Trying Out On A New Sport Called Lacrosse
If you are into hardcore sports like rugby, soccer, and football or just about anything down and dirty, then, maybe you can try out this sport called Lacrosse. It is getting world-wide phenomenon hitting countries like Argentina, Australia, Canada, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Pakistan, and the United States where more popular sports dominate such as football and base ball.
Well, sure you have heard about lacrosse before with each player holding a piece of stick with a glove-like-shaped net on top and each team trying their luck on a ball which makes them virtually like raging fishermen catching up on one fish on the air. This sport was even featured in the movie American Pie where Chris Klein took the role of a Lacrosse player. Looks familiar with all the other ball games, but how different is this sport from the other ones.
Lacrosse started out in Native America where Indians named the game then using three different local names. It was later renamed to “Lacrosse” by French observers. The root word of the “crosse”, which means “stick”, suggests that the game is played with sticks. It was only until the 15th century that Lacrosse received modifications, but much of the sport’s aspects are still preserved these days. With the exception, however, of the number of players, since each team back in the days of American Indians, had 100 to 1000 players on a field.
The rule is simple. Today, each team must aim to make the most goals. Each Lacrosse player will use his crosse (stick with a net) to propel a very hard rubber ball into the opponent’s goal. Each hit is equivalent to one point. And watching the game from a spectator’s seat is indeed a great sight. But just when you think Lacrosse is for adrenaline junkie men, this sport is for everyone.
A team of men is composed of 6 to 10 players. A team of women will make up to 12 players. This significant difference of number of players is mainly due to the fact that in a women’s Lacrosse, there is less physical effort so there must be more players. Aside from rules, gears are also importantly varied in women. Men wear helmets as protective equipment while women wear only goggles and mouthguards which make them prone to hits in the head.
Men’s Lacrosse also comes in two different forms – the field and the indoor. While the former is obviously played in an open field setting, the latter only slightly differs when it comes to rules. In Canada, where this game is its official national summer sport, Indoor Lacrosse or technically called Box Lacrosse is played during the winter.
Lacrosse may not yet be an Olympic sport, but its growing popularity in the North America, United States and in Europe promises growing fans of the sport that it too will make its mark as one of the best loved sports in the world.
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