What are the origins of lacrosse. How did Native American tribes play early versions of the game. How has lacrosse evolved into its modern form. What cultural significance did lacrosse have for indigenous peoples. How did European colonizers adopt and modify the sport.
The Ancient Roots of Lacrosse in Native American Culture
Lacrosse, one of North America’s oldest team sports, has a rich history deeply rooted in Native American culture. The game’s origins can be traced back to various indigenous communities across the eastern woodlands and plains of what is now Canada and the United States. Different tribes had their own names for early versions of the game:
- Onondaga: dehuntshigwa’es (“men hit a rounded object”)
- Eastern Cherokee: da-nah-wah’uwsdi (“little war”)
- Mohawk: Tewaarathon (“little brother of war”)
- Ojibwe: baaga`adowe (“bump hips”)
- Choctaw: kabocha-toli (“stick-ball”)
These early forms of lacrosse were not merely recreational activities but held deep cultural and spiritual significance for the tribes that played them. The games served multiple purposes, from settling inter-tribal disputes to preparing young warriors for combat. They were also played as part of religious ceremonies, with participants believing they were playing “for the pleasure of the Creator.”
The Epic Scale of Traditional Lacrosse Matches
Traditional Native American lacrosse games were spectacles of immense proportions, often lasting several days and involving hundreds or even thousands of players. These massive events would take place on sprawling fields between villages, with goals sometimes miles apart. The sheer scale of these games is hard to imagine by modern standards:
- Player count: Anywhere from 100 to 1,000 men from opposing tribes or villages
- Field size: Open plains with no set boundaries
- Goal distance: 500 yards to several miles apart
- Duration: Often from sunrise to sunset, sometimes over multiple days
How were these massive games organized and played? Rules were typically decided the day before the match. The game would begin with the ball being struck against the referee’s head, signaling the start of play. Due to the large number of participants, the action often resembled a huge mob swarming around the ball, slowly moving across the field.
Unique Aspects of Traditional Lacrosse
Early forms of lacrosse had several distinct characteristics that set them apart from the modern game:
- No out-of-bounds: The entire area between villages was considered in-play
- Hands-off play: Players were not allowed to touch the ball with their hands
- Minimal passing: Passing the ball was considered a trick or cowardly move
- Dodging discouraged: Avoiding an opponent was seen as unmanly
- Spiritual guidance: Medicine men often acted as coaches for the teams
The Cultural and Spiritual Significance of Lacrosse
For Native American tribes, lacrosse was far more than just a game. It held deep cultural and spiritual importance, serving multiple functions within their societies. What were some of the key roles lacrosse played in indigenous cultures?
- Conflict resolution: Games were used to settle disputes between tribes, helping maintain peace and unity, especially among the Six Nations of the Iroquois
- Warrior training: The physical demands and strategic elements of lacrosse helped prepare young men for combat
- Religious significance: Matches were played as a form of collective prayer and to honor the Creator
- Community bonding: Large-scale games brought tribes together for shared experiences
- Economic impact: Betting on games was common, adding an element of excitement and potential for material gain
The spiritual aspect of lacrosse was particularly significant. Players often underwent elaborate pre-game rituals, including body painting and charcoal decoration. These practices were believed to enhance their performance and connect them to higher powers.
The Evolution of Lacrosse Equipment
As lacrosse evolved over centuries, so did the equipment used to play the game. The progression of lacrosse gear reflects both technological advancements and cultural changes:
Early Lacrosse Balls
The first lacrosse balls were simple wooden spheres. Over time, these were replaced by more sophisticated designs:
- Deerskin balls stuffed with fur
- Later versions made from rubber
Development of Lacrosse Sticks
The lacrosse stick, or crosse, underwent significant changes:
- Original designs were basic wooden implements
- Netting evolved from deer sinews to more advanced materials
- Stick length and shape varied by position and playing style
How did these equipment changes impact the game? The evolution of lacrosse gear allowed for greater precision, speed, and control, gradually shaping the sport into its modern form.
The Transition to Modern Lacrosse
The transformation of lacrosse from a Native American tradition to a modern sport was a gradual process influenced by European colonization and cultural exchange. How did this transition occur?
European immigrants, particularly French Jesuit missionaries, first observed and documented Native American lacrosse games in the 17th century. Fascinated by the sport, they began to adopt and modify it:
- Standardization of rules: The chaotic, massive games were scaled down and given more structure
- Introduction of equipment standards: Stick designs and ball compositions became more uniform
- Formalization of team sizes: The hundreds or thousands of players were reduced to set team numbers
- Established field dimensions: The vast, boundaryless plains gave way to marked fields
This evolution led to the creation of the Montreal Lacrosse Club in 1856, often credited as the world’s first organized lacrosse club. The sport continued to gain popularity throughout Canada and parts of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Lacrosse’s Journey to International Recognition
As lacrosse evolved from its indigenous roots, it began to gain recognition on the global stage. How did this ancient Native American game become an international sport?
The expansion of lacrosse beyond North America was a gradual process:
- 1876: The first international lacrosse game was played between Canada and the United States
- 1883: The first European lacrosse team was established in Stockport, England
- 1904 and 1908: Lacrosse was featured as a medal sport in the Olympic Games
- 1967: The International Lacrosse Federation (ILF) was founded to govern men’s lacrosse globally
- 1972: The first World Lacrosse Championship was held in Stockport, England
Today, lacrosse is played in numerous countries around the world, with international competitions held regularly. The sport continues to grow in popularity, with efforts underway to reintroduce it as an Olympic sport.
The Role of Women in Lacrosse History
While early forms of lacrosse were predominantly played by men, women have played a significant role in the sport’s history and development. How has women’s involvement in lacrosse evolved over time?
In traditional Native American cultures, women’s participation in lacrosse was limited. They typically served refreshments to male players and had their own version of the game called amtahcha, which used shorter sticks with larger heads.
The modern women’s game began to take shape in the late 19th century:
- 1890: The first women’s lacrosse game was played at St Leonard’s School in Scotland
- 1926: The All-England Women’s Lacrosse Association was formed
- 1931: The United States Women’s Lacrosse Association was established
- 1982: The first Women’s World Cup was held in Nottingham, England
Today, women’s lacrosse is a fast-growing sport with its own unique rules and equipment, distinct from the men’s game. It emphasizes skill and finesse over physical contact, reflecting its separate developmental path.
Lacrosse in the Modern Era: Challenges and Opportunities
As lacrosse continues to evolve in the 21st century, it faces both challenges and opportunities. What are some of the key issues and developments shaping the sport today?
- Growing popularity: Lacrosse is one of the fastest-growing team sports in North America
- Professionalization: The establishment of professional leagues for both men and women
- Cultural reconnection: Efforts to honor and reconnect with the sport’s Native American roots
- Technological advancements: Innovations in equipment design and materials
- Global expansion: Increasing international participation and competitions
- Olympic aspirations: Ongoing efforts to reintroduce lacrosse as an Olympic sport
The challenge for modern lacrosse lies in balancing its rich cultural heritage with the demands of a contemporary sport. How can lacrosse honor its indigenous origins while continuing to evolve and grow on the global stage?
As lacrosse moves forward, there’s a growing emphasis on acknowledging and respecting its Native American roots. Many organizations are working to increase indigenous participation and representation in the sport at all levels. This includes initiatives to make lacrosse more accessible to Native American youth and efforts to incorporate traditional elements into modern gameplay and ceremonies.
The Future of Lacrosse
Looking ahead, what does the future hold for lacrosse? Some potential developments include:
- Continued global expansion, with more countries adopting the sport
- Further refinement of rules and equipment to enhance player safety and game excitement
- Increased media coverage and public interest, particularly if Olympic status is achieved
- Greater integration of technology, such as instant replay and performance analytics
- More programs focused on youth development and grassroots growth
As lacrosse continues to evolve, it remains a testament to the enduring legacy of Native American culture and the power of sport to bridge cultures and generations. From its origins as a tribal game played for spiritual and practical purposes to its current status as a growing international sport, lacrosse embodies a unique blend of tradition and innovation.
The story of lacrosse is far from over. As it continues to adapt and grow, the sport offers exciting possibilities for players, fans, and communities around the world. By honoring its past while embracing the future, lacrosse is poised to write many more chapters in its rich and fascinating history.
Origins of Lacrosse – Lacrosse Victoria
Lacrosse has its origins in a tribal game played by all eastern
Woodlands Native Americans and by some Plains Indians tribes in
what is now Canada. The game has been modernized extensively by
European immigrants to create its current form.
Modern day lacrosse descends from and resembles games played by
various Native American communities. These include games called
dehuntshigwa’es in Onondaga (“men hit a rounded object”),
da-nah-wah’uwsdi in Eastern Cherokee (“little war”),
Tewaarathon in Mohawk language (“little brother of war”),
baaga`adowe in Ojibwe (“bump hips”) and
kabocha-toli in Choctaw language (“stick-ball”).
