Lacrosse

Lacrosse, a sport once played by the North American Indians both for pleasure and as preparation for battle, continues to be played today and has recently been gaining in popularity as a team sport in the US and Canada. Although lacrosse in its original form was a wild and violent free-for-all with few rules and no set time limits, the modern-day version has been much modified. An indoor version even exists.

The objective of lacrosse is, as in all games, to score points. This is done when the players of one team move a ball from the center of the playing field to the opposing team's goal. In doing so, players must not touch the ball with their hands: it is moved by passing it or by means of playing sticks called crosses. The crosses are something like short poles with a net pocket (called a "throat") at one end; a player carries the ball in the throat of his crosses as he runs down the field.

A lacrosse team consists of 10 players: 3 attack players, 3 middle field players, 3 defense players, and a goalkeeper. All except the goalkeeper play opposite players on the other team. A lacrosse field is divided by a center line and each team must keep at least 4 men in the defensive half of the field and at least 3 men in the attack half.

A lacrosse game begins by having the 2 centers face each other in the middle of the field; the referee then places the ball between their crosses and at the sound of his whistle they each try to get the ball and move it down the field. A game of lacrosse lasts one hour. This time period is divided into four fifteen-minute portions: the teams change goals after each period.

Lacrosse is an exciting, fast-moving game that is almost as fun to watch as it is to play and, although more and more people are learning about it and playing it, it deserves much greater popularity than it currently enjoys.