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Invented by Indians, lacrosse known as America’s oldest game

Most every man, woman and child in Georgia can at least tell you the basics about the game of football. But lacrosse?

The sport has been popular in other parts of the country, especially the Northeast, for many years. With the influx of new residents from the North in recent years, it is now gaining steam across the metro Atlanta area.

McIntosh High will be the first Fayette County school to field competitive lacrosse teams for both boys and girls this spring. If the venture goes well, other schools in the county could soon be sporting their own lacrosse squads.

While lacrosse is played on a football-size field, the similarities between the two sports really end there.

According to the website laxhistory.com, lacrosse is the oldest sport in North America, with its origin dating back to the 1400s. It did not become generally known and talked about until the 1600s when a Jesuit missionary named Jean de Brebeuf saw the Hyron Indians play it.

In a report to his superiors, de Brebeuf said little about the actual play of the game but seemed to be intrigued by the stick the indians used while playing, comparing it to a "crosier" carried at religious ceremonies by a bishop. Thus, the name “la crosse” evolved, and this later became simply "lacrosse."

The website explains:

“Indian lacrosse was a mass game and often teams were made up of 100 to 1,000 braves on each side. The goals were usually 500 yards to one-half mile apart. On occasion, the goals could be separated by several miles. Usually a large rock or tree was considered the goal and a score was recorded by hitting the rock or tree with a ball. Some tribes used goal posts six to nine feet apart, and the ball had to pass between them for a score, much like today's game.

“Games lasted from sunup to sundown and stretched over the course of two or three days. Lacrosse games were originally used to toughen braves for actual combat. There were even times when games were played between two tribes to settle their differences or disputes.

“It was not until the early 1800s that the French pioneers started playing lacrosse seriously. With their participation in the sport came the first signs of turning lacrosse into a more civilized game. Canadian dentist W. George Beers standardized the game in 1867 with the adoption of set field dimensions, limits to the number of players per team, and other basic rules.

“New York University fielded the nation's first college team in 1877, and Philips Andover Academy in Massachusetts, Philips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire and the Lawrenceville School in New Jersey were the nations' first high school teams in 1882.

“In the early 1900s lacrosse became recognized as a ‘force to be reckoned with.’ It was during this time that the game was first played in Olympic competition, and the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse League (USILL) was formed. In 1926, the USILL was replaced by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association, which is still the governing body of lacrosse today.

“Lacrosse continued to grow in America during the mid-1900s, and today the game is played by over 500 colleges and universities, as well as over 1,400 high schools nationwide. Women's lacrosse is booming too. Over 100 colleges and universities, along with 150 high schools, currently sponsor programs.”