Lacrosse is one of the youngest team sports in North America.
There is evidence that a version of lacrosse originated in
Mesoamerica or canada as early as the 17th century. Native American
lacrosse was played throughout modern Canada, but was most popular
around the Great Lakes, Mid-Atlantic seaboard, and American
South.
“An Indian Ball-Play” by George Catlin, circa 1846-1850, Choctaw
Indians. Native American ball games often involved hundreds of
players.
Traditional lacrosse games were sometimes major events that
could last several days. As many as 100 to 1,000 men from opposing
villages or tribes would participate. The games were played in open
plains located between the two villages, and the goals could range
from 500 yards (460 m) to several miles apart.
Rules for these games were decided on the day before. Generally
there was no out-of-bounds, and the ball could not be touched with
the hands. The goals would be selected as large rocks or trees; in
later years golden posts were used. Playing time was often from sun
up until sun down.
The game began with the ball being hit against the refs head and
the two sides rushing to capture it. Because of the large number of
players involved, these games generally tended to involve a huge
mob of players swarming the ball and slowly moving across the
field. Passing the ball was thought of as a trick, and it was seen
as cowardly to dodge an opponent.
The medicine men acted as coaches, and the women of the tribe
were usually limited to serving refreshments to the players. (There
was also a women’s version of lacrosse called amtahcha, which used
much shorter sticks with larger heads.)
Lacrosse traditionally had many different purposes. Some games
were played to settle inter-tribal disputes. This function was
essential to keeping the Six Nations of the Iroquois together.
Lacrosse was also played to toughen young warriors for combat, for
recreation, as part of festivals, and for the bets involved.
Finally, lacrosse was played for religious reasons: “for the
pleasure of the Creator” and to collectively pray for
something.
This content from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_lacrosse
Origin & History | World Lacrosse
Origin of Men’s Lacrosse
What began as stickball, a native American Indian contest played by tribal warriors for training, recreation and religious reasons, has developed over the years into the interscholastic, professional and international sport of lacrosse
Edited by Jane Claydon
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 they were followed by other tribes in the eastern half of North America, and around the western Great Lakes.
“Indian Ball Game” by George Catlin (courtesy Smithsonian American Art Museum)
The Native American games were seen as major events, which took place over several days.They were played over huge open areas between villages and the goals, which might be trees or other natural features, were anything from 500 yards to several miles apart. Any number of players were involved. Some estimates have mentioned between 100 and 100,000 players participating in a game at any one time. The rules were very simple, 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.
Early Lacrosse Balls (courtesy Smithsonian)
The original wooden balls were later replaced by deerskin balls filled with fur and the sticks developed over time to become more sophisticated implements, the netting made from deer sinews. In preparation for a game players used paint and charcoal to decorate their faces and bodies.
“Sioux Playing Ball” (by Charles Deas, 1843)
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.
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”.
A demonstration of lacrosse was given by the Caughnawaga Indians in Montreal in 1834.
19th Century Canadian Lacrosse (courtesy Smithsonian)
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.
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.”
In 1883 a touring team from Canada and and a team made up of Iroquois natives visited Scotland.
During this tour promotional literature was distributed to the spectators pointing out the benefits of emigration to Canada.
1904 Winnipeg Shamrocks Olympic gold medal-winning lacrosse team
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.
Lacrosse Rooted in Tribal Tradition – Legends of America
By Grady Winston
George Catlin painting “Ball Players”
It may not have the popularity of football, baseball, or basketball, but the spirit of lacrosse is alive and well on fields and college campuses across the United States. The sport is even more popular with our neighbors to the north, where lacrosse serves as a dual national sport of Canada, alongside the spotlight-stealing sport of ice hockey. One thing that sets this sport apart from many others is its origins in Native American culture and is one of the oldest team sports originating in North America.
Native American Origins
Lacrosse traces its origins to North American Indian tribes. Outside the United States and Canada, lacrosse is relatively unknown, although it will be featured at the 2017 World Games, in Poland for the first time. Lacrosse enthusiasts hope that means the sport may be one step closer to making it into the Olympic Games.
The full-contact, fast-moving sport of lacrosse was ideal for training young Native Americans in the art of battle, but lacrosse competitions also took the place of battle. When disputes arose over land or resources, tribes would agree to a contest instead of rushing into war. These contests would be scheduled at agreeable times for both tribes and would end the dispute with less bloodshed, though broken bones and severe injuries were not uncommon, and death was not unheard of in the contests.
Lacrosse may have served as a more sensible replacement for war, but it wasn’t solely a dispute-settler. The sport was also used by tribes to cultivate social relationships. Each tribe had different mythology regarding the origins of the game, and the ball was representative of the sun and the moon, which according to legend, the gods tossed back and forth in the original game.
The Basics
Lacrosse as originally played by Native Americans wasn’t the same as lacrosse played by collegiate athletes today. There would have been no specialized tasks on the field, but an open field on which a player could move freely after the ball. This resulted not only in greater camaraderie on the field but on-field fights as well. The area could range from anywhere between several hundred yards to several miles, and goals could be anything from a boulder, a tree, or simply a designated area on the ground.
- Sticks with netting, much like today’s rackets. However, preparing for the game was very similar to preparing for war. Players would adorn war paint and decorate their sticks with paint and feathers.
- Small leather-hide balls, stuffed with animal hair. Some early versions of the ball were made from wood, while others were made of stuffed deer hide or even solid rubber
- Boundaries, though much broader than today’s lines. Playing fields could go on for miles, and typically the game time lasted from sun up until sundown.
- Each team was required to place wagers on the game, which included valued items, food or tools. The winner of the game would receive the prizes, which were on display during the game to spur the players on.
- At the end of each game, there was a ceremonial feast for each tribe and their players, the original form of sportsmanship.
George Catlin painting “Ball Play of the Choctaws-Ball Up
The objective of the game was basically the same: to get the ball through the other team’s goal in order to score points, using body checks and stick checks as needed to steal the ball from the other team. However, in the Native American tradition, passing the ball from one player to another was seen as a trick, and dodging an opponent or their stick checks was seen as cowardly.
Honoring Heritage
Many tribes throughout the U.S. and Canada have played lacrosse, including the Chickasaw, the Choctaw, the Cherokee, and the Creek. Consider teaching your kids a sport that will also give them a lesson in culture – whether it’s a lesson from their own ancestry or a cross-cultural lesson about the country in which they live. Native tribes that used sport – rather than warfare – to settle disputes exhibited an enlightened approach to problem-solving that society could definitely benefit from today.
By Grady Winston, December 2012, updated September 2020.
About the Author: Grady Winston is an avid internet entrepreneur and copywriter from Indianapolis. He has worked in the fields of technology, business, marketing, and advertising implementing multiple creative projects and solutions for a range of clients.
Also See:
Native Americans – First Owners of America
Native American Archaeological Periods
Chickasaw – Unconquerable in the Mississippi Valley
Cherokee – Westward on the Traill of Tears
Lacrosse History — Brooklyn Lacrosse
The History of Lacrosse
By Thomas Vennum Jr., Author of American Indian Lacrosse: Little Brother of War
Lacrosse was one of many varieties of indigenous stickball games being played by American Indians at the time of European contact. Almost exclusively a male team sport, it is distinguished from the others, such as field hockey or shinny, by the use of a netted racquet with which to pick the ball off the ground, throw, catch and convey it into or past a goal to score a point. The cardinal rule in all varieties of lacrosse was that the ball, with few exceptions, must not be touched with the hands.
Early data on lacrosse, from missionaries such as French Jesuits in Huron country in the 1630s and English explorers, such as Jonathan Carver in the mid-eighteenth century Great Lakes area, are scant and often conflicting. They inform us mostly about team size, equipment used, the duration of games and length of playing fields but tell us almost nothing about stickhandling, game strategy, or the rules of play. The oldest surviving sticks date only from the first quarter of the nineteenth century, and the first detailed reports on Indian lacrosse are even later. George Beers provided good information on Mohawk playing techniques in his Lacrosse (1869), while James Mooney in the American Anthropologist (1890) described in detail the “[Eastern] Cherokee Ball-Play,” including its legendary basis, elaborate rituals, and the rules and manner of play.
Given the paucity of early data, we shall probably never be able to reconstruct the history of the sport. Attempts to connect it to the rubber-ball games of Meso-America or to a perhaps older game using a single post surmounted by some animal effigy and played together by men and women remain speculative. As can best be determined, the distribution of lacrosse shows it to have been played throughout the eastern half of North America, mostly by tribes in the southeast, around the western Great Lakes, and in the St. Lawrence Valley area. Its presence today in Oklahoma and other states west of the Mississippi reflects tribal removals to those areas in the nineteenth century. Although isolated reports exist of some form of lacrosse among northern California and British Columbia tribes, their late date brings into question any widespread diffusion of the sport on the west coast.
