A Brief Overview of the History of Lacrosse – A Sport Which Needs Recognition and Support

If you have a little bit of knowledge about native Americans, you would know about lacrosse, a sport played by the indegenous people of the American continent. Indians, the native of the American sub-continent were fond of playing lacrosse as part of their leisure activity.

 

The game was first discovered by the locals in the areas of Mississippi when locals started playing it with stick nets. Back then America and Canada had no borders so we assume that people from both of the countries played together.

 

When the Europeans entered the American continent for colonization, lacrosse was significantly modified to make it a complete sport. From there, the sport only expanded to multiple South American countries and became an instant hit among the locals.

 

As its fame and demand grew from one city to another, more and more locals started embracing the sport. They became so popular that you would see native Americans playing it on a daily basis. Traditionally, lacrosse is a sport combined of a ball and stick.

 

The game starts when the ball is tossed high in the air with two sides rushing to catch it. From there, teams pass it on to each other, until one team finds the ball inside the opponents nets. The team to score more wins.

 

Since the sport had a major following in its early years, the game allowed a large chunk of players competing with each other for the ball. During the initial days, passing the ball was just a trick and was considered as a coward act, but this act became an integral part of the strategy for the sport, and today, lacrosse is played by nearly millions of people around the world.

 

The sport of today has been imperfected a thousand times before finalizing into one. The modern day rules and elements have greatly been inspired by the native communities. Over the course of years in the American history, we have experienced the transformation of football, baseball, hockey, and athletics, but lacrosse is the oldest sport played in the country.

 

Another interesting thing about lacrosse is that indegenous people believe that lacrosse was given to them as a sport by their creator. They played for fun, and at times performed rituals for the blessing. Besides playing it for leisure and fun, the natives also held a firm belief that it used to heal the sick and comfort the wounded.

 

For many years, natives used lacrosse for settlement, and preparations for war. During its early days, the teams would toss the ball high in the air, chant the name of their creator, and start playing with their sticks.

 

Today, the sport has been revolutionized for the greater good, and is embraced by people all over the world. In hindsight, if we look into the following of this sport in the United States alone, there are nearly 700,000 lacrosse players alone in the United States.

 

The lacrosse federation of the United States oversees all of the activities for the sport, and nearly three types of organizations are established. From being a rookie player to an experienced professional, you can take the sport professionally, while establishing your base at the grassroot level.

 

Across the country, you would see teams wearing lacrosse uniforms, competing in different circuits and arenas and earning a reputation for themselves. Another interesting thing to notice is that United States dominates the sport completely and so far has won 10 major titles. It ranks no.1 in the world lacrosse rankings and dominates the entire aspect of the sport.

 

Types of lacrosse around the world

 

If we dig a little deeper, we get to see that there are four types of lacrosse played around the world. Minilacrosse is basically played at the initial level by young school children. They are taught in fitness centers.

 

The game basically gives you sufficient information about the sport and prepares you for the higher level. The second is known as an indoor lacrosse which was basically created by Canada. The rules are fairly simple and resonate with the official sport and is quite competitive in the North American region.

 

The third is the field lacrosse which is probably the most professional lacrossed played on wide fields. This particular type of lacrosse is by-far the closest to the native Americans and follows the same rules and traditions.

 

Women field lacrosse is played on a little bigger turf where the players wear women’s lacrosse uniforms. The game is highly challenging and pushes you to your limits.

 

If we retrospect a little about this amazing sport, we get to know that lacrosse is not just the sport of the United States. It is gaining a huge popularity from around the world. Countries like Ireland, England, Australia, Poland, Israel, Germany, Japan, Turkey, and many more are taking up the sport and embracing it whole-heartedly.