The sport of lacrosse has evolved from it’s brutal origin to the worldwide sport it is now. Lacrosse is an awesome and interesting  sport because of its history, how the gear has evolved, and where the future of lacrosse is headed.

Even though lacrosse isn’t very popular, its roots in history go nearly 400 years back in time. Lacrosse was originally created purely for an alternative to war between the native american tribes. While still very brutal, and sometimes deadly, it was a whole lot better than having to bury hundreds of their own due to war. The earliest confirmed records of the sport were from the 1630’s which were written down by the French Jesuits, and even the English explorer John Carver. Lacrosse wasn’t even the sports original name! Here is a direct quote from the US Lacrosse website, “Lacrosse was given its name by early French settlers, using the generic term for any game played with a curved stick (crosse) and a ball.” In addition, Lacrosse became the national sport of Canada in the 1860’s once rules and regulations were added to make the game less brutal.

The Lacrosse stick has continuously evolved throughout the sport's existence. The oldest known lacrosse sticks were made of a wooden shaft that was bent in half that had a hole at one end with 2 strings intertwined making a cross in the middle. Later on, the stick turned into what looks like the modern day goalie stick. After this the pocket was reduced to a normal size and was put on one end of a stick that was bent in the shape of a hook. In the 1970’s the lacrosse industry received its first plastic head. 10 years later they released the first aluminum shaft and replaced the old leather that was originally used in the lacrosse stick for mesh. This change was necessary because mesh performed better and lasted longer than the traditional leather. This mesh stick would become the official stick of the sport, but some players still use the traditional sticks nowadays.

Even though the sport does not have its own video game, it has continuously been gaining popularity throughout the world. Due to this popularity the sport was supposed to be In this year’s summer olympics in Tokyo, but due to the pandemic the olympics will have to be rescheduled. “Men’s lacrosse was an Olympic sport in 1904 and 1908 and was a demonstration sport in the 1928, 1932 and 1948 Olympics.” This was a quote from the US Lacrosse website. They also just created the PLL last year, which is the official professional lacrosse league which features some of the worlds best players.

Lacrosse is a very dangerous sport due to its countless injuries to the head, legs, and arms. While this may be true, there are pads and safety measures put in place to try and prevent such injuries. Then again these injuries are a part of the sport and players know this before signing up for the sport.

Even with the sports growing popularity, we still need everyone to spread the word and give their support to the Lacrosse community. There are also many other ways that you can support the Lacrosse community through cash donations, and gear. Lacrosse is an interesting sport due to its history, the evolution of the gear, and it’s amazing future as a sport and as a culture.