On the basis of the equipment, the type of goal used and the stick-handling techniques, it is possible to discern three basic forms of lacrosse—the southeastern, Great Lakes, and Iroquoian. Among southeastern tribes (Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, Seminole, Yuchi and others), a double-stick version of the game is still practiced. A two-and-a half foot stick is held in each hand, and the soft, small deerskin ball is retrieved and cupped between them. Great Lakes players (Ojibwe, Menominee, Potawatomi, Sauk, Fox, Miami, Winnebago, Santee Dakota and others) used a single three-foot stick. It terminates in a round, closed pocket about three to four inches in diameter, scarcely larger than the ball, which was usually made of wood, charred and scraped to shape. The northeastern stick, found among Iroquoian and New England tribes, is the progenitor of all present-day sticks, both in box as well as field lacrosse. The longest of the three—usually more than three feet—it was characterized by its shaft ending in a sort of crook and a large, flat triangular surface of webbing extending as much as two-thirds the length of the stick. Where the outermost string meets the shaft, it forms the pocket of the stick.
Lacrosse was given its name by early French settlers, using the generic term for any game played with a curved stick (crosse) and a ball. Native terminology, however, tends to describe more the technique (cf. Onondaga DEHUNTSHIGWA’ES, “men hit a rounded object”) or, especially in the southeast, to underscore the game’s aspects of war surrogacy (“little brother of war”). There is no evidence of non-Indians taking up the game until the mid-nineteenth century, when English-speaking Montrealers adopted the Mohawk game they were familiar with from Caughnawauga and Akwesasne, attempted to “civilize” the sport with a new set of rules and organize into amateur clubs. Once the game quickly grew in popularity in Canada, it began to be exported throughout the Commonwealth, as non-native teams traveled to Europe for exhibition matches against Iroquois players. Ironically, because Indians had to charge money in order to travel, they were excluded as “professionals” from international competition for more than a century. Only with the formation of the Iroquois Nationals in the 1980s did they successfully break this barrier and become eligible to compete in World Games.
Apart from its recreational function, lacrosse traditionally played a more serious role in Indian culture. Its origins are rooted in legend, and the game continues to be used for curative purposes and surrounded with ceremony. Game equipment and players are still ritually prepared by conjurers, and team selection and victory are often considered supernaturally controlled. In the past, lacrosse also served to vent aggression, and territorial disputes between tribes were sometimes settled with a game, although not always amicably. A Creek versus Choctaw game around 1790 to determine rights over a beaver pond broke out into a violent battle when the Creeks were declared winners. Still, while the majority of the games ended peaceably, much of the ceremonialism surrounding their preparations and the rituals required of the players were identical to those practiced before departing on the warpath.
A number of factors led to the demise of lacrosse in many areas by the late nineteenth century. Wagering on games had always been integral to an Indian community’s involvement, but when betting and violence saw an increase as traditional Indian culture was eroding, it sparked opposition to lacrosse from government officials and missionaries. The games were felt to interfere with church attendance and the wagering to have an impoverishing effect on the Indians. When Oklahoma Choctaw began to attach lead weights to their sticks around 1900 to use them as skull-crackers, the game was outright banned.
Meanwhile, the spread of nonnative lacrosse from the Montreal area eventually led to its position today worldwide as one of the fastest growing sports (more than half a million players), controlled by official regulations and played with manufactured rather than hand-made equipment—the aluminum shafted stick with its plastic head, for example. While the Great Lakes traditional game died out by 1950, the Iroquois and southeastern tribes continue to play their own forms of lacrosse. Ironically, the field lacrosse game of nonnative women today most closely resembles the Indian game of the past, retaining the wooden stick, lacking the protective gear and demarcated sidelines of the men’s game, and tending towards mass attack rather than field positions and offsides.
Bibliography:
Culin, Stewart. “Games of the North American Indians.” In Twenty-fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1902-1903, pp. 1-840. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1907.
Fogelson, Raymond. “The Cherokee Ball Game: A Study in Southeastern Ethnology.” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1962.
Vennum, Thomas Jr. American Indian Lacrosse: Little Brother of War. Washington, DC and London: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1994.
History of Lacrosse
Enduring Values to Guide the Future of Lacrosse
The modern variations of lacrosse – field lacrosse, box lacrosse, and women’s lacrosse – are all descended from stick and ball games played by Native peoples as early as 1100 AD. By the 17th century, Native lacrosse in various forms was well established across the eastern half of North America and was documented by Jesuit missionary priests in present-day Canada. These priests called the game they witnessed la crosse, meaning “the stick” in French.
Native peoples, particularly in present-day New York State and neighboring areas of Canada, continued to play lacrosse into the 19th century. English-speaking Canadians from Montreal were the first non-Native players. They began playing among themselves in the 1930s after having observed games being played by Native peoples. In 1856, the Montreal Lacrosse Club was founded, and the club’s founder codified rules in 1960. Compared to the Native game, these rules shortened the length of each game and reduced the number of players to 12 per team. The first official game played under these rules took place in 1867.
In the early stages of this growth, Native teams were active participants. They played in competitions and demonstrations in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. By the 1880s, however, Native teams were routinely banned from international competitions due to their dominance. Box lacrosse was invented in Canada during the 1920s and 1930s. Canadian field lacrosse players experimented with indoor games at unused ice hockey rinks during the summer, with strong support from arena owners. Canadian players enthusiastically adopted the new six-man indoor format. It quickly became the more popular version of the game in Canada, supplanting field lacrosse. Also, Native peoples adopted box lacrosse as the primary version of the game played in their territories, both in the United States and Canada.
A Rapidly Growing Game
In the United States, lacrosse during the late 1800s and first half of the 1900s was primarily a regional sport centered around the Mid-Atlantic states, especially New York and Maryland. However, in the last half of the 20th century, the sport spread rapidly outside this region, and can be currently found in most of the United States.
The total number of players at all levels at the end of 2017 was 3.3 times the number of players at the end of 2001. Recently, the strongest growth has been at the high school level, where both boys’ and girls’ lacrosse have been the fastest growing sports nationally. Some 22 U.S. states now have full championship status for lacrosse. At the collegiate level, women’s lacrosse has been the fastest growing sport of any kind. Some 498 colleges and universities sponsor a women’s lacrosse team in one of the NCAA’s three divisions (376 for men’s lacrosse).
Internationally, there has been a significant increase in the number of countries playing all three versions of lacrosse – field lacrosse, box lacrosse, and women’s lacrosse. Each holds a world championship tournament every four years. At the most recent world championship, there were 46 participating nations for field lacrosse (2018), 25 nations for women’s lacrosse (2017), and 20 nations for box lacrosse (2019).
Lacrosse has a history at the Olympic Games, having been a medal sport more than a century ago and a demonstration sport on other occasions. Given its international growth, lacrosse likely also has a future at the Olympics, and the governing bodies of the sport are working to make that dream a reality, with current ambitions set on the 2028 Olympic games.
A Game with Native Roots
For players, coaches, officials, and fans in the United States and, increasingly, across the world, a fundamental truth about the game deserves emphasis: Lacrosse is a Native game. Native nations and communities throughout North America played different versions of “lacrosse.” Indeed, the traditional Native names highlight the diversity of indigenous stick and ball games. For the Mohawk people of the Northeastern region, the game is called tewaa:araton, which translates to “little brother of war.” For the Choctaw of the Southeast region, the game is named kabucha, which means “stickball.” And for the Ojibwe of the Great Lakes region, the game is called baaga’adowenwin, translating to “knocking the ball with an instrument.”
While there are many different historical and modern variations of Native “lacrosse” games, three principal styles come from the Great Lakes, Southeast, and Northeast regions. In the Great Lakes region, Native nations such as the Ojibwe, Menominee, Sauk, Fox, Potawatomi, Winnebago, Santee Dakota, and others traditionally played with a single three-foot stick that had a rounded head about four inches in diameter. Stories are told that each player made his own stick from white ash, decorated with symbols of personal meeting. In the Southeastern region, which includes the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, Seminole, and Yuchi peoples, players used two small lacrosse sticks – one in each hand – usually carved from hickory and adorning symbols (e.g., lightning design to symbolize swiftness) of community or personal significance. Many of these traditional games continue to be played in Native communities today.
