Online Encyclopedia
Lacrosse (sport)
- Lacrosse redirects here. For other meanings, see Lacrosse (disambiguation).
Lacrosse is a spring and summer team sport of Native American origin played with netted sticks (called crosses). The world's first official game was played at patrician Upper Canada College in 1867. Upper Canada College lost to the Toronto Cricket Club by a score of 3-1. Lacrosse is actually the national sport of Canada.
The game is popular in Canada (chiefly in British Columbia and southern Ontario) and in New England and other areas in the eastern United States. It has begun to spread to the west coast where older college programs have encouraged lacrosse teams at the high school and middle school level. The colleges, high schools and "pee wee" leagues in the United States support many teams. Johns Hopkins, Princeton, Syracuse and Virginia have dominated in the Division I collegiate ranks, while the American teams have won recent World Championships for both men and women. The Iroquois nation also enters a team in the World Championships. The field game is also played in Australia, Japan, England and Scotland.
Canada differs from other lacrosse-playing countries in preferring the box lacrosse variant of the game. A recent variant of box lacrosse, indoor lacrosse, is played more widely; its first world championship was held in 2003.
The rules of women's lacrosse differ significantly from men's lacrosse and is specifically designed to have much less physical contact between players. The men's game has a contact level similar to ice hockey and the players wear similar protective gear: body padding, gloves, and helmet. The women's game requires very little protective gear.
In 1994 lacrosse became the official national summer sport of Canada. However, very few people in Canada actually play or follow the sport, certainly far fewer than follow or play hockey, football, baseball, basketball, soccer, tennis, golf and other sports. It is chiefly a regional summer sport played only in two widely separated regions of the country, and not the most popular summer sport even in those regions. Designating lacrosse as an official sport is more of a nod to history than a reflection of the present-day situation.
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The Field Game
Outdoor men's lacrosse involves two teams of 10 players each competing by projecting a small solid rubber ball into the opposing team's goal. The field of play is approximately 110 yards (100 m) long and 60 yards (54 m) wide. The goals are 6 feet (1.8 m) by 6 feet and contain a mesh netting similar to an ice hockey goal.
Players line up based on 3 offensive players called "attackmen", 3 "midfielders" or "middies", 3 "defensemen", and 1 goaltender, or "goalie." Each player carries a stick (the French settlers on seeing the Native Americans using the stick called it la crossier (crozier) hence the name "Lacrosse"). Attackmen and midfielders carry a stick measuring between 40 inches and 42 inches, while defensemen and midfielders, under certain conditions carry a stick up to 72 inches (1.8 m) long. The sticks have a metal shaft and a plastic head with either a string and leather or mesh basket called the "pocket". Goalie sticks vary in length but are typically between 50 and 60 inches long, and significantly wider than field players' sticks.
Players scoop the ball off the ground and throw the ball in the air to other players. Players are allowed to run carrying the ball with their stick. Unlike women's lacrosse, players may kick the ball, as well as cover it with their sticks. Play is typically quite fast, and resembles a combination of soccer, basketball and ice hockey. Players are permitted to hit one another with their bodies and sticks, although some rules govern the manner in which this may be done. For NCAA play, games consist of 4 fifteen minute periods, while at the youth and high school levels games are typically shorter. The scores of games usually consist of a total of twenty or so goals being scored.
Box and Indoor Lacrosse
Canadians most commonly play box lacrosse, an indoor version of the game played by teams of six on ice hockey rinks from which the ice has been removed; the enclosed playing area is called the box, in contrast to the open playing field of the traditional game. This version of the game was introduced in the 1930s to promote business for hockey arenas, and within a few years had almost entirely supplanted field lacrosse in Canada.
In box lacrosse the goal is smaller (4' X 4') than in outdoor lacrosse (and the goaltender usually bigger). The attacking team must take a shot on goal within 30 seconds of gaining possession of the ball, and play is rougher than in the field game (see below).
A national senior men's lacrosse championship (the Mann Cup) has been awarded in Canada since 1901. It has been played under box lacrosse rules since 1935. A junior men's championship (the Minto Cup) has been awarded since 1937 (the Minto Cup was also awarded to a senior men's champion from 1901 to 1934). Since 1908 all national senior and junior men's champions have come from either Ontario or British Columbia. The Canadian Lacrosse Association also holds tournaments to determine national junior and senior women's box lacrosse champions and junior and senior men's and women's field lacrosse champions.
Indoor lacrosse is a version of box lacrosse played professionally during the winter not only in regions where summer lacrosse is popular but also in regions where lacrosse is rarely played in summer. It was inrended to be less violent than box lacrosse, although subsequent changes in box lacrosse rules have reduced some of its violent play. Some differences remain, though. In indoor lacrosse players may use only sticks with hollow metal shafts (box lacrosse permits solid wooden sticks) and may not crosscheck (crosschecking – hitting another player with the stick with one's hands apart on the shaft – is legal, within limits, in box lacrosse). These differences encourage a running rather than a passing game. The inaugural World Indoor Lacrosse Championships, won by Canada, were held in 2003.
See also
- National Lacrosse League
- Major League Lacrosse
- NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship
- NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championship
- World Lacrosse Championship
- International Lacrosse Federation
- US Lacrosse
References
- Scott, Bob (1978). Lacrosse: Technique and Tradition. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 080182060X
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