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The oldest sport in North America is the incredible sport of lacrosse, which dates back to the 1400’s. It did not become well known and talked about until the middle 1600’s. A Jesuit missionary named Jean de Brebeuf saw the Huron Indians play it and reported it back to his superiors. Jean de Brebeuf saw the stick the Indians were playing with which was strung with crosses so the name La Crosse evolved and this eventually became Lacrosse.
The game of lacrosse has been referred to as the “fastest game on two feet.” The sport has many different aspects to the game. Lacrosse is similar to hockey, soccer, and basketball in many different ways. There is a lot of thinking involved as well as a lot of athletic skill required.
The game is not too difficult to pick up as a youngster. There are different positions in lacrosse that will require different types of people. The four different positions on a lacrosse field is the attackman, defenseman, midfielder, and the goalie.
Midfielders are typically shorter, stockier, fast people. They are usually the guys most gifted in the art of passing. Their position is similar to that of playing basketball. They use the common pick and roll strategy, and pass pick opposite offense. This position is probably the most physical. They are forced to run up and down the field with very little breaks.
The athletes with the most “hand-eye coordination” hold the attack position. The attack position requires the most amount of shooting skills. You do not have to be as in shape to play the attack position.
The defense position is one that a lot of ex-football players like to play. There is a lot of hitting involved with this position. You need to be a bigger, stronger person to play this position.
The lacrosse field is a little bigger than a soccer field. Each team can play a maximum of 10 guys on the field at a time. Three attackmen, three defensemen, three midfielders, and a goalie play at one time. Similar to soccer and hockey there is offsides in the game. If you ever have more than 6 players on one half of the field you will be charged with an offsides penalty. Similar to hockey there are “power plays” throughout the game. They aren’t called power plays they are called technical fouls and they result in one team going man-up and one going man-down.
Those are just a few of the important rules in the game of lacrosse. It is important to know that you are never to young to start playing lacrosse. As you grow older there are many different levels of lacrosse all over the world. There is professional lacrosse, which is the highest level. There is college lacrosse, as well as college club lacrosse. There is high school lacrosse, which is becoming more and more popular all over. There is also mens lacrosse, which is just a club for men to play in all over the place.
I hope you have a successful time playing the game of lacrosse. Remember to play lacrosse with the proper equipment and proper pads at all times. Lacrosse can be a great sport for men and women of all ages.