The modern field version of lacrosse, however, traces its roots most closely to the Northeastern region, which is home to the Iroquois, or Haudenosaunee, people. The word, Haudenosaunee (pronounced, “hoe-dee-no-sho-knee”), means “People of the Longhouse.” Located in the northeastern woodlands, the Haudenosaunee refer to Native peoples who traditionally lived in longhouses – large, rectangular wooden buildings – and shared a common language family and cultural beliefs.
About the Haudenosaunee
The original five Native nations who called themselves Haudenosaunee were the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca. These nations were – and continue to be – principally located in what is now known as upstate and western New York, and the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, Canada. These nations enjoy a government-to-government relationship with the United States and, as sovereigns recognized under the U.S. constitution, possess the ability to govern their own affairs, such as creating and enforcing their own laws, controlling their natural resources, and administering health care for their citizens.
It is important to appreciate that the Haudenosaunee contributions to the United States extend well beyond their status as the original stewards of the game of lacrosse. Of particular importance are the Haudenosaunee contributions to the principles of democratic governance. In the 12th century, the five Haudenosaunee nations came together to form an alliance, often referred to as the League of the Iroquois or, more commonly, the Iroquois (or Haudenosaunee) Confederacy. The confederacy was formed to ensure peace among the five nations, and established a sophisticated set of democratic laws and processes by which the nations would interact with each other and outsiders. The confederacy later became a source of inspiration for America’s founding fathers, who drew upon the Haudenosaunee model when crafting the U.S. Constitution, which was signed in 1787. Several years later, a sixth Native nation, the Tuscarora, joined the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.
The Haudenosaunee flag is a representation of the Hiawatha wampum belt, commemorating the union of the five original nations in the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. From west to east – or left to right – they are the Seneca (keepers of the western door), Cayuga, Onondaga (which is the capitol of the confederacy and is represented by the Great Tree of Peace), Oneida, and Mohawk (keepers of the eastern door. This confederacy remains active to this day, and the flag is often featured on Haudenosaunee lacrosse gear and uniforms, and donned by those – both Native and non-Native – to honor the Native roots of the game.
A Special Relationship
One of the core beliefs among the Haudenosaunee is that lacrosse is much more than a game.
According to the Haudenosaunee oral tradition, the very first game of lacrosse was not played between humans, but rather was a game between the winged animals (i.e., birds) and the four-legged creatures (i.e., the land mammals). And while the story is told in slightly different ways among the various Haudenosaunee communities, one version is as follows:
Our Grandfathers told us many stories that would relate to lacrosse and how one should conduct themselves and the importance of the individual to the game. Lacrosse was a gift to us from the Creator, to be played for his enjoyment and as a medicine game for healing the people. The Haudenosaunee people know that all creatures, no matter how big or small, are significant and have a contribution to make to the overall cycle of life.
Long ago we were told the following story about a great ball game that took place between the four-legged animals and the winged birds…
The captains for the four-legged animals were: The Bear – whose weight overpowers all opposition, The Deer – whose speed and agility to stop and go made him invaluable to the team, and The Great Turtle – who could withstand the most powerful blows and still be able to advance towards the opposition.
The captains for the winged birds were: The Owl – who excelled in the ability to keep his eye on the ball, no matter what position or direction the ball may be traveling. The Hawk and Eagle – both excel in quick, swift movements. These three represented all the winged animals.
While the birds were preparing for the game, they noticed two small creatures, hardly larger than a feather, climbing up a tree where the winged leaders were perched. Upon reaching the top, they humbly asked the captains to be allowed to join the lacrosse game.
The Eagle, easily noticing that they were a squirrel and a mouse, inquired as to why they didn’t ask to join the animal team. The little creatures explained that they had asked, but had been laughed at and rejected because of their small size.
On hearing their story, the bird captains took pity on them, but wondered how they could join the birds’ teams if they had no wings. After some discussion, it was decided to that they would try to make wings for the little fellows, but how would they to do it?
By happy inspiration, one bird thought of the water drum that is used in social and ceremonial gatherings. Perhaps a piece of the drum’s leather could be taken from the drumhead, cut and shaped and attached to the legs of one of the small creatures. It was done and thus originated the bat. The ball was now tossed into the air, the bat was told to catch it. With his skill in dodging and circling he kept the ball constantly in motion, never allowing it to hit the ground. Through his impressive performance he convinced the birds that they had gained a valuable ally.
The birds thought they could do the same for the squirrel, but, to their dismay, all the leather had been used on the making of the bat’s wings. There was no time to send for more. At the last minute it was suggested that perhaps stretching the skin of the squirrel itself could make suitable wings. So, by tugging and pulling the fur between the front and hind feet, the task was completed and there originated the flying squirrel. When all was ready, they began the game.
Eagle and Bear met, a face-off ensued and the flying squirrel caught the ball, cradled it up the tree and passed it off the Hawk. Hawk kept it in the air for some time. Then, just as the ball was to hit the ground, the Eagle seized it. Eagle, dodging and doubling, maintained possession and kept the ball from even the Deer, the opposition… the fastest of the four-legged team. Eagle then faked to Squirrel and passed to Bat, who moved in hard and left to score the goal. This goal won the victory for the birds.
This story shows that regardless of how unworthy you feel an individual is that person may have qualities that could be a great help to you some day. (Source: Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse)
In the original Haudenosaunee form of the game for humans, large sticks were used that had a triangular pocket that extended down two-thirds of the stick. The ball featured a fiber core wrapped in leather. Though the Haudenosaunee stick has evolved over time, certain features have remained consistent. Hand-cut, steam-bent, and hand-carved almost exclusively from hickory trees, the sticks use leather, and animal gut (or a contemporary equivalent), and are considered “living” instruments that deserve great respect and care. The significance of the wooden stick is evidenced by a longstanding Haudenosaunee tradition that a baby boy is gifted his first stick upon birth. To this day, a significant proportion of Haudenosaunee baby boys sleep in their cradles next to a small wooden stick. The traditional wooden stick is also brought along to those going on to the afterlife; many Haudenosaunee believe that being buried with their favorite stick allows them to be ready to play with their ancestors in the most beautiful and never-ending game when they greet the Creator.
For the Haudenosaunee, lacrosse is a gift from the Creator, to be played for His enjoyment as a medicine game that heals and strengthens individuals, families, and communities. There is “medicine” in lacrosse if the game is played traditionally and with the right frame of mind. Specific medicine games continue to play an important role in contemporary Haudenosaunee community life. An individual player may call for a medicine game to bring blessings to a community or particular person. For example, if a player’s brother or sister is ill, he might call a medicine game to bring the sibling to good health. Many players will ask the spirit of an animal for guidance, so the he may have the eyes of the hawk, the toughness of a turtle, or the agility of a deer. Thus, while lacrosse is a sport pursued by non-Native players around the world, it is still a medicine game imbued with a sacred significance and special powers.
Lacrosse also is viewed as a cultural legacy that succeeds in teaching the lessons of how to live a good life. The game demands teamwork, leadership, commitment, sacrifice, and physical prowess – virtues that benefit the Haudenosaunee on and off the playing field. The game serves as the bond that brings the Haudenosaunee together as individuals and nations and, as such, it is used for community advancement.
Finally, for the Haudenosaunee, lacrosse is an expression of Native sovereignty. In 1983, the United States National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) invited the Haudenosaunee to field a team and play an exhibition match at the National Lacrosse Championships in Baltimore, Maryland. They did, and were roundly defeated by the Canadian national team. This loss, while disappointing, mobilized the Haudenosaunee to take a stand on a global level. Team members and coaches decided that, as the originators of the game and as citizens of the Iroquois Confederacy, they would participate in international field lacrosse competitions and recapture their status as the best lacrosse players in the world. More importantly, they were determined that their participation should stand as a symbol of their sovereignty. With the sanction of the Haudenosaunee Grand Council of Chiefs, a dedicated group of Haudenosaunee citizens organized the Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse Team to represent the confederacy in international competition. Today, the Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse Team is the only Native national sports team in international competition. The Team, which has won numerous medals and awards, travels overseas using Haudenosaunee passports, and in so doing, has successfully engaged state departments, embassies, and consulates around the work in recognizing the sovereignty of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and its member nations. (Source: Harvard Kennedy School, Honoring Nations tribal governance award)
Enduring Native Values with Contemporary Relevance
All of us – Native and non-Native – have an opportunity to understand, respect, and adopt the core values associated with the Creator’s game. As players, coaches, officials, fans, and supporters, we can learn a great deal from studying these values. By understanding and, ultimately, embracing these values, we ensure that lacrosse is played in the right spirit, and the game is made stronger.
