NORTH AMERICA'S FIRST SPORT
THE BASICS
Here are a few links that will help get you up to speed with the fastest sport on two feet.
Videos
- 6 minute video - Boys Lacrosse Rules Explained
- 20 second video - How to Cradle - Part 1
- 20 second video - How to Cradle - Part 2
- 3 minute video - How to Scoop
- 4 minute video - How to Throw
- 3 minute video - How to Catch
- 4 minute video - How to Shoot
- 1 minute video - Wall Ball
Reference
- Equipment Guide
- Cheat Sheet for rules, positions, and common terminology
- USA Lacrosse Insurance Guide
Fun Facts
- There are more than half a million youth and high school lacrosse players.
- There are over 900 NCAA varsity lacrosse programs at the Division I, II and III levels, up from around 600 just a decade ago.
- The fastest recorded lacrosse shot is 123 miles per hour (198 km/h) by Graeme Hossack in July 2025
- At almost a thousand years old, Lacrosse is the oldest sport in North America. Read more about its fascinating history and origins below!
lacrosse teaches us that every player is valuable, regardless of size or strength
In Haudenosaunee legend, the first lacrosse game was played by the winged birds and the four-legged animals. As they prepared for the match, a mouse and a squirrel approached the birds, asking to join their team. The four-legged animals had laughed and rejected them for being too small and weak. The birds fashioned wings for the mouse from leather and sinew and stretched the skin between the squirrel's arms and legs, creating the first bat and the first flying squirrel. In the end, it was the small creatures' speed, agility, and skill that won the day for the birds.
You can read a longer version of this tale here.
THE MEDICINE GAME
The oldest team sport in North America, the game of Lacrosse dates back to at least 1100. The indigenous tribes of North America played as a way to honor the Creator, to train for war, as part of social events, and sometimes even to settle land disputes.
The Onandoga call it Dehoñtjihgwa'és, which means "they bump hips." The Mohawk call it tewa:aráton, which means "it has a dual net." In Ojibwe, it's baaga`adowe, meaning "bump hips." In Choctaw, it's Ishtaboli or kapucha toli, which means "little brother of war."
Early versions of Lacrosse were played with wooden sticks and small, deer-hide wrapped balls on borderless fields that could span miles. Matches often included hundreds of men and could last for days. Sticks and rules varied by tribe and region. Some games were played for healing and enjoyment, while others settled conflicts and could be incredibly violent.
Regardless of name, tribe, or regional variations in gameplay and sticks, the Creator's Game is considered sacred; the Medicine Game given by the Creator.
French settlers, impressed by the game, called it "Lacrosse" because they thought the sticks resembled those used by Catholic Bishops. As more white Canadians and Americans took up the sport, it eventually evolved into the modern game we know and love today.
You can learn about the origins and history of Lacrosse here, here and here.