50 Fun Facts About Lacrosse

Lacrosse's Indigenous origins date back to at least which century?

Some accounts put the earliest games around 1100 AD.

Which French Jesuit missionary saw Huron players in 1637 and coined the name 'la crosse'?

The name refers to the shape of the playing implement in French.

The name 'la crosse' means what in French?

Some link it to the crosier, a bishop's staff, which the early sticks resembled.

Indigenous nations described lacrosse as being played 'for' whom?

One version of the game was called baggataway.

Traditional Indigenous lacrosse games could involve how many players?

A huge mob would swarm the ball and slowly move it across the field.

The Mohawk word for their game, tewa:aráton, means what?

'Little brother of war' is the Choctaw name; 'bump hips' is the Ojibwe.

Which Canadian dentist founded the Montreal Lacrosse Club in 1856 and codified the game's rules?

He shortened the game and cut teams to 12 players a side.

The first game under Beers's rules, in 1867, saw Upper Canada College lose 3-1 to which side?

Beers had reduced the number of players per team to 12.

A team of Caughnawaga Mohawk players demonstrated lacrosse in Montreal in which year?

By 1900 there were dozens of clubs across Canada, the US, England, Australia and New Zealand.

Which monarch watched an exhibition game in 1876 and called it 'very pretty to watch'?

Her endorsement led English girls' schools to adopt the sport in the 1890s.

How many players does each team field in men's field lacrosse?

Three attackmen, three midfielders, three defensemen and a goalie.

How many players are on a women's lacrosse team?

The women's game bans body contact but allows stick-to-stick contact.

A box lacrosse team consists of a goalie plus how many runners?

It is played on a hockey rink with the ice removed or covered.

What are the dimensions of a men's field lacrosse field?

The goals are 6 feet square and 80 yards apart.

How big is a lacrosse goal?

The goalie's stick head can be up to 12 inches wide.

What is a lacrosse ball made of?

The intercrosse ball, by contrast, is larger, softer and hollow.

How long is the shot clock in box lacrosse?

The tight confines and the clock make it a very fast game.

How many official versions of lacrosse are there?

Field, women's, box, sixes and intercrosse.

Box lacrosse originated in which decade, in Canada?

It remains more popular there than the field game.

The modern women's game was introduced in 1890 at St Leonards School in which country?

Louisa Lumsden brought it to the school in St Andrews.

What protective equipment are US women's field players required to wear?

Goggles became mandatory in the US in 2002 but are not required internationally.

In which two Olympic Games was lacrosse a full medal sport?

It returned as a demonstration event in 1928, 1932 and 1948.

Only which two nations competed in the 1908 Olympic lacrosse tournament in London?

Canada has won three of the five Olympic lacrosse medals ever awarded.

In which format was lacrosse added to the programme of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics?

It marks the sport's first Olympic appearance since 1908.

Lacrosse sixes was created in which year by World Lacrosse to win Olympic inclusion?

It uses six players a side on a smaller field.

World Lacrosse uniquely recognises which groups as sovereign members?

The Haudenosaunee Nationals compete under their own flag.

The Iroquois team dropped 'Iroquois' from its name in 2022 in favour of what?

The team was formed by the Grand Council of the Haudenosaunee in 1983.

The Nationals travel on what kind of passport, which has caused repeated visa problems?

Their trip to the 2018 World Championship in Israel was delayed by passport issues.

Besides Canada and the US, which nation alone has finished top three at the World Indoors?

Canada beat the Iroquois Nationals 21-4 in the first world indoor final in 2003.

The sport's world governing body changed its name from what in 2019?

When Ghana joined in August 2019, there were 63 lacrosse-playing countries.

The NCAA's first men's lacrosse championship in 1971 was won by which school?

They beat Maryland 12-6, and were also the 2025 champions.

The Tewaaraton Award, college lacrosse's equivalent of the Heisman, has been given since which year?

Its name is the Mohawk word for their game.

Which NFL legend is also in the Lacrosse Hall of Fame and has the PLL's MVP award named after him?

He was an All-American in both sports at Syracuse.

Four-time All-American Gary Gait played and in 2021 became head coach at which university?

He won three NCAA titles as a player and the Enners Award twice.

Which player and his brother founded the Premier Lacrosse League in 2018?

He had tried repeatedly to buy Major League Lacrosse first.

How was the PLL's inaugural 2019 season structured?

Its first game was played on June 1, 2019.

Major League Lacrosse merged into the PLL in which year?

That made the PLL the sole men's pro field league in North America.

The National Lacrosse League, the pro box league, is headquartered in which city?

Many NLL players hold full-time jobs off the floor, such as ex-Bandit John Tavares, a schoolteacher.

The first women's lacrosse team in the US was founded in 1926 at a school in which city?

Bryn Mawr School was the pioneer; Baltimore remains a lacrosse hotbed.

As of 2019, roughly how many countries play lacrosse?

Ghana was the newest addition that August.

Which US service academy went unbeaten in lacrosse from 1917 through 1923?

A stretch of 40 games with one tie.

The Iroquois Nationals were accepted as a full member of the international federation in which year?

They finished fifth of five at their first World Championship in Australia in 1990.

Which lacrosse-only version, played on a smaller field, is most common at multi-sport events?

It is played by both men and women.

How long is a regulation men's field lacrosse game?

It is split into four 15-minute quarters, each opened with a face-off.

Which of these was a name for a traditional Indigenous version of the game?

The game was also described as 'The Creator's Game' and was played as a form of symbolic warfare.

Which school won seven consecutive NCAA women's lacrosse titles from 1995 to 2001?

Northwestern later strung together five straight titles from 2005 to 2009.

Which two franchises shared the record for most NLL titles, with six each, as of 2022?

The NLL plays its 18-game season from December to April in ice rinks covered with artificial turf.

Which team won the lacrosse gold medal at the 1904 St. Louis Olympics?

Only three teams took part, including a Mohawk side from the Iroquois Confederacy.

In 2008, which US state became the first to mandate headgear in women's lacrosse?

The women's game normally requires only a mouth guard and eye guard as protective equipment.

The NLL, the pro box circuit, began play in 1987 under a name featuring which bird?

The Eagle Pro Box Lacrosse League had four teams playing a six-game season; the NLL name arrived in 1998.