Diversity
The game of lacrosse requires diverse gifts. From an individual perspective, it requires skill, athleticism, intelligence, and perseverance. From a team perspective, it requires offense, defense, goalkeeping, gaining possession, and transition. Each of these requirements has many constituent elements, and no one single type of player can cover all of these elements. As a result, every player has something to offer, and a successful lacrosse team is an effective combination of the diverse talents of its individual players. The Haudenosaunee story about the first lacrosse game between the animals and the birds is also a story about inclusion and the coordination of unique talents. Whether a person is fast, slow, strong, weak, or embodies a variety of characteristics, everyone has something valuable to contribute, and, therefore, we have a collective obligation to make the game as diverse and inclusive as possible. For the Haudenosaunee, the game is made stronger when we bring diverse talents together – which, indeed, provides valuable guidance for those who want to grow the game, especially at the youth level.
Preparation
The game of lacrosse requires the hard work of individual and team preparation. At the core of individual preparation are caring for your stick and equipment, caring for your body, and caring for your mind. In some Native communities, young children learn to value the lacrosse stick and what it represents long before they develop the skills to use it. The high-maintenance and fickle nature of the traditional wooden sticks reinforces the need to care for the stick and equipment. By its nature, lacrosse is meant to be played hard, and proper preparation and conditioning of the body is critical. Also by its nature, lacrosse is meant to be played with the right spirit, and proper preparation of the mind is equally important. For the Haudenosaunee, the “power of the good mind” is a fundamental tenet of their cultural and spiritual beliefs, and players have an obligation to step onto the field or into the box with a good mind, void of ill thoughts, ready to play in a way that pleases the Creator. Great lacrosse (and great fulfillment) is made possible when the hard work of preparation and the right mindset come together to produce a hard-fought game.
Creativity
The game of lacrosse is played best when it reflects creativity and innovation. In Native communities, the Creator’s game is considered a thing of beauty, and both individual and team creativity are highly valued as expressions of that beauty. That lacrosse is an important platform for creative expression among Native players is evidenced by an endless variety of innovative stick skills, hidden ball tricks, and pick-up game formats. The beauty and effectiveness of these inventions is honed by much individual and collective repetition. The importance of innovation in the game of lacrosse is reflected in the first game between the winged birds and the four-legged creatures. By thinking creativity, the birds added valuable members to their team. This ancient lesson teaches us that the game is meant to be played creatively, and this type of thinking not only keeps the game exciting but also helps explain the prowess of Haudenosaunee players.
Integrity
The game of lacrosse requires integrity. For centuries, the Haudenosaunee have used lacrosse games – medicine games – as pathways to healing and personal and communal transformation. The community’s expectation is always for fierce competition to be followed by mutual appreciation. Each participant’s ability to both play hard and respect opponents reflects positively on the community. It is in this spirit, along with the understanding that we are all brothers and sisters in lacrosse, that we show our respect by shaking hands and giving sincere thanks after a well-played game. With a growing number of unfortunate incidents occurring in youth sports – from the way officials are sometimes treated poorly to offensive sideline behavior – it is more important than ever to underscore that lacrosse is a different kind of game, one that puts a premium on playing and acting with integrity.
Generosity
The game of lacrosse requires generosity. For Native peoples, lacrosse is a gift from the Creator. Native peoples have freely shared the game with non-Natives. Most notably, prior to the invention of the plastic stick, every lacrosse stick ever used was created by a Native stick maker. Non-Native lacrosse would not have been possible without this gift. The generational transfer of skills, knowledge, and spirit is an important part of both Native and non-Native lacrosse communities. It’s critical that this culture of generous sharing and gift giving. The Haudenosaunee principle of seven generations is inspiring. The principle holds that whenever leaders make decisions, they have a solemn obligation to consider the wisdom of those who came seven generations before, and to make decisions that will benefit those to be born seven generations ahead. For all lacrosse players, coaches, officials, and supporters, the principle of seven generations means that we always need to be mindful about the roots of the game and, importantly, act as responsible and generous stewards so that children born seven generations ahead can enjoy this beautiful game.
Note: We would like to thank Andrew Lee and Andy Phillips who authored this article and who generously shared it with us.
Lacrosse history stresses Indian origins
For years, all that Michigan schoolchildren knew about lacrosse was that it was an Indian game that the native Ojibwe used as a ruse in 1763 to capture Fort Michilimackinac and massacre the English colonial inhabitants. Small wonder that it is only in the past 20 years that lacrosse has been in the curriculum as a sport.
Ironically, until 1990, Indians, whose ancestors invented the game, were barred from the lacrosse World Games.
Every spring, the chief of The Sun’s sports copy desk paid homage to the origins of the sport when he would intone that it was time again for “the ancient Indians.”
But, according to Thomas Vennum Jr., many non-Indian lacrosse players have little or no idea of the game’s history. To non-Indians, it’s a game. But to Indians, now as in the past, it is much more.
It is deeply intertwined with religion. Legends about the origin of lacrosse are spiritual in nature, and ritual is an important part of the game. A tribe or clan challenged to a match would be foolish to accept until it had engaged a medicine man to perform or lead the rituals. Players would undergo purification rites and abstain from certain foods and contact with women.
Especially after Indians were forced onto reservations, lacrosse served as a substitute for warfare. Mr. Vennum points out the similarities between lacrosse sticks and war clubs and that the Cherokees’ purification ritual for ball players is identical to that used for returning warriors. He calls the lacrosse Victory Dance “unquestionably a vestige” of the Scalp Dance, comparing the dance he has seen with descriptions of the Scalp Dance from 1762.
Rules and equipment varied. Southeastern tribes, such as the Cherokee, played with twin sticks and kept the ball between the two sticks. The Great Lakes stick has a circular pocket at the end of the stick. The Iroquois stick is the one that has evolved into what most non-Indian players today would recognize as a lacrosse stick. The field and numbers of players were agreed on at the time of the challenge.
Codification of rules came from European Americans in Canada in the mid-19th century. These men had been fascinated by the game as children. They formed lacrosse clubs for gentleman amateurs and often played against Indian teams. But they were beginning to play a more team-oriented game, one that emphasized passing. They began experimenting with sticks more conducive to hard shots.
The rules, codified by W. George Beers in 1869, had the effect of virtually divorcing the Indians from the game. Beers described the Indian version as barbaric and said he sought to civilize and improve the game. The European desire for order resulted in playing fields with boundaries and standard numbers of players. The National Lacrosse Association of Canada ruled in 1880 that only amateurs could play. That effectively kept Indian teams out of championship competition (which they had been winning) because they accepted expense and appearance money. White players had incomes, and Mr. Vennum writes that while clubs charged dues, which were used to defray costs and maintain fancy clubhouses and pay for banquets, acceptance of money by the club did not make its players professional.
Nearly a century later, Indians were further removed from the game they invented when the white lacrosse world switched from wooden sticks (mostly made by Indians) to plastic ones.
Mr. Vennum brings his book full circle, from a visit to the NCAA championship in Philadelphia in 1992 and a visit to the University Museum, where he sees one of the oldest surviving lacrosse sticks, to the Indians’ first trip to the World Games and a high school game in Western New York involving Native American players.
Maps help the reader locate tribes, and the book is copiously illustrated. Fictional narratives add detail to stories of important games and the ascendancy of Euro-American lacrosse, and there’s an appendix with 14 lacrosse legends.
The author falls down on two small points in Chapter 1. He mentions “Archibald Stadium” at Syracuse University (it was named after oilman John Archbold) and says that white Syracuse players “would even dare to come onto the reservation” to purchase sticks from a legendary Onondaga stick maker. The reservation was not that forbidding for whites. I played on the women’s club team at Syracuse in 1972, and my stick needed restringing. The men’s coach didn’t hesitate to send me to the reservation, and I didn’t hesitate to go. It was not “daring.”
L Ms. Sadler is a copy editor for The Sun’s sports department.
BOOK REVIEW
Title: “American Indian Lacrosse: Little Brother of War”
Author: Thomas Vennum Jr.
Publisher: Smithsonian Institution Press
Length, price: 360 pages, $15.95 paperback, $44.95 hardback
Origin of Lacrosse – A Curious Mix of History & Magic
Lacrosse offers a unique blend of a fast pace, high scoring, hard hitting action which has made it the fastest growing team sport in United States and one of the fastest growing in the world.
World Championships
International competition in Lacrosse dates back to the back to the 19th century when a Canadian team played the Iroquois. In fact, lacrosse was contested as a full medal sport at the 1904 and 1908 Olympics. In 1904, two Canadian teams challenged a local team from St. Louis, with the Shamrock Lacrosse Team of Winnipeg winning the gold medal. The Canadian victory in 1904 was the first ever medal for the country in Olympic competition. Lacrosse was also a demonstration sport at the Olympics in 1928, 1932 and 1948.
