When was lacrosse invented. Who created the modern version of lacrosse. How has the sport evolved over time. What are the major professional lacrosse leagues today. How did Native American tribes use lacrosse historically. What equipment was used in early lacrosse games.
The Ancient Origins of Lacrosse in Native American Culture
Lacrosse boasts a rich history deeply rooted in Native American culture, with its origins dating back to as early as 1100 AD. This ancient sport, originally known as “The Creator’s Game,” held significant importance in the religious, cultural, and spiritual lives of indigenous communities across North America.
Native American tribes used lacrosse for various purposes beyond mere recreation. The game served as a means to:
- Settle disputes between tribes
- Train warriors for combat
- Celebrate during festivals
- Fulfill religious obligations
- Settle bets
These early lacrosse matches were grand events, often lasting several days and drawing large crowds from different communities. The significance of the sport in Native American society cannot be overstated, as it played a crucial role in maintaining social cohesion and cultural identity.
Early Lacrosse Equipment
The equipment used in early lacrosse games was handcrafted using natural materials readily available to Native American tribes. Some of the key elements included:
- Balls made from wood or deerskin stuffed with hair
- Wooden sticks carved to cradle the ball
- Netting crafted from wattup (a plant fiber) or deer sinew
This rudimentary equipment highlights the ingenuity and resourcefulness of Native American craftsmen, who created functional and durable tools for their beloved sport.
The European Discovery and Naming of Lacrosse
The first documented encounter between European settlers and lacrosse occurred in 1637 when French Jesuit missionary Jean de Brébeuf observed a game being played in present-day Ontario, Canada. Intrigued by the stick-like implements used in the sport, de Brébeuf dubbed it “la crosse,” meaning “the stick” in French.
This naming event marked a significant moment in lacrosse history, as it began the process of introducing the sport to a wider audience beyond its Native American origins. From this point forward, lacrosse would gradually spread across North America and eventually to other parts of the world.
The Spread of Lacrosse Beyond North America
As European settlers continued to interact with Native American tribes, lacrosse gained popularity among non-indigenous communities. By the 19th century, the sport had established a presence in several countries, including:
- Canada
- United States
- Australia
- New Zealand
In North America, lacrosse found particular favor in the Mid-Atlantic states, with New York and Maryland emerging as early hotbeds for the sport. This regional popularity would play a crucial role in the later development of organized leagues and competitions.
The Evolution of Lacrosse in the 19th and 20th Centuries
As lacrosse transitioned from its traditional Native American roots to a more formalized sport, several key developments took place in the 19th and early 20th centuries. These changes helped shape the modern version of lacrosse we know today.
The Rise of Men’s Lacrosse Clubs
By 1900, numerous men’s lacrosse clubs had been established across the English-speaking world. These clubs played a crucial role in standardizing rules, organizing competitions, and promoting the sport to new audiences. The growth of these clubs laid the foundation for the eventual emergence of professional leagues.
The Introduction of Women’s Lacrosse
Women’s lacrosse made its debut in Scotland in 1890, marking an important milestone in the sport’s history. The game quickly gained popularity among female athletes, and in 1926, the first women’s lacrosse club in the United States was founded at the Bryn Mawr School in Maryland.
How does women’s lacrosse differ from men’s lacrosse. Women’s lacrosse features some distinct rules and equipment compared to the men’s game, including:
- Less physical contact allowed
- Different stick designs
- No protective gear aside from mouthguards and eyewear
- Variations in field size and number of players
These differences reflect the unique development of women’s lacrosse as a separate but equally compelling version of the sport.
The Birth of Box Lacrosse and Professional Leagues
The 20th century saw the emergence of new variations of lacrosse and the formation of professional leagues, further expanding the sport’s reach and appeal.
The Origins of Box Lacrosse
Box lacrosse, an indoor version of the sport, originated in Canada in the 1930s. This variation was developed to make use of empty hockey arenas during the summer months and quickly gained popularity due to its fast-paced nature and confined playing area.
The Formation of the National Lacrosse League (NLL)
The professional box lacrosse scene took a significant step forward in 1986 with the founding of the Major Indoor Lacrosse League. This league underwent a transformation in 1997, rebranding itself as the National Lacrosse League (NLL).
Today, the NLL stands as the premier professional box lacrosse league, featuring teams across the United States and Canada. The league is divided into three divisions:
- North Division: Buffalo Bandits, Halifax Thunderbirds, Rochester Knighthawks, Toronto Rock
- East Division: Georgia Swarm, New England Black Wolves, New York Riptide, Philadelphia Wings
- West Division: Calgary Roughnecks, Colorado Mammoth, San Diego Seals, Saskatchewan Rush, Vancouver Warriors
The NLL continues to expand, with the Panther City Lacrosse Club in Fort Worth, Texas, joining the league for the 2021 season.
