions before they could even launch.
For an emerging federation, organising an international training camp requires immense resources, specialised equipment, and coaching curricula that simply do not exist locally.
When Cossa hit his lowest point, the ZLA and LaxReach did not merely send remote advice – they showed up on the tarmac in Maputo with bags of gear, structured lesson plans, and a willingness to work under the blistering sun.
By helping him set up the Mahotas Cossa training camp, Chisango and the ZLA legitimised Cossa’s years of solitary hustle in the eyes of local stakeholders, sports ministries, and skeptical parents.
This solidarity proves that while competition happens on the field, the true victory of the Africa Association of Lacrosse (AAL) lies in the collective elevation of its nations.
Expressing his deep gratitude for the critical structural and emotional support that carried him through the darkest moments of the preparation, Cossa concluded:
“I was happy to see the clinic taking place and I would like to thank LaxReach and the Zimbabwe Lacrosse Association for supporting us during the clinics. I remember a week before we did the clinics, I almost downed tools as we faced many challenges with regards to the field that we were supposed to use. People never gave up hope on us and, as the Association’s head, I’ve learnt that even at our darkest moment, they carried me on their backs.” – Follow on X @MbuleloMpofu
Bongani Ndlovu