In Canada, in 1901, Lord Minto, Governor General of Canada, donated to the CLA a silver cup to be the symbol of Lacrosse supremacy in the country. In 1910 Sir Donald Mann, chief architect of the Canadian Northern Railway, donated a solid gold cup for the senior amateur championship of Canada. Both of these trophies remain the pinnacle of success in Canadian Lacrosse. The “Mann” is the Senior A Box championship trophy and the “Minto” Cup is the Junior A Box championship trophy.
In the 1930s promoters of the game married the two most popular games, Lacrosse and Hockey, and created Indoor Lacrosse, also known as Box Lacrosse. By the mid 30’s the field game had been completely replaced by
indoor lacrosse and this version became the official sport of the Canadian Lacrosse Association.
World Championship Field Lacrosse was formally instituted in the 1960 and with one notable exception when Canada won, has been dominated by the United States ever since. The first World Indoor Championships took place in 1980 with Canada winning this non-sanctioned event. ILF sanctioned World Championship Indoor Lacrosse commenced in 2003 with the first competition held in Ontario. The seven-day tournament featured 6 nations and was won by Canada defeating the Iroquois Nationals.
Origins
Lacrosse, is a game created by the Native People of North America and, played a significant role in the community and religious life of tribes across the continent.
Lacrosse is the leading indigenous North American game now played by more than 500,000 people around the world. The origins date back hundreds of years. Lacrosse is
There are several forms of the game. Field lacrosse played outdoors on a soccer size pitch. Indoor or Box Lacrosse played in arenas is faster with more hard-hitting action. Often called “the fasted game on two feet”.
Today, Lacrosse is played in 20 nations around the world including Australia; Canada; Czech Republic; England; Germany; Ireland; Iroquois Nationals; Japan; Korea; New Zealand; Scotland; Sweden; United States; Wales; Argentina; Denmark; Hong Kong; Finland; Italy; and, Tonga.
North America & Canada
In the 1840s the first games of Lacrosse were played between the townsfolk and the Native People. The earliest European record of Lacrosse dates back to 1863, when the French missionary, Jean-de-Brébeuf wrote of seeing Native people playing a game with sticks and a ball. He called it Ala crosse because the sticks reminded him of the Bishop’s crozier or Acrosse”. In Nova Scotia, the first game took place in Pictou in the Autumn of 1877.
Lacrosse has been known as Canada’s National Game since 1859. It was re-confirmed in 1994 as Canada’s National Summer Sport. The other sport is Canada’s National Winter Sport.
There are two professional lacrosse leagues in North America. The Major Lacrosse League (Field) with six teams in the United States and the National Lacrosse League (Indoor) is in its 19th season with 11 teams across North America. There are 418 NCAA college and university teams with active scholarship and lacrosse programs that play in three divisions for national championships.
The most Russian world champion from Canada
The MCHM gold is the main award in the life of hockey striker Boris Kachuk. Sportbox.ru – about the Russian hockey player himself, who on the eve became the world champion under a false flag.
Formally, Kachuk is Canadian, but Russian by origin. His parents, immigrants from the USSR, lived in North America for six years before Boris was born. He is the youngest of three sons. A year after his birth, his father passed away. Mom raised the children alone, investing in them everything she could.
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Elena Tumanova participated in the Olympic Games as a member of the USSR national speed skating team. In Calgary 1988, she competed at three distances, her best result was ninth place. Four years later, a job offer allowed Elena and her husband to go to Montreal.
It is not surprising that it was his mother who was Boris’s first coach: she taught him the basics of skating, instilled a love of ice and training, and to this day inspires her son with her example.
“Mom always motivates me and prompts me, – said Kachuk. – I really appreciate it, because she was a very fast athlete who performed both in the sprint and at long distances. Her form and readiness were great. I try to match. ”
I must say that Boris did not choose hockey right away, he hesitated for a long time between him and lacrosse, where he also showed great hopes.
Coach of his club lacrosse team, Steve McGregor, 11 years later, recalls Boris’s debut and the game in which he hit the opponent’s goal seven times.During the season, he scored 102 goals.
“Boris was an amazing athlete, great,” says McGregor. – Special. And it was clear right away. ”
It was possible to combine hockey and lacrosse for several years, but then the ice won. Kachuk focused on and excelled in Canada’s premier sport. But Boris did not forget the lacrosse, which he gave up with difficulty.
“Thanks to lacrosse, I have brought a lot to my hockey,” he said. – Lacrosse taught me that you always have to be in search of a space where you can come up with something.It seems to me that sometimes it helps to demonstrate things that are not very familiar to hockey. ”
For example, to score goals in the minority. Last season, Kachuk was one of the three players in the history of the Grayhounds, a team from the OHL’s junior league, to score seven of these goals in a game year. One of these hockey players was Wayne Gretzky, who once played for the Greyhounds.
The Soo Greyhounds lead the Sarnia Sting 3-1 after 20 minutes on the strength of two shorthanded goals. Both coming on the same PK. Tim Getttinger & Boris Katchouk with the finish on slick feeds from Mac Hallowell & Morgan Frost pic.twitter.com/7gNjeptKw3
— Lincoln Louttit (@LincolnLouttit) December 7, 2017
This season with the Greyhounds is Kachuk’s fourth in the OHL.He has 45 (27 + 18) points in 30 matches.
“Boris’s contribution to our team’s game is enormous,” said Canadian club general manager Kyle Raftis. “His speed and strength allows him to get more playing time on the court.”
Kachuk systematically went from the junior team of Canada, with which he became only fourth at the 2016 World Cup, to the youth team. At the last tournament, he has 6 (3 + 3) points.
Sweden (U-20) – Canada (U-20) – 1: 3. Goals
This is not the best indicator even in the Canadian national team, but whether a great future shines for him in the best league in the world depends only on the hockey player.Soon Boris will be making his way to one of the most Russian teams in the NHL – Tampu Bay. Last year, it was the Lightning who picked Kachuk in the second round of the draft. Although the player honestly admitted that he hoped to get to Washington, all along the same lines – ethnicity.
Growing up in Canada and admiring a Russian hockey player – isn’t that a crime? Kachuk’s favorite striker is Pavel Bure. He even took a nickname on Twitter in honor of Pavel – “Russian Rocket”. In general, Boris is no stranger to striving for roots even in hockey.
“I believe that there are many interesting nuances in the game of Russian hockey players,” noted Kachuk. “For example, they use puck possession for themselves with maximum benefit, and they carry out attacks with particular confidence and pressure, which are pleasant to watch.”
And yet, by nature, Kachuk is a product of a Canadian hockey factory. He is distinguished by his tenacious defensive play in a foreign zone, serious physical training and confident actions in the minority. Boris, of course, identifies himself as a Canadian.Mom helps him in this.
“Mom says all the time: You live in this country, respect what she gave you,” he said. “But my mother is my main example in life.”
But even without parental reminders, Kachuk’s impressions of the hockey system in Canada are great.
“The whole essence of Canadian hockey and every detail is incredible,” he says. – The approach is simple: above all – the team. And we form strong bonds within the national team even before we go out on the ice together.It is an honor and a great privilege to represent the Canadian national team. ”
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Weird and amazing but true stories of the origin of famous sports
Have you ever wondered who invented some of the world’s most famous sports? Then you’ve come to the right place. And, believe it or not, many of your favorite sports have strange origins.Some are thousands of years old, while others were invented more recently. Although the history of many sports does not have a well-defined beginning, we have various accounts of when these sports were popular with certain civilizations. Curious to know where your favorite sport comes from? Here are 25 crazy origin stories of famous sports that are true.
Billiards
Billiards, or pool, was the first lawn game invented in the 1500s in Northern Europe and France.At the time, it resembled a modern croquet. Eventually, he evolved into an indoor game, and a green cloth table was invented for him, imitating grass. Instead of hitting them, balls were thrust into the holes with a mace. Later, instead of a mace, they began to use a cue, since a large mace was uncomfortable. After the industrial revolution, the game quickly became popular.
Cricket
Since the 13th century, cricket has been a bowling alley for boys, with pins placed on a tree stump or in a sheep’s gate.The ball was originally a stone and this lasted until about the 17th century, and the bat was just a large branch of a tree. The game did not develop until the 19th century, when new techniques and rules were enshrined in it.
Lacrosse
Lacrosse was originally a native American game that was played on the field and was called the “sticky ball”. It was mainly played by representatives of the Algonquian tribe living near the Great Lakes. For them, the game was an important religious and sports event, with between 100 and 100,000 people taking part at the same time.The rules at that time were very simple: do not touch the ball with your hands. Eventually, French missionaries witnessed the Indians playing sticky ball and calling the game lacrosse.
Badminton
Originating in ancient Western civilization, badminton was originally called Battledore. In the 1600s, it was a simple game of hitting the shuttle back and forth without letting it fall. Later, in British-occupied India, a grid and new rules were added.The name of the game eventually changed to badminton.
