In almost two decades of journalism, my writing has taken me on a cruise down the Danube, to Michelin-starred restaurants in London and South Tyrol, Bayern Munich’s training ground to speak to star players, and refugees fleeing from war-torn Syria. This morning, on a particularly chilly autumnal Munich morning, I’d arranged to meet two Munich-based lacrosse players for an article in Spotlight magazine.

Laura Koroschek (below) came south to Munich from Kiel more than a decade ago, and quickly joined HLC Rot-Weiß München. She has gone on to represent the German national team (German). She was accompanied by Jackie Klaus, (left) originally from the US, who moved to Cologne in search of adventure – and to coach the local lacrosse team. She now coaches and plays for HLC Rot-Weiß München.

We met for the interview on the edge of the huge Westpark (German), outside the HLC Rot-Weiß München club house, and in total we talked for around an hour, with my kids watching and listening intently in the background (if they found it still fascinating after an hour, that’s good enough for me!). These athletes are increasingly professional in an amateur sport, and such interviews can often prove to be the most interesting and rewarding - this certainly was.

The interview will appear in Spotlight in early 2019. In the meantime, thanks to Laura and Jackie for taking the time to talk about lacrosse, and for providing so much interesting background information on a host of lacrosse-related issues – and thanks for letting me know that today is a bank holiday! Being a freelancer and working ostensibly from home has many positive sides, but one of the things not so great is so often losing track of days.

Thanks very much, ladies! And I hope to see you in action for your final home game before the winter break on 11 November (see map above for location).