The Rise and Fall of Major League Lacrosse (MLL)
While box lacrosse found success with the NLL, field lacrosse enthusiasts had to wait until the turn of the millennium for a professional league of their own. In 1999, Major League Lacrosse (MLL) was founded, with official play beginning in 2001.
The Early Years of MLL
The MLL initially consisted of six teams divided into two divisions:
- American Division: Boston, Bridgeport (Connecticut), and Long Island
- National Division: Baltimore, New Jersey, and Rochester
Over the years, the league experienced both expansion and contraction, with teams being added in various cities and others folding due to financial difficulties or poor attendance.
Challenges Faced by MLL
Despite its status as one of the longest-running professional field lacrosse leagues, the MLL faced significant challenges. Players often had to work multiple jobs to supplement their income, with salaries ranging from $10,000 to $25,000 per year and no benefits provided.
These financial constraints made it difficult for the league to attract and retain top talent, ultimately contributing to its decline in the face of newer competition.
The Emergence of the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL)
In 2018, lacrosse star Paul Rabil announced the creation of a new professional league that would revolutionize the sport’s landscape. The Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) launched in 2019, offering a fresh approach to professional field lacrosse.
Key Innovations of the PLL
The PLL introduced several innovative concepts that set it apart from previous professional lacrosse leagues:
- Tour-based schedule: Instead of teams being based in specific cities, the PLL adopted a 14-week tour format, visiting 12 different cities throughout the season.
- Improved player compensation: The league promised higher salaries, health care benefits, and equity stakes for players.
- Media-friendly format: The PLL secured broadcast deals with major networks, increasing visibility for the sport.
The Inaugural PLL Season
The 2019 PLL season kicked off with six teams:
- Archers Lacrosse Club
- Atlas Lacrosse Club
- Chaos Lacrosse Club
- Chrome Lacrosse Club
- Redwoods Lacrosse Club
- Whipsnakes Lacrosse Club
The season concluded with a thrilling championship match, where the Whipsnakes LC emerged victorious, defeating the Redwoods LC 12-11 in overtime.
Expansion and Growth
Building on the success of its inaugural season, the PLL continued to grow. In 2020, the league welcomed its seventh team, the Waterdogs Lacrosse Club, further expanding the player pool and competitive landscape.
The Future of Lacrosse: Challenges and Opportunities
As lacrosse continues to evolve in the 21st century, the sport faces both challenges and opportunities for growth and development.
Increasing Global Popularity
While lacrosse remains primarily popular in North America, efforts are underway to expand its reach globally. The inclusion of lacrosse as a demonstration sport in future Olympic Games could significantly boost its international profile.
Technological Advancements
How is technology impacting the sport of lacrosse. Advancements in equipment design, training methods, and analytics are revolutionizing how the game is played and coached. Some key areas of innovation include:
- Lightweight, high-performance sticks and protective gear
- Virtual reality training systems for players and officials
- Advanced statistical analysis and player tracking technologies
Addressing Diversity and Inclusion
As lacrosse continues to grow, there is an increasing focus on making the sport more accessible and inclusive. Initiatives aimed at introducing lacrosse to underserved communities and promoting diversity at all levels of the game are crucial for its long-term success.
Balancing Tradition and Innovation
One of the ongoing challenges for lacrosse is striking a balance between honoring its rich Native American heritage and embracing modern innovations. Efforts to incorporate traditional elements of the game into contemporary formats and to involve indigenous communities in the sport’s development are essential for maintaining this delicate balance.
In conclusion, the journey of lacrosse from its ancient Native American origins to its current status as a growing professional sport is a testament to its enduring appeal and adaptability. As the sport continues to evolve, it faces the exciting prospect of reaching new audiences while staying true to its rich cultural roots. The future of lacrosse promises to be as dynamic and exciting as its storied past, with new chapters yet to be written in this fascinating sporting saga.
Blog – History of Men’s Lacrosse
What is the history of lacrosse?
Lacrosse is one of the oldest team sports in America. Lacrosse history goes back as early as 1100AD where it was played by Native Americans in North America. The origin of lacrosse has a rich history in the Native American cultures.
Who invented Lacrosse?
