Lacrosse history facts: 10 Fun Facts You Never Knew About Lacrosse

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THE HISTORY OF LACROSSE AT HARVARD. | News

From the founding of the Harvard Lacrosse Association in 1877 until very recently the prospects of lacrosse at Harvard have been somewhat dubious. In fact, it is probable that the association would have collapsed before now but for the enthusiasm of a few individuals and for the sympathy and encouragement of the National Amateur Lacrosse Association. It is certain had the lacrosse men depended entirely for aid on the college at large the record of the lacrosse team would not present the almost uninterrupted series of victories that it does. But still, that external sympathy could not take the place of home support was shown by the fact that for about two years lacrosse hung between life and death. Indeed it was deemed of so little consequence, and the attempt to introduce it was thought to be so hopeless, that there is no mention made of the game in the college papers until May 9, 1879, when the Advocate editorially speaks the first welcome word for lacrosse in the following words. : “The members of the lacrosse team deserve the thanks of the college for having established the game at Harvard.” It further ventures to predict that it will “take its place with foot-ball and base-ball as a game requiring skill and practice.”

It is not very strange, however, that the college papers paid so little heed to a game which was unknown to most of the students. Even the records of the Lacrosse Association were very few previous to 1879, and these have been destroyed, as if the despairing supporters of the game felt that they had attempted too much in trying to introduce a new sport into a college where boating was at its height, where base-ball was all the rage, and where tennis and rifle clubs were rising into prominence. Lacrosse, though of slow, has still been of sure growth. We may imagine the first few forlorn players creeping out to some retired part of Holmes field to practise their strange sport. In the fall of 1879, however, the prospects of the game brightened. In that year the following set of officers were elected to the association: Wright, ’81, president; Manning, ’82, vice-president; C. F. Squibb, ’81, secretary; Bradley, ’82, treasurer; Robert Sturgis, ’81, captain of team. Of these the two best players and most enthusiastic workers were Squibb and Sturgis.

Two games were played with the Unions of Boston on October 18 and 31, respectively; in the second of which Harvard was beaten by a score of three goals to nothing. This we believe to be her last defeat. There is no record of Harvard ever having been defeated by another college lacrosse team. At this time an attempt was made to form a second team, but there is no evidence that the idea was carried into practice. About this time a wise move was the payment of $25 toward the cost of the net in the gymnasium, whereby the lacrosse team secured the right, next after the ball nine, to use the cage.

In June, 1880, the meeting of the National Amateur Lacrosse Association at the Astor House, New York, gave a renewed impulse to the game. Harvard did not send a delegate, but was represented by Mr. Flannery of New York.

The season of 1880-1 started out well by a meeting held October 4, when C. F. Squibb was elected to succeed Sturgis as captain.

On May 14, 1881, a very important game was played between Columbia and Harvard on the Polo Grounds, New York. This game is notable for being, as is claimed, the first game of lacrosse ever played between college teams in New York, and more interesting as being the first appearance of the ill-fated Columbia team. The New York Telegram says: “The game was well contested, but the Harvards were too much for the Columbia boys.” The New York World calls it “a series of well contested games, in which Harvard teaches Columbia a lesson.” The score was 4 goals to 0. The Harvard team was composed of: Squibb, ’81; Munro, ’81; Paine, ’81; Davis, ’83; R. Sturgis, ’81; O. M. W. Huntington, ’81; A. Thorndike, Jr., ’81; W. B. Noble, ’84; R. B. Ennis, ’83; R. Coit, ’83; E. K. Butler, ’83: R. M. Bradley, ’82.

In the fall meeting of 1881 Machado, ’83, was elected captain, and it was decided to play for the college championship. For this purpose the team went to New York, where a series of games was played on the Polo Grounds with the following result:

Harvard, 4 Univ. of N. Y. 0

Princeton, 5 Columbia, 0

Harvard, 3 Princeton, 0

Seven of the players on this victorious team were ’83 men.

In reference to these games a Boston paper says: “In spite of the comparatively little interest taken in lacrosse in the college, and in spite even of some opposition to the support of a lacrosse team, such a team has been kept up to win.” The “opposition” thus mentioned was such as an article in the Advocate of October 21, 1881, shows: The writer, after discussing the rights of the lacrosse team to use the land granted it by President Eliot, and stating that the “game was of very little importance to the university,” goes on to say that since it interfered with tennis, “it has been almost an unmitigated nuisance. ” This is the first clear indication of the growing power of lacrosse, since the Advocate thought it worth while to attack it. But lacrosse now began to boom. On Feb. 23, 1882, it was voted to “invite the lacrosse associations of Princeton, New York University and Columbia to meet in New York city,” but this meeting was delayed until today, when the delegates are expected to meet in Cambridge, and the result, it may be hoped, will make this a “red letter day” in the history of the game.

