Tuesday, November 11, 2008

The History of Lacrosse

Lacrosse history is very old and extremely interesting. is the oldest game played on the North American continent still in existence today. Many believe lacrosse a was first played by the Iroquios Indians. This sport is over 350 years old. They used very primitive wooden lacrosse sticks, a leather pocket and a round ball for a rock. The field expanded for 1 to 15 miles. At that time the game was very violent as it often prepared warriors for battle. It is said that often tribal disputes could be settled by challenging the other tribe to a game of lacrosse. The winner would than win the dispute.
Since it conception, the history of lacrosse has evolved dramatically. According to the official US lacrosse website ”Lacrosse is one of the fastest growing team sports in the United States. Youth participation in the sport has grown over 500% since 1999 to nearly 250,000. No sport has grown faster at the high school level over the last 10 years and there are now an estimated 200,000 high school players. Lacrosse is also the fastest-growing sport over the last six years at the NCAA level, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. There are more than 500 college club programs, including nearly 200 women's teams that compete at the US Lacrosse Intercollegiate Associates level.” (www.uslacrosse.org)
In the last 25 years there has been an explosion in the popularity of the sport. Never has lacrosse history been more exiting to watch and be a part of. Lacrosse has even been named as the official summer sport of Canada. Here in the U.S. lacrosse has spread rapidly from the east coast to the Midwest, to the western states. New England is the most popular location, but the most explosive growth has been in places like Colorado, Nevada, California, Washington, and Utah. It seems to do really well in middle class suburban neighborhoods. Although eastern colleges like Syracuse, University of Virginia, Maryland have traditionally lead the way in terms of skill and talent. Today western universities like CAL and BYU are becoming more and more of a threat.

No comments: