Jamaica’s first two games at the U20 Women’s Lacrosse World Championship in Hong Kong featured plenty of goals, but on the wrong side.

A 13-2 defeat to the hosts at Mong Kok Stadium on Thursday was followed by a 30-3 defeat to England at Sham Shui Po on Friday.

However, the head coach of the Caribbean team said lacrosse is on the rise in her country, especially at the school level.

“It’s one of the sports in Jamaica that girls who didn’t play sports and wanted to participate in extracurricular activities tried and ended up enjoying,” Taylor Erwin said. “It’s an ongoing process, it’s not something that happened overnight.”

“But we are providing the necessary resources and the right system to enable further growth.

“(The sport) has given the girls everything. Some of the girls in Kingston have college scholarships and the opportunity to play in the United States. So they have the opportunity to further their education and their lacrosse careers.”

Lacrosse – whose governing body Jamaica only joined in 2013 – has not been the focus of attention for a nation with 94 Olympic medals, 93 of which were in track and field and another in cycling. That could change if lacrosse Sixers are present at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

But goalkeeper Henry Gabriella, who saved eight of England’s 29 shots, said lacrosse was “everything” to her.

“It’s a community where you belong, where you can show all your skills and be part of a team that becomes a family,” she said.

“Playing for Jamaica and representing my country has helped me grow as a player and a person. It has taught me so many life skills.”

England head coach Vic Alexander wants to take his team to the next step after they finished third three times and fourth in each of their other four World Cup appearances.

“It’s nice to have this first game behind us, a really positive team performance,” she said. “We’ve never played Jamaica before and they’ve given us a new challenge as a good, strong, physical team… we’ve got to get used to the physicality that we’re going to face throughout the tournament.”

“We want to achieve or improve what we have done so far.”

England host Hong Kong on Saturday after Jamaica face Japan. Both matches, as well as the USA v Puerto Rico match, were moved from Sham Shui Po to the Hong Kong Football Club due to heavy rain.