2. • Lacrosse is a team sport in which players pass,
catch, and carry a rubber ball, using sticks with a
netted pouch at one end. The object of lacrosse is
to accumulate points by shooting the ball into the
opposing team's goal. It’s one of the oldest
organized sports in North America. While at one
point it was a field game or ritual played by first
nations in Upper Canada, the sport has since
branched into four distinct games: men's field
lacrosse, women's field lacrosse, box lacrosse,
and inter-crosse.
3. Man’s field Lacrosse
• Men's field lacrosse is played by two teams of
10 on an outdoor field. The most noticeable
difference between field lacrosse and other
forms is the use of much longer stick.
4. • The World Lacrosse Championships take place
every four years. In 2006, Canada won its first
championship in nearly three decades when it
defeated the United States of America 15-10.
Many players on Canada's national field
lacrosse team play box lacrosse as well.
5. Women’s field lacrosse
• Women's field lacrosse is a non-contact sport
played with 12 players per team. Ball
movement and effective stick handling are key
elements of the sport, and the shallowness of
the stick's pocket makes catching and control
of the ball more challenging. The first game of
women's field lacrosse took place in Scotland
in 1890.
7. Box Lacrosse
• Box lacrosse was developed in the 1930s as a
way to take advantage of hockey arenas left
vacant during the summer months. It’s
sometimes referred as the fastest sport on
two feet. Rebounds and checks off the boards
make the game exciting to watch, and a 30-
second shot clock that requires a team to
either score in half a minute or relinquish the
ball to their opponent leads to a high-scoring
game.
8. • Professional indoor lacrosse is similar to
box lacrosse in many ways, including the
number of players per side (6), its use of
the 30-second clock and the existence of
boards surrounding the playing surface.
Professional indoor lacrosse is played on a
turf carpet. Box lacrosse is usually played
on a cement surface.
10. Inter-Crosse
• Inter-Crosse is the newest form of lacrosse, is
a low-risk activity, designed for schools and
recreation programs. The easy-to-play indoor
game uses molded plastic sticks and a soft,
lightweight ball, and teaches participants the
fundamentals of lacrosse: scooping, carrying,
passing, and catching the ball.
12. History of Canadian Lacrosse
• Lacrosse was started by the Native American
Indians and was originally known as stickball.
The game was initially played in the St.
Lawrence Valley area by the Algonquian tribe
and followed by other tribes in the eastern
half of North America. They were played over
huge open areas between villages and the
goals. Some estimates have mentioned
between 100 and 100,000 players
participating in a game at any one time.
13. Rules:
• The ball was not to be touched by a player’s hand
and there were no boundaries. The ball was
tossed into the air to indicate the start of the
game and players raced to be the first to catch it.
• Obs: Original wooden balls were later replaced by
deerskin balls filled with fur and the sticks
developed over time to become more
sophisticated. In preparation for a game players
used paint and charcoal to decorate their faces
and bodies.
14. “Indian Ball Game”
by George Catlin
Games of lacrosse
were played for a
number of reasons. It
was considered a
sport that toughened
up young warriors for
war but it was also a
game played for
recreation and for
religious reasons. It
was not unusual for
bets to be placed on
the outcome of games.
15. Jean de Brébeuf
French Jesuit
missionaries working in
the St. Lawrence Valley
in the 1630s were the
first Europeans to see
lacrosse being played by
the Native American
Indians. One of them,
Jean de Brébeuf, wrote
about the game being
played by the Huron
Indians in 1636 and it
was he who the named
the game “lacrosse”.
16. • A demonstration of lacrosse was given by the
Caughnawaga Indians in Montreal in 1834. As
a result, interest in the game of lacrosse began
to develop in Canada. A Canadian dentist, Dr
William George Beers, was responsible for
founding the Montreal Lacrosse Club in 1856
and a decade later he drew up rules which
included reducing the number of players,
introducing a rubber ball and a redesigned
stick.
17. • By 1860 lacrosse had become Canada’s
national game and in 1867 exhibition games
were played in England. In 1876 Queen
Victoria watched a game being played and
remarked that “The game is very pretty to
watch.” Then in 1883 a touring team from
Canada and and a team made up of Iroquois
natives visited Scotland.
18. • During this tour promotional literature was
distributed to the spectators pointing out the
benefits of emigration to Canada. By the turn
of the century lacrosse was becoming more
popular in several countries and in 1904 and
1908 lacrosse was played in the Summer
Olympics.
19. Gallery
• Baggataway (lacrosse) was played on fiesta
days between families, villages or clans. Here,
early lacrosse equipment (sticks and ball) are
clearly visible (courtesy Lazare and Parker).
20. Winnipeg Shamrocks
• In 1904 the Winnipeg Shamrocks won the
Olympic gold medal in one of only two times
lacrosse was an Olympic event (1904 and
1908). Montreal Lacrosse Club, 1867.
21. Lacrosse Match
• Through the 1880s, lacrosse enjoyed
sustained growth, and by 1900 it was likely
Canada's favourite sport, though never, as is
often said, the "national sport“.
22. Beers, William George
• Beers promoted lacrosse in
Canada by claiming that it
"knocks timidity and
nervousness out of a young
man, training him to
temperance, confidence and
pluck" (courtesy Canada's
Sports Hall of Fame).
