The Influence Of Women's Lacrosse

What started as an American Indian substitute for war, is now played for enjoyment and competition all over the world. Lacrosse is the fastest growing college and high school sport in the United States. From the year 2000 to 2014, women’s college lacrosse has grown 109 percent and men’s college lacrosse has grown 95 percent. It is often called the fastest sport on two feet. Lacrosse is most popular on the East Coast, however, it is gaining popularity in the Western United States very quickly. All over the world, people are starting to play lacrosse. Right now, there are 54 countries that are members of the Federation of international Lacrosse. In the past, lacrosse was only played by men, but now the sport is popular among women as well.
In women’s lacrosse, there more players allowed on the field. Women play with twelve players on the field consisting of four defenders, four attackers, three midfielders, and one goalie. Men play with 10 players on the field with the positions of: defense, attack, midfield and goalie. Women and men both have to use protective equipment to prevent injuries while playing. Women wear eye goggles to protect the eyes and nose and a mouthguard to protect the teeth. Men wear helmets to protect the head and face, a mouthguard to protect the teeth, gloves to protect their fingers, shoulder and arm pads to protect from hard contact, and sometimes chest pads are required. For women’s lacrosse sticks, the depth of the pocket is legal if you can see the ball over the sidewall of the head, however, men’s lacrosse sticks can have a deeper pocket than women’s lacrosse sticks. In both sports, goalies are required to have the same equipment. They wear helmets, throat protectors, padded gloves, mouth guards, and a chest protector. They also have a specific goalie stick that has a wider head than normal sticks. In girls lacrosse under high school level, goalies are required to wear shin guards and thigh protection. Also, in both games, a small rubber ball is required, but the men’s lacrosse ball is slightly heavier than a women’s lacrosse ball and it is usually white instead of the yellow or orange ball that women’s teams use. Lacrosse is played in recreation teams, competitive year round teams, college teams, high school teams, national teams, and sometimes professional teams. It was played in the 1904 and 1908 Olympics by the US, Britain, and Canada. It was later not played because not enough countries had teams. From 1967 to the present, there have been men’s World Lacrosse