Sports
Lacrosse
Sports
Lacrosse Player
Positions Lacrosse Rules Lacrosse
Strategy Lacrosse
Glossary
Lacrosse is a team sport where players try to get a rubber ball into a net or goal. Players use a long stick with a net on the end of it called a lacrosse stick. They can run, carry, catch, shoot, and pass the ball with the net of the stick. The lacrosse team with the most points or goals at the end of the time period wins the game.
Lacrosse is a very athletic and active game. It provides good exercise and competitiveness. There is a lot of running in Lacrosse and speed and endurance are great assets to the Lacrosse player. The sport's nickname is "The fastest game on two feet". Lacrosse has become popular with high schools, colleges, and has had some success as a professional sport.
Author: Tyler Reams
Lacrosse Equipment
First and foremost, Lacrosse players must wear protective equipment. This includes a helmet, mouth guard, lacrosse gloves, and pads. Pads can include rib pads, shoulder pads, and elbow pads. Lacrosse goalies must wear extra and special protective equipment.
The other main piece of equipment for a Lacrosse player is the stick or crosse. Offensive players usually use a short crosse (between 40 and 42 inches long). Defensive players use a long crosse (up to 72 inches long). The head of the lacrosse stick has a net to hold the ball with a flange on the end that allows the ball to be thrown or shot by swinging the stick. Goalies get to use a lacrosse stick with a wider head.
A lacrosse field today is 110 yards long and 60 yards wide. The goal is 6 feet tall by 6 feet wide and sits 15 yards from the end of the field. The field is divided up into a defensive area (where your goal is), an attack area (where the opponents goal is), and a wing area (in the middle).
Click picture to see full size picture
Author: Robert Merkel
History of Lacrosse
The origins of lacrosse come from a game that was played by Native Americans. It is one of the oldest team sports in the world.
The original game of Lacrosse was often played with 100s of players on the field. The games were played between different villages or tribes. The rules varied as well as the field of play. Goals were sometime miles apart. Sometimes a game was used to resolve disputes and could last days.
The name Lacrosse came from a French missionary to the Americas named Jean de Brebeuf. He told about a game using a stick that the Native Americans played. Lacrosse would soon became popular with many European settlers who learned the game from the locals. Later, a Canadian named William George Beers, formed a Lacrosse club and started to put together some of the rules that are used today.
Lacrosse became popular with high schools and universities in the early 1900's. It is still a popular college and high school sport today, especially in the New England area of the United States. In 2001, Major League Lacrosse, or the MLL, had its first full season of play. Currently there are 10 teams in the MLL.
There is an indoor version of Lacrosse called Box Lacrosse. Box Lacrosse is very popular in Canada. The field is smaller, as it's indoors, and there are only six players per team. The game can be fast and exciting due to the smaller field and shot clock.
Sports
Lacrosse Player
Positions Lacrosse Rules Lacrosse
Strategy Lacrosse
Glossary