Some 125 years ago, a Fife school was looking for a new sport for spring.
By 1890 the girls at St Leonards were already playing cricket and goals, a forerunner of hockey. But what the St Andrews school needed was a team game for the spring term.
Two headmistresses thought they had just the thing: lacrosse, a game they saw played in Canada.
And so it is that St Leonards can lay claim to introducing girls’ lacrosse to the country.
Its introduction was thanks to the first two headmistresses, Louisa Lumsden and Frances Dove, who watched the sport while attending a conference in Canada in 1884.
During their stay they watched a game played by Native Americans and members of the Montreal Club.
Miss Lumsden later wrote of a wonderful, beautiful and graceful game. “I was so charmed with it that I introduced it at St Leonards,” she added.
The very first lacrosse matches took place at St Leonards 125 years ago on March 27 1890.
The first matches eight a side and played with extremely long wooden sticks were inter-house affairs.
Bishopshall East was the victor, beating Queen’s Terrace and Daygirls 3-1 and 2-0, respectively.
To celebrate the anniversary all the girls who currently play lacrosse at the school created a human 125 on the school playing fields.
They also recreated some of the old team photographs, though it was a struggle for them to stop smiling something which did not appear as difficult for the pioneering pupils of last century.
St Leonards is proud of its lacrosse heritage and the role it played in introducing the game to the United Kingdom.
Although the school is now fully co-educational, the sport is still only played by girls, with training starting early in the Junior School.
Rosie Hazell, currently in her final year, was selected to play for the Scotland Under-19 team last year.