On April 29, 1882, a tie game was played in Cambridge between the New York University team and Harvard on Holmes field. A game with Columbia was to have been played on May 6th, but was necessarily postponed. The closing game of the season of 1881-2 was played at Princeton, N. J., which was won by Harvard-score, 3 to 1. Besides the regular team, a second team was organized, and three games were played, two of them with Andover, in which Harvard won. Thus, with the end of 1882, lacrosse prospects were brighter than ever before. This year opened with a meeting Oct. 5, 1882. Noble, ’84, was elected captain; Machado, ’83, president; Williams, ’85, vice-president; Hobbs, ’85, treasurer; secretary and manager, Reuter, ’84. So far the work done has been in gaining the championship of the United States and the Oelrich cup, by winning in the contest held in New York last October.

In the last meeting, January 12 of this year, Messrs. Machado, Noble, Coit, Williams and Rueter were appointed a committee to draw up a constitution and resolutions to be presented at the convention.

In looking over the prospects for the future it seems that the only way for lacrosse to gain a firm and permanent footing is for the freshman class to take it up, so that the ‘Varsity team can have recruits from the freshman team, just as the ‘Varsity crew received material from class crews. Two attempts have been made to form second lacrosse teams, but have amounted to little because such teams could be at best but quasi organizations.

If it be true that no institution is permanent until it appears in literature, then lacrosse bids fair to become a fixture, for more has been published in the college papers on the subject within the last year than in all the previous four years.

Facts About the Origin and History of Lacrosse

What do you know about lacrosse? Read on to discover some fun facts about the history of this ancient sport, and why it is still so popular today.

Founding Fathers

The truth is that the inventor of lacrosse is a mystery, though it is known that Native Americans were the first to play this sport. Two tribes played against one another in 1763 as a means to distract British soldiers while attempting to recapture Fort Michilimackinac.

The basic rules however, were not established until 1794. Historic records show that this is when a tribe of the Seneca played against the tribe of the Mohawk. The rules we know today were established later on.

It was exclusively a man’s sport until 1890, when the first female lacrosse game took place in Scotland. Surprisingly, it was a nun who took interest in the sport and decided to use it to help educate her students at the St. Leonards convent school.

A War Game

Lacrosse wasn’t all fun and games. The original intention of the game was to help Native Americans prepare for war. The different skills involved in playing helped prepare them both physically and mentally. This is because the original game was far more violent than the game you see today!

The teams were also very large, ranging from 100-1000 players at a given time. Entire tribes would play! Just imagine how chaotic these games would get. In fact, it wasn’t unusual for people to die while playing this version of lacrosse.

You can thank the French for changing this, as they were the ones responsible for turning the game around. They changed the rules during the 1800s as they thought it was too brutal and worked with the Native Americans to find a happy medium.

Fastest Growing Sport

Lacrosse is now known as the fastest growing sport in America. This much is obvious when you consider that the number of both male and female players have doubled within the past 12 years alone. The number of male players has increased by 110%, while female players have increased by 100%. This is no small feat!

Even better, the sport now requires protective equipment and is amazingly considered one of the safer sports to play.

Brussels Lacrosse

Lacrosse is first and foremost a North American ritual, invented by the Native Americans as a sacred and religious ritual. Originally not only created as a sport, but also to thank and praise the gods. It’s been thought that lacrosse originated in the 11

th century, where the game was played with hundreds of players on a 500 to 3000 meters big field. Lacrosse is the only sport in which the Five Nations (also known as Iriquois or Haudenosaunee) are internationally represented.

‘Lacrosse’?

The French Jesuit missionaries are the first Europeans to discover the game in the 17

th century. Amongst them Jean de Brébeuf, writer and ethnologist, who named the sport as lacrosse because of the curved sticks the Native Americans used, which made him think of a bishop’s crozier.

Over the course of time, the interest of the game starts to grow amongst the other Americans. Which results in universal rules of the game in the 19^th century. The sport also starts to grow amongst rich youngster, and especially at American and Canadian colleges. At the beginning of the 20^th century, (men’s) lacrosse makes it first appearance on the Olympic games.

#growthegame

Over the last 30 years, lacrosse has become one of the most popular sports to play at colleges in the U.S.A. and Canada. The first professional lacrosse leagues started in the 1980s, with the National Lacrosse League, the Major Lacrosse League and later also introducing the United Women’s Lacrosse League.

