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An Amazing Game - Lacrosse

By: K.L. Amadio The long standing official summer sport in Canada, lacrosse is gaining popularity in the United States. Lacrosse, already popular at many east coast schools, is spreading across the nation and is already played in at least 20 countries around the world.

Lacrosse is well documented all the way back to the 1600's by French missionaries who witnessed Native Americans playing the oldest team sport in North America. Native Americans called the game baggataway. The stick used to play the sport resembled the bishops cross; and so a new name was given by the missionaries. They referred to the game as la crosse.

Both men and women, boys and girls play lacrosse in official programs around the U.S. Children as young as 3rd grade and older are joining the nearly 4,500 programs around the country. Over 5,500 women lacrosse players participate in more than 240 American colleges and universities and 125,000 kids play lacrosse around the country.

Lacrosse is a seemingly complicated game to those not familiar with its rules, and those rules differ for men's and women's leagues. Watching a men's lacrosse game, one feels like they are observing part soccer, ice hockey, field hockey and American football. Perhaps all these sports have borrowed from the ancient native game of baggataway.

Lacrosse Basics:

Lacrosse players use a stick to pass and carry a rubber ball that is around the size of a standard baseball. On one end of the stick is a head with nylon cording strung to create a pocket for the ball. Each player carries a stick and uses it to throw and catch the ball, carry the ball while running and displace the ball from an opponent. Cradling is the practice of keeping the ball in the pocket while running.

As in soccer, each lacrosse team guards a goal. The goalie carries a stick with a large head to help block shots at the goal net. In simple terms, each team is attempting to score more goals on the opposition. The game has a regulation time that is divided into quarters. The actual length of the entire game differs by level from middle grade to high school and college.

Protective padding is required for men. They use rib guards, shoulder pads, padded gloves and arm protectors. Men's lacrosse allows physical contact like blocking, shoulder checks and the occasional tackle, not to be confused with the tackles in American football. There is no physical contact permitted in women's lacrosse therefore padding is not required. Some women choose to wear gloves, nose guards and eye protection for safety. Helmets are required for men while women do not have to wear them.

A face off begins every lacrosse game like field hockey. The lacrosse team has a goalie, midfielders, attackmen and defensemen. The number of players needed on the field differ for women and men. The playing field in women's lacrosse is actually larger than men's so they need more players.

Higher level lacrosse games are officiated by three people, a field judge, referee and umpire. They keep watch over the game looking for technical (holding or grabbing) fouls and personal (tripping or slashing) fouls. Lacrosse requires certain position-players to stay to one side of the midfield line and of course there can only be the required number of players on the field while the ball is in play.

Lacrosse is a fast-paced sport that develops good hand-eye coordination and endurance. The added benefit of team sports is the development of teamwork and cooperation. More schools across the country are developing lacrosse programs which means seeing a game will become easier. Then you'll have first hand knowledge on why lacrosse is growing in popularity across the U.S.

Article Source: http://www.lifeweightloss.com

To see more about the popular game of lacrosse, visit K.L. Amadio's website, Lacrosse-Information for all-inclusive insight to this swiftly growing game. Parents, get more info on lacrosse positions for your kids. You can get a unique content version of this article from the Uber Article Directory.

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