According to Lacrosse Canada (formerly the Canadian Lacrosse Association), several native peoples of Canada played a game for centuries, each in their own way and all with religious reasons, inspiring the sport of lacrosse. They performed the activity in praise of the Creator and in gratitude to the Great Spirit for allowing them to live in peace and harmony with nature. The matches lasted days and involved hundreds of men traveling across huge fields.
As soon as they arrived, the colonizers began to pay attention to the sporting activities practiced by the locals. The name “la crosse” comes from French and means taco. A Jesuit missionary first used it in the early 17th century to describe the game of the natives.
Lacrosse History
It was in the 19th century that lacrosse became popular. The first non-native stickball clubs began to emerge. It was in this century that dentist William George Beers founded the Montreal Lacrosse Club and adapted the rules of the game, reducing the duration and number of players to 12 per team.
Canada recognized the sport as its National Game in 1859 and, in 1867, established Stickball Canada, which is responsible for organizing the sport’s national championships. The sport became part of the Olympic Games in the 1904 and 1908 editions.
In matches, players use sticks with a net at the end, which is used to transport the ball and throw it into the goal. There are 4 different versions of the sport: field lacrosse, women’s lacrosse, box lacrosse, and intercrosse.
Ten men per side play field Stickball outdoors on a field measuring 110 m by 55 m. With square goalposts measuring 1.8 m by 1.8 m. The match lasts 60 minutes, divided into 4 halves of 15 minutes.
The women’s field Stickball category has different rules, with much less physical contact. There are 12 players on each team.
Box lacrosse is played by teams of 6, indoors, and has much more physical contact. The goalposts measure 1.2 m by 1.2 m and the field. Is between 55 m and 61 m long and 24 m and 27 m wide.
Intercrosse is the non-contact version of Stickball. The clubs are different and the ball is lighter and bigger.
