Native American Stickball

Lacrosse was originally called stickball

Played in the Lawrence Valley by the Algonquian Tribe

Later followed by tribes in the east and around the great lakes

Played over several days

The fields were huge open areas, sometimes miles long

It is estimated that games consisted of 100 to 100,000 players, at one time!!

There was only one rule, the ball can’t touch your hand, there were no boundaries or anything

At the start, the ball was thrown into the air and players would race to get it

Originally the balls were wood, but were then replaces with fur wrapped in deerskin

It was played to toughen up young warriors, and recreation and religious reasons

Jean de Brebeuf was a missionary that saw the game being played and named it lacrosse

Interest in lacrosse began to spread in Canada Dr William George Beers started a club, made rules, reduced players, and redefined the stick

By 1860 lacrosse was Canada’s national game and was even played for Queen Victoria, who said “The game is very pretty to watch.”

In 1904 the game was played in the Olympics

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This is a picture of an original lacrosse stick, notice it is all one piece of wood, and there is only a top and one side to the net, one side is empty

This is a modern day lacrosse stick, separate head and stick, and netting, the ball is also rubber now

Sorce