The History of Lacrosse

Question: What is lacrosse? Answer: Lacrosse is a game in which two teams of 10 men or 12 women each use long-handled, pouched sticks to catch, carry, or throw a ball down a field into the opponents’ goal.

Lacrosse is the oldest team sport in North America. When French colonists arrived in the New World, they observed North American Indians, specifically the Iroquois, playing a fast, rough contest they called ”baggataway.” The colonists in Canada adopted the game in about 1640. They changed the rules and renamed it “le crosse,” or “lacrosse” because the curved end of the stick used resembled a bishop’s staff or cross. In 1867, lacrosse was made the national game of Canada. The sport soon spread into the United States, England, Ireland, and Australia. Players play on a rectangular field divided in half by a centerline. The object of the game is for each team to score goals by getting the ball into the opponent’s goal net at opposite ends of the field. Lacrosse players wear shorts, cleated shoes, plastic helmets, arm pads, and padded gloves. They carry a stick 3 to 6 feet long with a 12-inch crook at the end. Within this crook is a cord pocket in which the ball is caught or carried.

Lacrosse Study Guide Rules

• No body checking • No stick checking • Must give an opponent a 2 ft. radius of space • 10 players per team (1 goaltender, 3 close defense, 3 mid-fielders, 3 close

attack) • Unlimited substitution

Length of Game

• High School- 4 periods of 10 min. each • 2 min. interval between the 1 & 2 and 3 & 4 periods. 10 min. interval

between the 2nd and 3rd period. Overtime:

• 4 min. periods and the first team to score wins The Goal:

• 6’ high 6’ across • The crease is a circle, 18 feet in diameter with a 9-foot radius in which the

attacking players may not enter. • An attacking player may reach in with their stick to catch a ball or get a

loose ball. The Stick:

• Length- 40-72” long (men) and 36-44” (women’s)

• Goalie stick has no minimum length • Head width- 6.5- 10” (men’s) and 7-9” (women’s)

Field Size: • 110 yards long • 35-60 yards across • Goal area is 40 yards from the center line and 15 yards from end line • Goal is 9’ radius.

Beginning of Play • Face-off- The one on one play with two opposing players vying for

possession of the ball. The ball is placed between the two sticks, but not touching the ground.

15 40 yds.

110 yards

60 y

ds