A Fan's Guide to Girls Lacrosse
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
A FAN’S GUIDE TO GIRLS LACROSSE HISTORY Known as the "fastest sport on two feet," lacrosse is a traditional Native American game which was first witnessed by Europeans when French Jesuit missionaries in the St. Lawrence Valley witnessed the game in the 1630s. These games were sometimes major events that could last several days. As many as 100 to 1,000 men from opposing villages or tribes would participate. Native American lacrosse describes a broad variety of stick and ball games played by the indigenous people. Geography and tribal customs dictate the extent to which women participated in these early games. "Lacrosse, as women play it, is an orderly pastime that has little in common with the men's tribal warfare version except the long-handled racket or crosse that gives the sport its name. It's true that the object in both the men's and women's lacrosse is to send a ball through a goal by means of the racket, but whereas men resort to brute strength the women depend solely on skill." - Rosabelle Sinclair The first modern women’s lacrosse game was played in 1890 at the St. Leonards School in Scotland, where women's lacrosse had been introduced by Louisa Lumsden. Lumsden brought the game to Scotland after watching a men's lacrosse game between the Canghuwaya Indians and the Montreal Lacrosse Club. One of Lumsden's students, Rosabelle Sinclair, established the first women's lacrosse team in the United States at the Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore, Maryland. Men’s and women’s lacrosse were played under virtually the same rules, with no protective equipment, until the mid-1930s. TIMELINE 1636 - Jesuit Missionary Jean de Brebeuf is the first to document the game of lacrosse. 1794 - A match between the Seneca and Mohawks results in the creating of basic rules. 1834 - Caughnawaga Indians demonstrate the sport in Montreal. The game is reported by the newspaper and, for the first time, white men are interested in the sport. 1867 - Dr. William George Beers, the father of modern lacrosse, finalizes the first set of playing rules for the Montreal Club. 1876 - Queen Victoria watched and "endorses" a lacrosse game in Windsor, England. NYU is the first college in the US to establish a team. 1890 - The first women's lacrosse game is played at St. Leonard's School in St. Andrew's, Scotland. 1904 - Lacrosse is first played as an exhibition sport in the Olympics in St. Louis. The United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse League is formed. 1926 - Rosabelle Sinclair reestablishes women's lacrosse in the US- starts a team at the Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore. 1931 - The United States Women's Lacrosse Association (USWLA) is formed as the rule-making body for women's lacrosse. 1937 - Robert Pool introduces the first double-walled wooden stick, an early prototype for today's plastic sticks. 1959 - The Lacrosse Foundation is incorporated as the sport's national development center and archive. 1971 - Men's college lacrosse allies with the NCAA. The International Federation of Women's Lacrosse Association (IFWLA) is founded. 1978 - The first issue of Lacrosse Magazine is published by The Lacrosse Foundation. 1979 - Plastic sticks introduced; the mass produced synthetic sticks replaced the sticks made by the native craftsmen 1982 - The first NCAA women's championship is played at Trenton State University between UMass and Trenton State. 2000 - Numerous rule changes occurred, including modification regarding the number of players between the restraining lines and stick specs. 2005 - Eye protection becomes mandatory in the women’s game. 2006 - Hard boundaries introduced to the women’s game. TERMINOLOGY Blocking: Moving into path of a player without providing space for the player to stop or change direction. Charging: Player with the ball comes into contact with a defender who has already established position. Checking: Hitting the opponent’s crosse to dislodge the ball. Clearing: Passing or carrying the ball out of the goal circle. Cutting: Attacker runs toward the goal looking to get open to receive a pass. Deputy: A defender who can enter the goal circle in the absence of the goalie when her team has the ball. Draw: A technique to start or resume play in which a ball is placed in between the sticks of two opposing players, a whistle is blown, the sticks are drawn up and away, and the ball is sent above the heads of the player before one of the players takes possession of it. Fast break: An opportunity to score in transition to offense with at least a one-man advantage. Free position: After a foul, all players must be at least four meters away from the player who was fouled. The attacker may run, pass, or shoot the ball after the whistle is blown to resume play. Free shot: Penalty awarded from a hash mark on the 8-meter line when a major foul is committed within the 8-meter arc. All players, except the goalie, must move outside the arc. When the umpire blows the whistle, the player can take a shot on goal or pass while the defense moves in. Free space to goal: Inside the critical scoring area, defenders must stay out of the space between the player with the ball and the goal circle, unless they closely mark an opponent. Indirect free position: Following a minor foul within the 12-meter fan, play resumes from the 12-meter fan and the player may run or pass, but cannot shoot. Marking: Defender is within a stick's length of an opponent. On the fly: Substituting during play. When one player exits the field through the team substitution area, another can enter. Penalty lane: The path that is cleared between the player with the ball and the goal when a free position is awarded to the attacking team inside the critical scoring area. Pick: Offensive player impedes opponent’s ability to defend a teammate. Must be within the visual field of the opponent. Scoop: Picking up a ground ball in the crosse pocket. the ball and the goal when a free position is awarded to the attacking team inside the critical scoring area. Scoring play: A single possession of the ball in which the offense moves the ball in an effort to score. Slashing: Recklessly swinging the crosse at an opponent’s stick or body. Slow whistle: Permitting play to continue during a penalty inside the critical scoring area on a scoring play to allow an offense to maintain its advantage. Stand: All players, except the goalkeeper in her goal circle, must remain stationary following the sound of any whistle. Sphere: An imaginary bubble, about seven inches around the head of a player, that an opponent’s crosse cannot enter to ensure safety. Three-second rule: Defensemen may not remain in the arc for more than three seconds without guarding another player. Three-second GOOD DEFENSE rule (non HS): If a defender properly guards the ball carrier for three seconds (both hands on the stick, same side as the ball), she is awarded the ball. UMPIRE HAND SIGNALS SOURCES Fisher, Donald M. Lacrosse: A History of the Game. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002. http://www.sportspectator.com/fancentral/lacrosse_women/guide05.html http://www.lacrosse-information.com/lacrosse-timeline.html http://www.laxpower.com http://www.xtimeline.com/timeline/History-of-women-s-lacrosse http://www.uslacrosse.org .