The Papers of Sylvia Gibbard

The British Pioneers Tour took place in July-August 1969. Its purpose was to coach and play lacrosse around the world to promote an interest in the game. The British players were joined by members of the US Women's Lacrosse team. The tour visited the USA, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong and the Netherlands. Sylvia Gibbard (nee McCrann) kept a scrapbook of the team's journey throughout the tour, covering the entire period.

Contents include the team's overall tour schedule, greeting cards addressed to the Pioneers team and newspaper clippings from local newspapers regarding the Tour. There are also group photographs of the Pioneers and USA teams wearing their various team outfits, itineraries of the events hosted by the South Australian Women's Lacrosse Association, the Australian Lacrosse Council, and for The National Women's Sports Meeting organised by the Japan Association of Physical Education for Women, short biographies of the Victoria Women's Lacrosse team members and reserves, and ephemera. The latter includes tourist information leaflets, menus, postcards, and information on places stayed at and visited by the team.

Sylvia Gibbard (nee McCrann) was born in May 1939, and first learnt to play lacrosse at Wentworth School. She went on to study Physical Education at the Bedford College of Physical Education between 1958 and 1961 and subsequently taught PE at Walthamstow Hall in Kent from 1961-64, and at Wentworth Milton Mount, Bournemouth from 1964.

Sylvia played lacrosse for the South Territorial team, and was selected to play for the Scotland Women's Lacrosse team during the years 1961 and 1970. She was a member of the Great Britain and Ireland Touring Team (GBITT) visit to the USA in 1967, and the British Pioneers World Tour in 1969.

Following her marriage in 1971, Sylvia ceased playing competitive lacrosse.

The papers were gifted to the University of Bedfordshire by Sylvia Gibbard on 12 May 2022 under Accession No. AWL/2022/001.

Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in advance in writing from University of Bedfordshire Special Collections. Identification of copyright holders of unpublished material is often difficult. Special Collections will assist where possible with identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material.