Lacrosse Origins~The Story

Lacrosse+Origins%7EThe+Story

Savannah Birch

(Photo)

 

The definition of lacrosse is a game played between two teams and the objective is to take the ball to the opposing team’s side and shoot the ball into their goal. This sport can be played by both men and women. 

Boys Lacrosse

Men’s lacrosse is the oldest organized sport in North America which was started by the Native Americans. They played for tribal warriors for training, recreation, and religious reasons. Originally known as stickball, they played in huge areas and goals were used as trees. In the 1630s, French Jesuit missionaries working in the St. Lawrence Valley were the first Europeans to see lacrosse being played by the Native American Indians. One of them, Jean de Brebeuf, wrote about the game being played by the Huron Indians in 1636 and he named the game “lacrosse”. 

Women’s Lacrosse 

Women’s lacrosse was introduced by Louisa Lumsden who was a pioneer of female education and one of the first three women to pass the Tripos exam in 1873. The first game to be played by women was on May 17, 1890, at St. Leonards School in St. Andrews, Scotland. The alumni of St. Leonards introduced lacrosse to schools in the south of England. The first girl’s high school team was created in 1926 at Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore then the United States formed it’s organization, the USWLA in 1931. 

 

Lacrosse has a lot of history from back in the day and has evolved throughout the years. This sport is not as popular as your other sports such as football but it’s growing.