What is lacrosse
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small solid rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played on the East Coast of the United States and Canada. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh designed to catch and hold the lacrosse ball. Offensively, the objective of the game is to score by shooting the ball into an opponent's goal, using the lacrosse stick to catch, carry, and pass the ball to do so. Defensively, the objective is to keep the opposing team from scoring and to dispossess them of the ball through the use of stick checking and body contact or positioning. The sport has four major types: men's field lacrosse, women's lacrosse, box lacrosse and intercrosse. Lacrosse (in particular box lacrosse) is the national summer sport of Canada.
Men's lacrosse
Lacrosse is a very physically demanding sport that requires not only fitness but also good stick handling and hand eye coordination in combination. Men's field lacrosse is played with ten players on each team: a goalkeeper; three defenders in the defensive end; three midfielders (often called "middies") free to roam the whole field; and three attackers attempting to score goals in the offensive end. It is the most common version of men's lacrosse played internationally. The modern game was codified in Canada by William George Beers in 1867. The game has evolved from that time to include the protective equipment and lacrosse sticks made from synthetic materials.
Each player carries a lacrosse stick (or crosse). A "short crosse" (or "short stick") measures between 40 inches (1.0 m) and 42 inches (1.1 m) long (head and shaft together) is typically used by attackers or midfielders. A total of four players per team may carry a "long crosse" (sometimes called "long pole", "long stick" or "d-pole") that are 52 inches (1.3 m) to 72 inches (1.8 m) long, typically used by defenders or midfielders. The head of the crosse on both long and short crosses must be 6.5 inches (17 cm) or larger at its widest point. There is no minimum width at its narrowest point, the only provision is that the ball must roll out unimpeded. The designated goalkeeper is allowed to have a stick from 40 inches (1.0 m) to 72 inches (1.8 m) long and the head of a goalkeeper's crosse may measure up to 12 inches (30 cm) wide, significantly larger than field players' heads to assist in blocking shots.
The field of play is 110 yards (100 m) long and 60 yards (55 m) wide. The goals are 6 feet (1.8 m) by 6 feet (1.8 m). The goal sits inside a circular "crease", measuring 18 feet (5.5 m) in diameter. Each offensive and defensive area is surrounded by a "restraining box." Each quarter, and after each goal scored, play is restarted with a face-off. During a face-off, two players lay their stick horizontally next to the ball, head of the stick inches from the ball and the butt-end pointing down the midfield line. Face-off-men scrap for the ball, often by “clamping” it under their stick and flicking it out to their teammates. Attackers and defenders cannot cross their “restraining line” until one player from the midfield takes possession of the ball or the ball crosses the restraining line. If a member of one team touches the ball and it travels outside of the playing area, play is restarted by awarding possession to the opposing team. During play, teams may substitute players in and out freely. Sometimes this is referred to as "on the fly" substitution. Substitution must occur within the designated exchange area in order to be legal.
For most penalties, the offending player is sent to the penalty box which is located between each team's bench. His team then must play without the player for a designated amount of time based upon the foul. (Most penalties are "releasable", that is, the penalty ends when a goal is scored by the non-offending team.) Technical fouls (such as offsides and holding) result in either a turnover or a player's suspension of 30 seconds, while personal fouls are generally penalized one minute (although some infractions, such as playing with a stick that does not meet the specifications of their designated level of play, may serve non-releasable penalties of up to three minutes). The team that has taken the penalty is said to be playing man down while the other team is on the man up. Teams will use various lacrosse strategies to attack and defend while a player is being penalized. Offsides is penalized by a 30 second penalty. It occurs when there are more than 7 players on the defensive side of the field, (three midfielders/three defensemen/one goalkeeper), or more than 6 players from one team on the offensive side of the field (three midfielders/three attack). The zones are separated by the midfield line.
Women's lacrosse
The rules of women's lacrosse differ significantly from men's lacrosse, most notably by equipment and the degree of allowable physical contact. Women's lacrosse does not promote physical contact primarily because the only protective equipment worn for this sport is a mouth guard and face guard and sometimes thin gloves. Stick checking, and not body checking as in men's lacrosse, is permitted in women's lacrosse. Although sometimes checking can lead to body checking. While this is still not permitted in a women's game some referees will allow limited body checking. The first modern women's lacrosse game was held at St Leonards School in Scotland in 1890. It was introduced by the school's headmistress Louisa Lumsden after a visit to Quebec. The first women's lacrosse team in the United States was established at Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore, USA in 1926. Men’s and women’s lacrosse were played under virtually the same rules, with no protective equipment, until the mid-1930s.
Source: Wikipedia