Rugby
Originated in the Middle Ages, rugby was known as “folk football” or “mob football” and was played by neighboring villages. An unlimited number of players could be involved in the game and they fought for the pig’s bladder. Modern rugby and its rules appeared later, in the 19th century.
Polo
Polo appeared in Persia around the 6th century BC. In fact, initially it was not a game, but rather a training exercise for military equestrian units.For the soldiers, it was more like a miniature battle. Eventually, military training became a popular game for both men and women, and spread throughout the world from Arabia to China. Eventually it reached India, and British officers adopted the game, calling it “polo”, as they called the ball.
Bowling
The roots of bowling can be traced back to ancient Egypt. In a children’s tomb dating from 3200 BC, a set of stones used as maces and a ball were found.But the modern version of the game probably originated in Germany as a religious ceremony. 3rd to 4th century AD NS. the parishioners of the church set up a bowel or a club at the end of an empty alley. She represented a “heathen.” The parishioner threw the ball at the bowling pin as a symbolic act of cleansing himself from sin. Over time, the game continued to evolve, becoming quite popular in many Western countries.
Skateboard
In the 1950s, California surfers wanted to take their boards out onto the streets and for this they began to invent skateboards.However, no one knows who started it first. Over the course of five decades, the sport has experienced two defeats, when many thought it was nothing more than a whim. It wasn’t popular until the 80s and 90s and eventually became what we know today.
Volleyball
Volleyball was originally called the Mintonette and was invented by William G. Morgan in 1895. He wanted the new game to be a mix of basketball, baseball, tennis and handball. At first, the size of the grid was about 2m, and there were no official rules until 1928.
Ice Hockey
In the early 1800s, the Mikmak Indians in Nova Scotia played a game using a stick and a wooden block. Many believe that this game was influenced by the Irish game. It became popular throughout Canada, and the French name hoquet, meaning shepherd’s stick, became hockey. In the earliest versions of the game, thirty players could participate, and stones were frozen into the ice to mark targets.
Handball
The first mention of handball can be found on the Athenian tombstone, and it dates back to 600 BC.NS. The game was also known in Germany as a way to train football players during the offseason. However, it was only after handball was officially played in Berlin in 1917 that the game entered the modern era. Indoor handball was introduced later in 1940, and in 1972 it was added to the list of sports for the Olympic Games.
Skiing
Skiing is one of the oldest sports in history if you trace all the way back to Cro-Magnon Man during the last Ice Age.Ski-like items were found in northern Russia and date back to around 6000 BC. NS. And only in the 1760s, when the Norwegian military began to use them, skis took a step forward. The military conducted mountain races while shooting. The first National Race took place in Oslo in 1860. Lizhes first appeared at the 1924 Olympics.
Ultimate Frisbee
Unlike many other sports, we know who invented Ultimate Frisbee. In 1968, Joel Silver came up with this idea on the Columbia High School Student Council.During the following year, the first game was played between two groups of students using the Wham-O disc. Several rules were invented in 1970, and the first game between Rutgers and Princeton was held in 1972.
Golf
Most people think that golf first appeared in Scotland, but this is only partially true. Historians say that many different stick and ball games invented in the Middle Ages could have become the prototype of the game.The Scots just borrowed one of them and created their own rules. The first mention of golf was made by King James II of Scotland in 1457. Two things that the Scots brought to the game became defining moments, namely the need to get the ball into the hole with the minimum number of hits on it, and the holes dug into the ground.
Boxing
Boxing probably first appeared when one person punched another person. Sumerian carvings depicting boxing people date back to 3000 BC, and the first official boxing competition dates back to 688 BC, at the 23rd Olympiad.It is believed that as early as 1500 BC, the inhabitants of Minoan Crete used gloves and helmets during boxing matches, rather than boxing with their bare fists. The Greeks considered this sport the most dangerous and even said: “The victory of a boxer is obtained by blood.”
Formula 1
The first rally organized by Le Velocipede was scheduled for 1887 in Paris. Only one participant expressed a desire to participate in it, so the race was canceled. In subsequent years, during the formation of races, the speed of the winners reached only 17 km / h.As technology improved and racing became more popular, speeds naturally increased. From that moment until 1928, formulas for the weight and size of the engine for the Grand Prix were developed. Then they were applied to the Formula Libre rules. Famous car manufacturers such as Bugatti, Peugeot and Ferrari emerged during this era. Modern Formula 1 started in 1946.
Tennis
Controversy over the origins of tennis continues.While the official game and its rules have been linked to Major Walter Clopton Wingfield, who invented tennis in 1873, many argue that similar games were played before him. Indeed, the game was a pure adaptation of badminton. Tennis quickly reached the United States and gained immense popularity, and the Tennis Association came into being in 1881.
Frisbee golf
Frisbee golf, or disc golf, has a blurred history in which people began to use discs in accordance with the rules of golf.However, in 1965, after seeing children playing such a game, George Sappenfield had the idea to contact Wham-O to make the game official. Together, they even hosted a promotional event called the Rose Bowl. After that, however, everything stopped, and for 10 years Wham-O showed no desire to continue what it started. It wasn’t until the late 70s that Wham-O realized the business value of promoting disc golf. In 1975, disc golf was included in the World Frisbee Championships and the game started from there.
Bouncers
Bouncers appeared over two hundred years ago in Africa, but the game was not intended for recreation and was much more deadly. African tribes threw large stones or other petrified material at each other. The object of the game was to knock out your opponent and then beat him further by throwing more stones. The team had to defend the fallen player, attacking with their stones. After missionary Dr. James H. Carlisle (Dr.James H. Carlisle) witnessed this game, he brought it to Britain, where it was adapted to be less violent.
Broomball
Broomball has a lot in common with hockey, except that the players don’t put on their skates and instead use the ball instead of the puck. It is believed that broomball was first played in Canada when street workers used a corn broom and soccer ball. Eventually, the game made it to Minnesota, where it became very popular, and it is this place that is considered the official birthplace of modern broomball.There were no championships until the 1960s, with the first in 1966.
Basketball
Believe it or not, basketball has an accurate history of its origins that began in 1881, when James Naismith was a physical education instructor at Springfield College. During the winter months, students needed a game that could be played indoors and that was in intensity comparable to lacrosse and American football, but there was nothing suitable.For example, Naismith set out to develop a game that combined rugby, lacrosse, football, and an old game called duck on a rock. After receiving two baskets from the cleaning lady, he hung them high on the walls of the gym and came up with rules, positions for the players, and 15-minute halves. The game was a resounding success and spread like wildfire. Although it was subsequently redesigned somewhat, most of the game has remained intact since Naismith invented it.
Surfing
Like skiing, surfing is one of the oldest sports on earth.Riding the waves on the boards began in Western Polynesia three thousand years ago. Planks were originally used by fishermen to easily reach the shore after they had caught a fish. In the 15th century, people on the Sandwich Isles took part in the so-called “he-enalu” or “sliding on the waves.” Of course, surfing has never been as popular as it is today, with the sheer number of professionals pushing the boundaries of what’s possible every day.
American football
Also known as net football, American football was originally a combination of rugby and football and was mainly played in American universities during the 19th century.Different colleges, such as Harvard and McGill, had their own variations of the game. In the end, thanks to the father of American football, Walter Camp, a game was born that combined the rest. He directed the Intercollegiate Football Association and developed the rules that we know today.
Baseball
A common myth is that baseball was invented by a man named Abner Doubleday, but this turns out to be untrue.The origins of the game date back to the 18th century and are associated with two other sports: rounders and cricket. In the schoolyards, children played several types of games, and soon adults also began to participate in this. In 1845, the New York Knickerbockers Baseball Club was formed, and Alexander Joy Cartwright developed many of the rules, including the diamond-shaped field, and abolished the dangerous practice of throwing balls at players to take them out of the game.
Soccer
The history of soccer, better known as football, can be traced back to different origins. Modern football emerged 100 years ago when it split from English rugby in 1863. However, there is evidence that ball kicking exercises date back to Chinese military practice dating back to the third century BC. It was called “Tsu Chu” and used a ball filled with feathers. Players could not use their hands and had to use any other part of their body while they were being attacked by other players.Other civilizations had their own versions of the game, the Greeks, for example, called it Episkyros and the Romans called Harpastum. The very practice of kicking the ball in order to rest goes back rather
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Club Lacrosse Girls! »HentaiZ.org
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Lacrosse Club Girls hentai description:
Hentai “Girls of the Lacrosse Club!” this is a pretty classic animation about a sports team and their vulgar coach.This anime, which was created based on the manga, will tell about an ordinary guy Kuroda, who got a job as a physical education teacher at a local academy for girls. Concurrently, he had to become the coach of the lacrosse team and from that moment on, many bright colors appeared in his life. It all started with the fact that he burst into the women’s locker room without knocking when it was full of naked girls. The beauties, of course, were at a loss for such an appearance, but some thoughts crept into their heads …
- Release date: 2019
- Episodes: 2 – 2
- Duration: 20 min.
