lacrosse playing equipment

information about the game of lacrosse

Lacrosse was America’s first sport.  The first lacrosse games were said to have been played by Indian tribes, such as the Cherokees and the Six Tribes of the Iroquois.  These Native American tribes had varying versions of the game that would later be known as lacrosse.

In some tribes, players used two sticks, one in each had.  There were teams on which men and women competed together, but others where the sexes were divided.  To these tribes, this game was considered to be excellent military training.  One team could consist of a hundred or maybe even thousands of players.  It was not very organized, and often entire villages or tribes would be running all over the place, considering the goals could be miles apart.  In these games, the stick was used more to injure players, considering most players were nowhere near the ball during play.  To the Iroquois, lacrosse was more organized, consisting of smaller teams and closer goals.  Although one rule remained the same across the board- the ball, with few exceptions, could not be touched with the hands- the equipment used for these different tribes varied slightly.  The type of goal used and the sticks are what create a distinction between tribes.

The French first saw lacrosse being played, and thought the sticks that the Native Americans used looked like a bishop’s crozier, which is a “la crosse” in French.  This is how lacrosse was named.  From this point on, lacrosse grew and changed with the times.