Lacrosse is often described as the fastest sport on two feet, and is also the fastest growing sport in Europe. In Belgium, the first lacrosse clubs are founded in 2010. We have 10 clubs at the moment in Belgium. First objective in Belgium is to grow the game, with the focus mainly on youth lacrosse – the future of the sport.

The Federation International Lacrosse (FIL) and the International Olympic Committee are working together towards putting lacrosse on the Olympic official program again.

Native sport, Native life • The Seminole Tribune

Justin Giles wearing a Tulsa Lacrosse jersey while playing the “attack” position. (Courtesy photo)

Memorial Day weekend is a hallowed holiday in which we remember and honor our military personnel who died or were wounded in battle.

It is a great tradition that many in Indian Country know well as we often have a relative who served or is serving in the armed forces. We recognize our warriors sacrifice as we are reminded that Native Americans have served in the U.S. military in greater numbers per capita than any other ethnic group and have done so since the American Revolution.

Surely we also remember and honor the warriors who fought against the U.S. and European nations to maintain our culture and life ways today. Native American history is United States history full of warrior struggles, defeats, and victories. So it seems befitting that another hallowed warrior tradition, rooted in centuries of Native American culture, takes place this month as well. On Memorial Day weekend, the NCAA Lacrosse Finals will be played at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, home of the New England Patriots. The NCAA Lacrosse Finals are always fun to watch and we have our Native American culture to thank for providing this sporting spectacle.

While many people today are familiar with the contemporary game of lacrosse, which looks like hockey on turf, many people don’t know the roots of the game begin with tribal nations from multiple regions of North America. The modern one stick version of lacrosse played during the NCAA Lacrosse Finals is modeled after the Iroquois or the Haudenosaunee, the People of the Long House. A two stick version of lacrosse stems from the southeastern tribes of the Seminole, Muscogee (Creek), Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw. Lastly, there is another one stick version of lacrosse found among the Great Lakes tribes such as the Menominee, Ojibwe, and Sac and Fox. With all these Natives playing a similar form of lacrosse, one might ask, who invented the game?

The modern game of lacrosse has a vast and rich history reaching back centuries. In fact, many oral histories from differing tribal nations say the first game was played in the heavens and the first game on earth was played by the animals.

All tribal nations which play a version of this “stick and ball” game have a common creation story that often refers to the game as the “Creator’s Game,” “Little Brother of War” or the “Medicine Game.” The varying indigenous stories say the game is a gift from the Creator and has the ability to heal or drive away sickness. Lacrosse or stickball requires focus and intensity and the energy from the game has been used as medicine to cleanse players and their communities. Players need to be healthy and in shape to play well, adding to the “medicinal” properties of the game.

Stickball and lacrosse were often used as a means to settle disputes between neighboring towns, clans and tribes. The winner of “Little Brother of War” decided how the dispute would be resolved and

“Stickmaker” by Brian Larney Yahvlane (Seminole Nation/Choctaw). (Courtesy photo)

had bragging rights to boot. Lacrosse was also played just for fun and recreation. To this day, the southeastern version of stickball includes a social game played between men and women which is more about community fellowship than an intensive ceremonial “Little Brother of War” game. The commonality of the varying versions of stickball and lacrosse provide further evidence that our ancestors traveled far and wide sharing culture and spreading the game. After all, we love to visit while sharing stories, songs and food.

Do you have any stories about lacrosse or stickball you would like recorded? The Museum’s Oral History Program’s mission is to serve the Seminole community in preserving your story. Please contact me if you have any story to tell and have it archived to be heard for generations to come. I can be reached at 863-902-1113 extension 12213 or by email at [email protected]. Hope to see and hear you soon!

Elon University Athletics Women’s Lacrosse History vs Jacksonville University

Women’s Lacrosse History > Jacksonville University

Women’s Lacrosse History vs Jacksonville University from Apr 27, 2014 - Feb 20, 2015

Last Matchup

Feb. 20,2015

Longest Win Streak

0 Games

N/A

Longest Losing Streak

2 Games

4/27/2014 – 2/20/2015

Last 2 Matchups

0-2

4/27/2014-2/20/2015

Largest Margin of Victory

N/A

Smallest Margin of Victory

N/A

History from Apr 27, 2014 - Feb 20, 2015
Date	Season	Location	Score	Media
February 20, 2015 2/20/2015	2015	Away Jacksonville, Fla.	L 6 - 13
April 27, 2014 4/27/2014	2014	Away Jacksonville, Fla.	L 4 - 17

Lock Haven University Athletics Women’s Lacrosse History vs Slippery Rock University

Women’s Lacrosse History > Slippery Rock University