Evolution of Lacrosse
Lacrosse has witnessed great modifications since its origins in the 1400s, but many aspects of the sport remain the same. In the Native North American version, each team consisted of about 100 to 1,000 men on a field that stretched from about 500 to 800 metres with some fields being several kilometres long. Rather than having traditional goals where the ball has to pass through goal posts, many of the Native teams used a large rock or tree as their goal. They would hit the deerskin ball against the goal to earn points. The medicine-men acted as umpires, and the women urged on the men by beating them with switches. These lacrosse games lasted from sun up to sun down for two to three days. These games were played to settle inter-tribal disputes and also used to toughen young braves in preparation for future combat.
 The game became known to Westerners when a French Jesuit Missionary, Jean de Brbeuf, saw the Iroquois Natives play it in 1636. In 1763, after
Canada had become British, the game was used by the Natives to carry out an ingenious military deception. On the 4th of June, when the garrison of
Fort
Michilimackinac (now Mackinac) was celebrating the king's birthday, it was invited by the Ottawas, under their chief Pontiac, to witness a game of "baggataway" (lacrosse). The players gradually worked their way close to the gates, when, throwing aside their crosses and seizing their tomahawks which the women suddenly produced from under their blankets, they rushed into the fort and massacred all the inmates, lest a few Frenchmen.
By the 1800s, lacrosse evolved to become less violent and more of a sport as French pioneers began competing. In 1867, W. George Beers, a Canadian dentist, codified the game, shortening the length of each game and reducing the number of players to ten per team. The first game played under Beers' rules was at Upper Canada College in 1867, with
Upper Canada
College losing to the Toronto Cricket Club by a score of 3-1. By the 1900s, high schools, colleges, and universities began playing the game, and lacrosse was contested as a medal sport in the 1904 and 1908 Olympics.
In the 1930s, an indoor version of the game, box lacrosse , was introduced in
Canada. It quickly became, and remains, the dominant form of the sport in that country. A later version of box lacrosse, indoor lacrosse, is played professionally in both
Canada and the
United States.
In the United States, the sport is popular in Maryland (where it became the official team sport in 2004), New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New England and other areas along the east coast. In addition, its popularity has started spreading to the west coast, spurred by the sport's increasing visibility in the media as well as the growth of college and high school programs and "pee wee" leagues throughout the country. This explosion has been facilitated by the introduction of plastic heads invented by Baltimore-based stick maker STX in the 1970s. This innovation reduced the weight and cost of the stick, and allowed for faster passes and game play. The plastic head is now universally used, and while wooden sticks remain legal, they are far outclassed.
At the collegiate level, there are currently 57 NCAA Division I men's lacrosse teams, 31 NCAA Division II men's lacrosse teams, and 130 NCAA Division III men's lacrosse teams. There are also currently 82 Division I women's lacrosse teams, 35 Division II women's lacrosse Teams, and 154 Division III women's lacrosse Teams.
At the professional level, there are 11 National Lacrosse League (indoor) teams; 8 in the United States and 3 in Canada, with 2 new teams starting in the 2007 season (See Chicago Shamrox). In Major League Lacrosse, there are 10 teams all of which are based in the
United States, and 2 more expansion teams are set to play in the 2008 season.
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