Sometimes referred to as the “fastest sport on two feet”, field lacrosse is a full contact, outdoor men’s sport with roots in the cultural tradition of Native American people. This early form of the game was significant in the spiritual life of the tribal community, and played by warriors for glory and honor to the tribe and themselves. Jesuit missionaries were the first Europeans to observe the game in the 1630’s, and the name ‘lacrosse’ comes from their description of the players’ sticks as looking like a bishop’s crosier, ‘la crosse’ in French.
Modern rules of field lacrosse were first codified in 1867 by Canadian William George Beers as rules had previously been decided prior to the start of each game. Women’s lacrosse was established in the 1890’s and ‘box lacrosse’ (indoor version) originated in the 1930’s. All are played under different rules.
The game of field lacrosse is played by two opposing teams, each comprised of 10 players who use a long handled racket (the ‘lacrosse stick’ or ‘crosse’) to catch, carry and pass a sold rubber ball. The objective of the game is to score by shooting the ball into an opponent’s goal while the opposing team attempts to stop scoring and gain possession of the ball through the use of stick checking, body contact and positioning. The rules limit the number of players in each part of the field and require the ball to be moved continuously toward the opposing goal. Read more about the rules and regulations here→ Simplified Men’s Lacrosse Rules
The Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA) is a confederacy of 10 non-varsity college lacrosse conferences featuring over 200 teams in two divisions across 43 US states and two countries.
Division I and II finals of 2017 MCLA National Championships were held on Saturday, May 13, at Chapman University Stadium in Orange, California. Concordia-Irvine v St Thomas (Division II) and Chapman v Grand Canyon (Div I) If you missed the live broadcast, there’s still time to watch recorded video of both championship games. Just click/tap on the “Watch Again” button on the video player below ↓
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Information/Resources: Wikipedia: Lacrosse, Field Lacrosse
Feature photo is courtesy of Pixabay/Pexels CC0
