Monday 20 May 2019

The Origins of Lacrosse


A sales account executive for 13 years, Beecher Scarlett served as a vice president at the TVGN network in New York City. When away from work, Beecher Scarlett coaches youth lacrosse, a game with roots going back hundreds of years. 

The sport’s origins are unclear. Europeans in North America in the 1630s observed Native Americans playing a game in which they carried a ball to a goal in a netted racket. Little is known about these early games' rules, styles of play, or strategies. Some believe the game may date back to Central American peoples.

Many Native American tribes played what came to be known as lacrosse, including those in the Southeast, western Great Lakes, and around the St. Lawrence Seaway. Some accounts mention competition in what became California and British Columbia. It is known that the game had significance beyond simple recreation. Some peoples used it to settle disputes, and it is still used for healing.

Three types of sticks were popular. The longest sticks were used by the Iroquois and New England tribes and are considered the basis of the modern lacrosse stick.

White Canadians adopted the game in the mid-19th century. Queen Victoria watched a match in 1867 and said the game was “pretty to watch.” At the turn of the 20th century lacrosse was played in the Summer Olympics. In 2017 it was estimated that some 826,000 Americans played lacrosse.