What Is lacrosse? 

Lacrosse is a sport where players split into 2 teams carry long racket-like crosses to catch, throw and carry the ball down the field to score in the opponent’s goal. The goal has uprights, a crossbar and a net. A lacrosse field is 110 yards long and 60 yards wide. Usually a team at all times has 10 players on the field at once. Fun fact: lacrosse originated as is a native american sport called baggataway.

How to play lacrosse?

Lacrosse is a fast-paced sport where the object is to throw the ball into the opponents goal as many times as possible. Like I said, men’s teams have 10 players: a goalie, 3 defensemen, 3 attackers, and 3 midfielders. An interesting rule is at least 4 players in the defensive aka your side. There are 2 officials, a referee and a judge. The game is divided into quarters each of 15 minutes and there is halftime. In lacrosse a player may run with the ball, pass it in any direction, and catch it with the exception of the goalkeeper who can’t touch it with his hands. In lacrosse you can cradle it which is to rotate the stick in half-turns while holding it nearly upright. The defenders are allowed to poke the ball carrier in the body or stick. If it’s a bad foul you are suspended for at least 30 seconds at a time. After each quarter or a goal 2 centers face each other trying to gain possession.

History/Origins

Lacrosse has been around for more than a couple years. Lacrosse has existed since the 12 century! In the 17th century French Jesuit missionaries were the first westerns to witness the game and name it Lacrosse. Later in the late 1800s early 1900s Lacrosse gained popularity and spread across Canada, the US, Uk and Austria. During the 1904 and 1908 Lacrosse was played in the Olympics. Also in 1928, 1932 and 1948 Lacrosse was used as a demonstration sport in the Olympics. During 1972-74 the International Lacrosse federation for women and men. Lacrosse is getting more popular to this day and has a chance of getting into the 2028 or 2032 Olympics.

Notable Lacrosse players

There are many different notable Lacrosse players but one set of brothers stood out to me more. Their names are Gary and Paul Gait. Gary is a retired hall of fame lacrosse player and the head coach for the Syracuse University Lacrosse team. Paul Gait Is known as one of the most famous and best lacrosse players. He is also the current Vice President of the Rochester Knight Hawks of the National Lacrosse League. Also Jim Brown who plays football was exceptional at lacrosse. John Tavares was an amazing box lacrosse player and he holds numerous records in the national Lacrosse League.

How many big lacrosse leagues are there?

There are many lacrosse leagues after college around America but the most famous are the PLL (Premier Lacrosse League), the NLL (National Lacrosse League) and the WLL (Womens Lacrosse League). In the PLL there are 8 teams which means room for adding new teams. But in the NLL there are 14 teams. In the PLL the 2025 season just started so the rankings dont really matter right now. For the NLL the Buffalo Bandits are the best. The difference between the NLL and FLL is that in the FLL is field lacrosse while the NLL is box lacrosse.