History of Lacrosse

Lacrosse is the oldest sport in North America. The game was developed by Native Americans and the history of lacrosse dates back to the 1400s. The game was originally a war game used to resolve conflicts within tribes or to toughen warriors for battle. The game was played on a field that ranged from half a mile to 15 miles in length, and games were said to often last for days, usually playing from sun-up to sun-down. Some games were fought to the death. They used lacrosse sticks made of wood and lacrosse balls made of wood, stone, or stuffing covered in animal skin.

The history of lacrosse began with the Native Americans, and started to evolve into modern lacrosse in the 17th century when early French Jesuit settlers observed lacrosse being played by the Huron Indians in Canada. The Jesuit settlers wrote home about the game and described the sticks as reminding them of the crosier (la Crosse) carried by bishops. This is how the modern name originated.

In the early 1800s, North American settlers began playing the game. As they were playing lacrosse with different intentions than the Native Americans, different rules and boundaries were created. Canadian George Beers developed the rules of the game by standardizing field dimensions, limiting the number of players per team, and developing the sport's other basics. Lacrosse has quickly grown since the early settlers began playing the sport, and it is now played worldwide. Countries that play lacrosse include Canada, the United States, England, Ireland, Scotland, Japan, Australia, and Korea, Tonga, and more.

NYU began the United States' first college team in 1877. The first high school teams were fielded in 1882. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) eventually began directing intercollegiate lacrosse and the first NCAA Lacrosse Championship was held in 1971. The game continues to grow in the United States at an incredible rate as it becomes more and more popular among the youth, high school, and collegiate levels. As changes in the rules and stick dimensions are continually modified, new chapters will continue to be added to the history of lacrosse. It will be interesting to see how these changes will affect the sport in the coming years.