An Awesome Sport - Lacrosse

By K.L. Amadio
There is a game that has been played in east coast schools and clubs for several decades. This highly popular team sport is called lacrosse. The popularity of has been growing across the U.S. is officially noted as the summer game in neighboring Canada and is actually played in more than 20 nations around the world.

Lacrosse is well documented all the way back to the 1600's by French missionaries who witnessed Native Americans playing the oldest team sport in North America. Native Americans called the game baggataway. The stick used to play the sport resembled the bishops cross; and so a new name was given by the missionaries. They referred to the game as la crosse.

Today, is played by men and women, boys and girls at ages as young as 3rd grade. Upwards of 5,500 women play at over 240 American universities and colleges. It's estimated that 125,000 children in the United States play the game in over 4,500 programs across the country.

Lacrosse rules are different for men's and women's clubs and on the surface seem quite complicated to anyone unfamiliar with the game. A men's match might remind an observer of a combination of field hockey, soccer and American football. Maybe these younger sports borrowed some aspects of play from the native sport of baggataway.

Basics of Lacrosse:

Players pass and carry a rubber ball, the size of a standard baseball, using special sticks. The stick utilizes a head at one end that's strung with cording like nylon to make a pocket that holds the ball. All the players have a stick and pass (throw) the ball, catch the ball and run with the ball around the field. When running, players cradle the ball in the pocket, a much practiced technique.

Each team has a goal, as in soccer. The goal tender or goalie has a stick with a much enlarged head

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to aid in stopping opponent scores. The basic point of the game is for one team to score more goals than the other during the regulation time period, which differs from high school to college.

Men's requires some elaborate padding for shoulders, arms and ribs along with gloves. This is due to the fact that physical contact is allowed in men's in a similar though not as blatant or necessary way as American football. Women's players need no padding because contact is not allowed. Some choose to wear eye protection and/or nose guards and gloves. Helmets are not required in women's lacrosse, but are mandatory in men's.

A game begins with a face off as in ice hockey. A team consists of a goalie, defensemen, attackmen and midfielders. The numbers allowed of each differ for men and women. Women actually play on a larger field than men and require more players.

The field of play has three officials, a referee, a field judge and an umpire. These officials must keep track of the game as in any sport, looking for fouls, either personal (slashing or tripping), or technical (grabbing or holding). There are specific field positions and rules as to when players can or cannot cross the center line of the field and how many players are on the field during play.

All in all, is a fast paced active game requiring good hand-eye coordination and great stamina. It also has the benefits of all team sports, cooperation and teamwork. As more colleges and high schools add programs, it will be easier to catch a game and see why this is such a rapidly growing sport in the U.S.

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To see more about the popular game of lacrosse, visit K.L. Amadio's website, Lacrosse-Information for all-inclusive insight to this rapidly growing game. Parents, find more info on lacrosse positions for your kids.

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K.L. Amadio is the webmaster of Lacrosse-Information a comprehensive lacrosse information website for players, parents and coaches.

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