Todays lacrosse game is based on the games that were invented by Native Americans. It was referred to as “The Creator’s Game.” American Indian lacrosse had important connections to religious, cultural, and spiritual life. These games were big events and some of would last as long as several days. Lacrosse had many different purposes. Games were played to settle disputes, train in combat, recreation, parts of festivals, to settle bets, or religious reasons. Early lacrosse equipment was hand made. Balls were made from wood or deerskin stuffed with hair. Lacrosse sticks were made from wood carved to hold the ball or netting made from wattup or deer sinew.
Where did lacrosse originate? Where was lacrosse invented?
The origins of lacrosse can be traced back to North America. A French Jesuit missionary, Jean de Brébeuf saw it played in 1637 in present day Ontario and called the game la crosse, “the stick” in French. It became popular in Canada, United States, Australia, and New Zealand. In the 1800s and 1900s lacrosse was predominately played in the Mid-Atlantic states, especially New York and Maryland.
When did lacrosse start?
Lacrosse goes back as early as 1100AD where it was played by the Native Americans and Aboriginal Canadians. By 1900 there were many men’s clubs across the English speaking world. Women’s lacrosse was introduced in Scotland in 1890 and the first women’s club in the US was started at Bryn Mawr School (Maryland) in 1926.
National Lacrosse League
Newer versions of the game, like box lacrosse, background comes from the traditional games. Box lacrosse started in Canada in the 1930s with the formation of the first box lacrosse league.
In 1986 the Major Indoor Lacrosse League was founded. It ran until 1997 when the league was reconstituted with a new name, the NLL, National Lacrosse League, is the men’s professional box lacrosse league. It now has teams across the United States and Canada. It now consists of 14 teams with three divisions, North, East, West. The Buffalo Bandits, Halifax Thunderbirds, Rochester Knighthawks, Toronto Rock make up the North. Georgia Swarm, New England Black Wolves, New York Riptide, Philadelphia Wings in the East. Calgary Roughnecks, Colorado Mammoth, San Diego Seals, Saskatchewan Rush, Vancouver Warriors. The newest team to join the league is the Panther City Lacrosse Club in Fort Worth, TX for the 2021 season.
Major League Lacrosse
The professional field game became popular with the founding of Major League Lacrosse, MLL, in 1999. Major League Lacrosse began play in 2001 consisting of six teams. Boston, Bridgeport, Connecticut, and Long Island made up the American Division.
Baltimore, New Jersey, and Rochester made up the National Division. In 2006 the MLL added four teams, Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, and San Francisco. In 2008 Los Angeles, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and San Francisco teams were shut down due to money and poor attendance. In 2011 North Carolina and Ohio added expansion teams. In 2014 the Hamilton Nationals folded and became the Florida Launch. Atlanta became the ninth team to join in 2016. In 2018 The Rattlers relocated to Dallas from New York. In 2019 the MLL announced that the Charlotte Hounds, Florida Launch, and Ohio Machine were not playing in the 2019 season. Although the MLL was one of the longest running and most famous field lacrosse leagues, most of the players in the league had to work multiple jobs. The salary range in the MLL was between $10,000 and $25,000 with no benefits. However, after newer competition in field lacrosse they stated the intent to raise the salary range by 51%.
Premier Lacrosse League
In 2018 Paul Rabil announced he would be starting a new professional league.
The newest iteration of professional lacrosse began in 2019 with the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL). The PLL would be a direct field lacrosse competitor to Major League Lacrosse. The PLL promised its players salaries, health care, and league equity. Unlike the MLL, the PLL did not base its teams in specific cities across the country. Rather it employed a 14 week tour based schedule in 12 cities. All teams traveled and played in a new city during the weekend. The 2019 PLL season began with 6 teams. Archers Lacrosse Club, Atlas Lacrosse Club, Chaos Lacrosse Club, Chrome Lacrosse Club, Redwoods Lacrosse Club, and Whipsnakes Lacrosse Club. The 2019 PLL season ended with the Whipsnakes LC winning the Championship 12-11 (OT) against the Redwoods LC. In 2020 an expansion brought the Waterdogs Lacrosse Club into the PLL for the 2020 season. With the onset of COVID 19, the PLL shifted its season to a bubble format. The Whipsnakes LC eventually won the 2020 Championship 12-6 against the Chaos LC.
The Indigenous origins of lacrosse – The Varsity
JESSICA LAM/THE VARSITY
In 1994, lacrosse officially became Canada’s national summer sport. The sport of lacrosse does not originate from European colonizers. Rather, Indigenous peoples invented and played the sport, albeit with different rules, even before the arrival of Europeans to North America.