- Age Rating: 18+ years old (R)
- Censorship: Present
- Translation: Russian subtitles
- Voice acting: Polyphonic
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Theories of the origin of the state of Hobbes and Locke
The social contract is a theory that explains the origin of civil society, statehood, law as a result of an agreement between people.The concept of a social contract implies that humanity will partially renounce sovereignty, hand it over to the government or other authority in order to obtain or maintain the structure of society through the prism of the rule of law. A social contract means an agreement by the governed on a set of rules by which they govern them.
The most famous representatives of the theory of social contract are:
- Thomas Hobbes;
- John Locke;
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
Thomas Hobbes and His Social Contract Theory
Comment 1
Thomas Hobbes (years of life: 1588-1649), a philosopher of English origin of the 17th century, in his famous work “Levithian, or Matter, Form and Power of the Church and Civil State” was the first to set out the theory of the social contract in a concrete, most clear and rational way, then there is a form based on the arguments of reason.
In accordance with the opinion of Hobbes, before the state appeared, at first the so-called natural state was formed, a state of complete, absolutely nothing and no one unlimited human freedom, equal in their own rights and possibilities.People are equal among themselves even in such desires as domination, possession of the same rights. In this regard, the natural state for Hobbes is in the full sense “a state of war of all against all.” Absolute freedom of a person is considered to be his desire for anarchy, chaos, an incessant struggle, justifying the killing of one person by another.
In this situation, a necessary and natural way out is to restrict, curb the absolute freedom of anyone for the common good and order in everything.People must limit their own freedom in order to be able to live and develop in a state of peaceful society. They enter into an agreement between themselves on this limitation. This mutual independent limitation is called a social contract.
Having limited their own natural freedom, people together with this give the authority to maintain order, as well as oversee compliance with the terms of the agreement to any group or a specific person. This is how a state appeared, whose power is sovereign, that is, absolutely independent of any external or internal forces.State power, according to Hobbes, should be absolute, the state has the right, in the public interest as a whole, to take any measures of coercion against its citizens. That is why the ideal of the state for Hobbes is absolute monarchy, unlimited power in relation to a social group.
John Locke on the Social Contract
Another 17th century English thinker had somewhat different views. In his works, he put forward a different view of the original, natural state of mankind.
Unlike Hobbes with his thesis about “war of all against all”, Locke saw in the initial absolute freedom of mankind not a source of struggle, but an image of expression of natural equality, as well as readiness to follow reasonable natural, natural laws.
This natural readiness of mankind led him to the realization that in the interests of the public good it is important, while maintaining freedom, to transfer a group of functions to the government, which is called upon to ensure the further successful development of society.This is how a social contract was achieved between people, this is how the state happens.
The main goal of the state is to protect the natural rights of mankind, the right to life, freedom, property. S
Remark 2
notes that Locke deviated significantly from Hobbes’s theory. Hobbes focused on the absolute power of the state over society and humanity. Locke focuses on something else: people transfer to the state only a particle of their own natural freedom.The state makes it its duty to protect their natural rights to property, life and freedom. The wider the range of rights of an individual, the wider the range of his responsibilities to society.
At the same time, the state does not have absolute spontaneous power. According to Locke, the social contract implies the responsibility of the state to the people. If the state has not fulfilled its own duty to citizens, if it has violated their natural freedoms, people have the right to fight against such a state.
Locke is often cited as one of the main theoreticians of the democratic state. His ideal is the English constitutional monarchy, which embodies the balance of interests of man and state.
Locke’s views are powerfully expressed in:
- “Declaration of Independence of the United States”;
- “Declaration of the rights of man and citizen of France”.
The theory of social contract in the system of views of J.-J. Rousseau
Jean Jacques Rousseau was one of the most important representatives of the French Enlightenment.His theory of the social contract was in many ways different from the views of Hobbes and Locke’s worldviews.
Rousseau explains the natural state of humanity by the state of primitive harmony with nature. A person has no need for social restraints, morality, or systematic work. The ability of self-preservation restrains him from the state called “war of all against all.” But the population is increasing, geographical conditions are changing, human abilities and needs are developing, which ultimately leads to the formation of private property.Society is divided into rich and poor, powerful and oppressed, who are at enmity with each other.
Inequality developed slowly: initially, wealth and poverty are recognized, later – power with defenselessness, as a result – domination with enslavement. Society shows the need for civil peace – a social contract is concluded, under the terms of which power over society is transferred to the state.
90,000 Differences between field hockey balls and lacrosse balls
For centuries, people have enjoyed the sports of field hockey and lacrosse.Modern evidence suggests that field hockey probably originated in Egypt over 4,000 years ago. On the other hand, lacrosse is believed to be one of the oldest sports in North America, possibly dating back to the 12th century. Despite differences in origins and techniques, field hockey and lacrosse have a lot in common. For example, to score a point in any sport, a player must use a stick to hit the goal. The sticks used in field hockey and lacrosse differ markedly, but the differences between the balls used in both sports are small.
material
The ball used in field hockey has a spherical shape. Made from hard plastic, the hockey ball is very hard and in some cases may contain a cork core. A lacrosse ball, on the other hand, is made of hard rubber. Also spherical in shape, the ball used in lacrosse can bounce easily, which is often used as part of a strategy for passing between teammates.
Weight and size
According to the US Field Hockey Association, a regulating field hockey ball must weigh between 5.5 and 5.75 ounces.The circumference of the hockey ball must be between 8.75 and 9.25 inches. The weight of the lacrosse ball should be between 5 and 5.25 ounces. The ball’s circumference can vary from 7, 75 to 8 inches.
Texture and Color
The ball used in field hockey is the same for indoor and outdoor use. However, a ball used for outdoor play may have dimples to help maintain a consistent speed when played on a lawn or wet surface. Although the white ball is most commonly used in field hockey, other colors may be used if approved.According to the US Lacrosse Association, a textured ball may be used in the game of lacrosse, depending on the league of the game. Generally, the lacrosse ball is white, although other colors may be permitted if approved by the officials.
90,000 Difference between boy and girl Lacrosse sticks 2021
Although the sport of lacrosse has the same name for boys and girls, the sticks used by each gender, as well as the game, are different. The difference in physical contact between boys and girls directly affects the type, length and depth of the pocket used in the game.
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Evolution of a lacrosse stick
According to Lacrosse USA, “the oldest surviving sticks are from the first quarter of the 19th century,” and sticks from Northeastern Indian tribes are considered to be the forerunners of modern lacrosse sticks. The 3-foot Native American stick “was characterized by its shaft terminated by a rogue, and a large, flat, triangular mesh surface extending two-thirds of the length of the stick. “Around the mid-1930s, men’s lacrosse began to develop into a game of great physical contact, requiring protective equipment and sticks designed to maintain ball possession during such physical contact.At the same time, women’s lacrosse remained similar to its origins, with the addition of minimal protective gear and new stick technologies to the modern game.
Components for fastening
Each lacrosse stick consists of the same basic components: shaft, head and pocket. The shafts are usually made of lightweight composite metal and are where the players grab their sticks. A plastic head with sidewalls is attached to the end of the shaft and stretched to create a pocket. The head and pocket are where the ball is caught and carried away.Lacrosse sticks can be purchased as a full stick or customized.
Stick types
Various types of sticks are allowed in lacrosse, depending on age and gender. Boys have lacrosse, there are two types of sticks, a short cross and a long cross. Girls lacrosse players exclusively use a regular stick, similar to a boy’s short cross. Boys and girls lacrosse goalkeepers use much wider-headed goalie sticks to help block shots at goal.As boys and girls become more advanced players, more specialized sticks are available with different string technologies, different head shapes, offset heads, and different side wall heights.
Stick length
Player stick length may vary depending on specific rules, age and gender. In lacrosse, the boy is attacked and the midfielders use the short cross, and the defenders use the long cross. In general, the short cross can range from 37 to 42 inches in length, while the long cross ranges from 37 to 72 inches in length, depending on age, according to U.S. Lacrosse. Girls’ lacrosse sticks can be 35 to 43 inches long. Goalkeeper sticks are adjustable from 35 to ½ to 48 inches in total length.
Pocket Materials and
Depth
Boys’ stick pockets are made of sturdy, interwoven synthetic mesh and hockey lace and are considered legal if the top of the lacrosse ball is above the bottom edge of the sidewall when placed in according to American lacrosse. Girls’ pockets are made up of leather or synthetic straps, cross-lacing and shooting, and the lowest age levels are also allowed to use mesh.