First originated in America by the Native Americans, lacrosse is a sport that is very popular, especially among high school years and for both men and women alike. At the beginning of its era, lacrosse was a sport that was used as military training for the various Native American tribes but back then it would consist of hundreds of players all trying to score a goal at the end of a large field. In those days, it was sticks that were used to fight off an opponent that was trying to score a goal but thankfully, the game has become much more civilized and now involves rules that determine how many players can be on the field at one time.
It was the French that originally gave this famous sport it’s name by referring to it as “La Crosse.” It was during the early nineteenth century that the game was taken to Montreal and from there it became the game that we know and love today with the rules set to ensure that the game was fair. It was much later than this that the game spread to various parts of the world such as England and Canada but these days, the sport is not quite as common in the UK.
In 1877, lacrosse was invited into the schools and colleges across America and the first game was played between two schools – Manhattan College and also New York University. Two short years later, the US Amateur Lacrosse Association came about and then just a few years after that came the Intercollegiate Lacrosse League.
Lacrosse is a game where the rules are changed between men and women. Slightly less aggressive for females that choose this fun sport, physical contact is kept to a minimum and are no longer allowed to use their entire body in a bid to block the attacker and retrieve the ball. Men however, are allowed to use more of their body and it is because of this that they have more in the way of protective clothing; especially around the face and head to ensure that no bad injuries occur.
There are ten players in a standards male game of lacrosse. There will be of course, the all important goalie to prevent goals being scored from the opposite team but then there are three men that will be on the attack, three that are on the defense and also three men that will be playing midfield. This is not so different from British soccer. The ladies team will differ slightly with twelve players in total. Then there is box lacrosse with has a goal keeper and then five men that are known as runners as the playing ground is much smaller.
The aim of the game is of course to score as many goals as you can in your opponents goal, weaving your way around the defense and midfield competitors. Known as a passing game, the ball is thrown by the lacrosse “stick” and caught again by another player, hopefully on your team!