Updated March 9, 2024
Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is considered to be one of the oldest organized sports in North America and its origins trace back to a tribal game played by indigenous people in the United States and Canada. Today, lacrosse is surging in popularity.
- Native Americans Invented Lacrosse
The native Americans invented lacrosse, but still, to date, the details of how the sport came to be, remain a great mystery.
For the longest time, lacrosse was the most popularly played team sport in North America. So much so that many historians mistook it as the country’s national pastime.
The indigenous people of the North American continent believed that lacrosse was a God-given sport. The game was to be used for enjoyment and it also served additional roles.
They played lacrosse not just recreationally but also to heal people, solve disputes, prepare for war and spiritual development as well.
- Lacrosse Is the Fastest Game Played on Two Feet
Lacrosse is a high-adrenaline fast-paced game. This high-octane sport involves moving the ball quickly across the field and as the ball moves, the players move just as fast too. As a matter of fact, the quick pace of the game is one of its most attractive features.
Lacrosse matches are full of saves, dodges, checks, shots, goals and more which means that whether you are playing defense, attack or midfield, there’s hardly ever a dull moment on the lacrosse pitch.
Lacrosse is a sport that is growing in popularity every year. And it’s no wonder why! Lacrosse is a fast-paced, exciting sport that people of all ages can play. But just how fast can a lacrosse ball travel? Let’s take a look at the speeds by age group.
For those under the age of 12, the average speed of a lacrosse ball is between 20 and 30 miles per hour. Next, for those between the ages of 13 and 15, the average speed increases to between 30 and 40 miles per hour. For those 16 and older, the average speed of a lacrosse ball increases again, this time to between 40 and 50 miles per hour.
The average speeds of a lacrosse shot range between 80 mph and 100 mph. The fastest shot on record is attributed to Paul Rabil whose shot flew at 111 mph.
- Lacrosse Has Ties to Warfare
In June 1763, two tribes – the Ojibwe and the Sauk started playing a game of lacrosse, then known as baggataway.
Back then, Indian lacrosse was usually played by a large number of players, and in this particular instance, there were about 500 players on the field in front of Fort Michilimackinac (AKA – Fort Mackinac).
British Major George Etherington, the commandant of Fort Michilimackinac, was invited to watch the match and soon, his soldier followed suite and all were fascinated by the rousing game.
Little did the British soldiers know that they’re being distracted would provide the perfect opportunity for a flawlessly executed attack.
The well-planned attack happened in a matter of seconds. Ojibwe women hanging around the Fort gates had carefully concealed tomahawks and knives under heavy blankets, waiting for their cue.
When the time came, they handed out the weapons to the players, thereby converting them from athletes to warriors who then unleashed a massacre on the British soldiers guarding the fort.
- Modern-Day Lacrosse as We Know It Is Credited to The French
The French are credited with setting the foundations of lacrosse. It is the Frenchmen who civilized the game, developing legal rules and procedures for it to be played.
In the 1600s, A Jesuit missionary by the name of Jean de Brebeuf was the first non-native to document an account of the game after he witnessed it being played by the Huron Indians.
Brebeuf’s account of the sport is what brought about the name “la Crosse”, and that’s what the game came to be known as from then on.
French settlers in Montreal took-up the game of lacrosse in the early 1800s and this is when the game started to become a more civilized and organized sport.
- There Is A Native American Version of Women’s Lacrosse
Many people tend to believe that women’s lacrosse is a modern-day construct, but this isn’t true.
Even back when the native Indians played the game, there was a version of women’s lacrosse. The only difference is that the women’s lacrosse involved using shorter sticks than those used by the male players.
This Native American women’s version of lacrosse was known as amtahcha, and the sticks used were not only shorter, but they also had larger heads.
When it comes to modern-day lacrosse, the first women’s lacrosse match was played in Scotland in 1890.
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