Lacrosse is quite often considered “America’s first sport.” What it is, is a sport that originated from a game played by ancient Native Americans dating back to the early 1400′s. There are several versions of the game, men’s lacrosse, women’s lacrosse and box (or indoor) lacrosse. The game is played with long handled sticks and a small solid ball. The idea of the sport is to score by “shooting” the ball into the opposing teams goal. Men’s lacrosse is considered a “full contact” sport, therefore pads, cups and safety gear are highly recommended.Want more? Click ‘http://www10.nytimes.com/2012/05/27/sports/ncaa-womens-lacrosse-syracuse-to-face-northwestern-in-final.html?_r=5′>here{{/tag} Women’s lacrosse, however, is not full contact therefore their only required safety gear is a mouth guard and protective eye wear.
Competitive lacrosse has mainly been played in the United States and Canada, however England and Australia have also had small lacrosse communities for quite some time. Additionally, over the last 20 to 30 years, there has been a worldwide surge in lacrosse’s popularity. Countries including Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, England, Ireland, Iroquois Nationals, Scotland and the United States in addition to many others are now proudly among the worldwide competitive lacrosse communities. Now there are yearly world championship lacrosse tournaments, often featuring upwards of 20 different countries.