A Little History on Lacrosse
(LEFT) A Traditional Handcrafted Wooden Stick, or "Woodie", from Traditional Lacrosse.
Known as the "fastest sport on two feet",[1] lacrosse is a traditional Native American game.[2][3] According to Native American beliefs, playing lacrosse is a spiritual act used for healing and giving thanks to the "Creator". They would also play the game to resolve minor conflicts between tribes, that were not worth going to war for. Thus the name little brother of war.[4] These games could last several days and as many as 100 to 1,000 men from opposing villages or tribes played on open plains, between goals ranging from 500 yards (460 m) to several miles apart.[5][6]
The first Europeans to observe it were French Jesuit missionaries in the St. Lawrence Valley, in the 1630s.[2][3] The name "lacrosse" comes from their reports, which described the players' sticks as like a bishop's crosier—la crosse in French.[5][7] The Native American tribes used various names: in the Onondaga language it was called dehuntshigwa'es ("they bump hips" or "men hit a rounded object"); da-nah-wah'uwsdi ("little war") to the Eastern Cherokee; in Mohawk, tewaarathon ("little brother of war"); and baggataway in Ojibwe.[8][9][10][11]Variations in the game were not limited to the name. In the Great Lakes region, players used an entirely wooden stick, while the Iroquois stick was longer and was laced with string, and the Southeastern tribes played with two shorter sticks, one in each hand.[7]
In 1867, Montreal Lacrosse Club member William George Beers codified the modern game. He established the Canadian National Lacrosse Association and created the first written rules for the game, Lacrosse: The National Game of Canada. The book specified field layout, lacrosse ball dimensions, lacrosse stick length, number of players, and number of goals required to determine the match winner.[7]
Women's lacrosse, a non-contact version of the sport originating in Scotland during the 1890s, is played by twelve players per side, on longer fields and with less protective equipment than the men's game requires.[12] In the 1930s Canadian businessmen established a version called box lacrosse to create business for ice hockey arenas during the summer months. Box lacrosse is played indoors, with smaller nets, between two teams of six players, and strongly resembles the game its areas were designed for.[
LACROSSE IN THE Olympics
Lacrosse at the Olympics was a medal earning sport in the 1904 Summer Olympics and the 1908 Summer Olympics.[61] In 1904, three teams competed in the games held in Saint Louis, Missouri. Two Canadian teams, the Winnipeg Shamrocks and a team of Mohawk Indians from the Iroquois Confederacy, and an American team represented by the local St. Louis A.A.A. lacrosse club participated, and the Winnipeg Shamrocks captured the gold medal.[62][63] The 1908 games held in London, England featured only two teams, representing Canada and Great Britain. The Canadians again won the gold medal in a single championship match by a score of 14–10.[64]
In the 1928 Summer Olympics, 1932 Summer Olympics, and the 1948 Summer Olympics, lacrosse was a demonstration sport.[65] The 1928 Olympics featured three teams: the United States, Canada, and Great Britain.[66] The 1932 games featured a three game exhibition between a Canadian All-star team and the United States.[67] The United States was represented by Johns Hopkins Blue Jays lacrosse in both the 1928 and 1932 Olympics. In order to qualify, the Blue Jays won tournaments in the Olympic years to represent the United States.[68][69] The 1948 games featured an exhibition by an "All-England" team organized by the English Lacrosse Union and the collegiate lacrosse team from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute representing the United States. This exhibition ended in a 5–5 tie.[70]
There are obstacles to reestablishing lacrosse as an Olympic sport. One hurdle was resolved in 2008, when the international governing bodies for men's and women's lacrosse merged to form Federation of International Lacrosse.[71] Another obstacle is insufficient international participation. In order to be considered as an Olympic sport the game must be played on four continents, and with at least a total of 75 countries participating. According to one US Lacrosse representative in 2004, "it’ll take 15-20 years for us to get there."[72]For the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia and 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, efforts were made to include lacrosse as an exhibition sport, but these failed.[69][72]
