For Jasleen Sandhu, lacrosse has always been more than a game. It has been a test of perseverance, a source of confidence, and ultimately, a way to create the sense of belonging she once struggled to find.
Growing up in Surrey, Sandhu tried several sports before discovering lacrosse in Grade 5. She was immediately drawn to its speed and the challenge of learning a completely new set of skills. “I just really liked being challenged and the speed of the game,” she says. “Even at the level I’m at now, you can always get better.”
But while her love for lacrosse grew, her confidence did not always keep pace. For much of her youth career, Sandhu was the only South Asian player-and often the only person of color-on her team. “I knew that I had to work double as hard just to get the same opportunity,” she recalls.
The impact went beyond feeling different. Sandhu says she sometimes worried that mistakes would be judged differently, causing her to hold back during games despite having the skills to compete at a high level. By Grade 10, she was questioning whether she should continue playing a sport she loved.
What kept her going was a goal: playing university lacrosse. “I wasn’t going to let anyone or how anyone made me feel impact that,” she says.
Her parents played a major role in helping her persevere. They never forced her to continue but reminded her of the work she had already put in and encouraged her to recognize her own ability. Their message was simple: be a leader, not a follower. That mindset eventually helped Sandhu reach the University of Toronto Varsity Blues women’s lacrosse team. Reaching the university level gave her a new sense of confidence and proved to her that she had earned her place.
It also helped spark a larger purpose.
In 2025, Sandhu founded Breaking Borders Lacrosse, a nonprofit organization dedicated to introducing lacrosse to South Asian and other BIPOC communities across the Lower Mainland. Through camps, mentorship, awareness, and education, the organization aims to break down the barriers that prevent young people from discovering the sport.
For Sandhu, the lack of South Asian representation is not necessarily the result of exclusion. More often, she believes, it comes down to exposure. “Just because this isn’t a sport that’s played often or one that we think about too much, kids never really go home and tell their parents they want to play lacrosse,” she explains.
Breaking Borders brings the game directly into communities, giving children an opportunity to hold a stick, learn the basics, and imagine themselves playing the sport at a higher level. “Because of course, I can’t just hope that one day the sport will become more inclusive,” Sandhu says. “You have to be the change you wish to see.”
Her programs have already introduced hundreds of young people to lacrosse through partnerships with organizations including KidsPlay and the Surrey Warriors Lacrosse Association. One moment in particular stayed with her: an eight-year-old participant who, after less than an hour of playing, asked whether he could keep his stick and continue learning. His enthusiasm reinforced what Sandhu had begun to understand- that sometimes exposure is all it takes to open a door.
Her first Breaking Borders Lacrosse Summer Camp at the Cloverdale Athletic Park this summer represented another step forward. The free camp for children ages five to 12 combined lacrosse instruction with education about the sport’s Indigenous origins as the “Creator’s Game.” For Sandhu, that history is essential. While lacrosse is now often perceived as a predominantly white sport, its roots belong to Indigenous peoples in Canada. She believes young players should understand not only how to play the game, but why it exists and whose traditions shaped it.
She also wants the sport’s future to be more representative. Sandhu believes Canadian lacrosse needs to focus not only on advancing athletes already in the system, but on bringing new communities into the game at the elementary-school level. “If we could reach more youth, we could really make some big change,” she says.
Balancing university athletics at U of T with running a nonprofit has demanded discipline, but Sandhu says passion makes the workload meaningful. She sees Breaking Borders not as an obligation, but as something she is grateful to do. Her ambitions extend beyond British Columbia. Over the next five years, she hopes to expand Breaking Borders to Toronto, establish multiple camps throughout the year, build partnerships with organizations such as MLSE LaunchPad, and eventually bring lacrosse programming into elementary schools.
Ultimately, her goal is deeply personal. “I hope that when they look at me running this, they can finally see themselves in a sport and see themselves somewhere where they belong.”
For Sandhu, representation is not simply about seeing more South Asian athletes on the field. It is about creating the confidence to step onto it in the first place. Her message to South Asian families is equally clear: “Just because you don’t see yourself there doesn’t mean you don’t belong.”
And perhaps that is the border Sandhu is most determined to break.