Lacrosse was played by many different Indigenous communities who had their own versions of the game with varied names. The first Europeans who observed tewaarathon — a Mohawk term for the game that would later be known as lacrosse — reported that it did not resemble any sport they had seen before. Early versions of the sport are very different from how modern lacrosse is played. Much of the rules of modern lacrosse were invented later on by European settlers after they adopted lacrosse from Indigenous peoples.
In fact, European settlers’ initial observations — that lacrosse looked similar to war — might not be far from the truth.
Indigenous peoples often used lacrosse games to settle disagreements between groups. During these games, entire valleys could be filled with hundreds of players for a single game. It was believed by the Haudenosaunee that the Creator would watch the game enthusiastically, soaking in the fun.
And since lacrosse was a gift from the Creator, playing lacrosse meant that the Haudenosaunee could show appreciation and give thanks toward the Creator for their gift. In conjunction with this tradition, the Haudenosaunee lacrosse games were also played before a medicine person who was looking for a way to treat a sick person, in hopes that the Creator would see the appreciation and in turn guide the medicine person to the right treatments for the sick.
Despite Indigenous cultures’ strong connections to the sport, why is it that people do not automatically associate the sport of lacrosse with Indigenous peoples? The answer, as with many things, is colonization. The erasure of the Indigenous histories of lacrosse is just one of the ways Indigenous cultures were stolen through colonization.
In 1860, the first iteration of modern lacrosse was created by the dentist and lacrosse enthusiast Dr. William George Beers. However, in the rulebooks that he wrote for the game, he included a rule forbidding Indigenous peoples from playing for white lacrosse clubs, “unless previously agreed upon.”
Additionally, in 1880, Indigenous players were barred from championship competitions when The National Lacrosse Association became an amateur organization. Despite the fact that they were the creators of the sport, it wasn’t until over one hundred years later that the Iroquois National Lacrosse Team was given membership in the Federation of International Lacrosse — now known as World Lacrosse — and allowed to compete in international competitions.
So the next time you come across a game of lacrosse on the back campus fields or catch a game on the television, you should remember that this sport has a rich history within Indigenous cultures — and it is up to all fans of the game to continually remind the world of this fact.
On August 20, 1619, the era of slavery began in North America
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On August 20, 1619, a Dutch ship delivered the first 20 Africans to America, who were sold into slavery to the inhabitants of the Jamestown settlement in Virginia. This event marked the beginning of the British and American transatlantic slave trade.
The system of slavery that developed in North America was based on economic reasons: rice, tobacco and other plantations needed laborers. As a labor force, they began to use dark-skinned slaves, who were forcibly taken out of Africa. Most of them were from the tribes of West Africa. Representatives of Central, North, South Africa and the island of Madagascar found themselves in the New World relatively infrequently. So, in the middle of the 19th century, the number of black slaves in the United States reached about 4 million people.
Their exploitation played an important role in the development of American capitalism.
The mass importation of slaves to America began in the 17th century. James Town, founded in 1609, became the first permanent settlement of the colonists. In 1619, the colonists acquired the first batch of slaves of Angolan origin. De jure, Africans were not slaves, but only had long-term contracts without the right to terminate. And it is from these events in historiography that the beginning of slavery in America is counted. However, the contract system did not last long. The colonies began to pass laws that reduced blacks to the status of slaves: in Massachusetts, in 1641, the service life of Africans was replaced by life; in 1661, Virginia passed a law on the inheritance of slavery from mother to children. Similar laws were gradually adopted in other states.
In 1672, London introduced a state monopoly on the black slave trade. At the end of the 17th century, the English Parliament allowed private individuals to sell slaves, and at the beginning of the next century, Britain became one of the countries most actively involved in the slave trade.
Gradually, trading posts began to appear along the entire western coast of Africa, trading in slaves. The British created an agency of slave traders in Africa. Tribal leaders sold their fellow tribesmen or raided neighboring tribes and traded captives. Soon the share of slaves in the population of some American colonies exceeded 40%. In the northern colonies, dark-skinned slaves were more often used as domestic servants or laborers, in the southern colonies they were forced to work on plantations, growing indigo, tobacco and rice. At the same time, United States law treated slaves as movable property and protected the rights of slave owners.
However, during the period from 1663 to 1863, over 250 uprisings and conspiracies of black people were recorded. Slave uprisings were brutally suppressed. Then they began to express their protest in other forms: damage to tools, murder of overseers and owners, suicide and escapes.
Slavery had a huge impact on all aspects of life in the United States and became the prerequisite for the Civil War in 1861-1865, one of the results of which was the abolition of the institution of slavery.
