The Evolution of Lacrosse
Ever since the early 1630’s the sport of lacrosse has been building and evolving into a global and an college powerhouse sport that is becoming more popular by the day. As popular as the sport has become, people still ask, what is lacrosse? Lacrosse is a game that involves a goal, a long-handled stick and a ball. Lacrosse is very similar to hockey or even basketball in some ways when it comes to things like how the offense is ran and the way you try to score. It can be a very aggressive contact sport. Typically, there are 10 players on the field at one time. There are 3 attackmen, 3 midfielders, 3 defensemen and a goalie.
The sport was brought to the United States in 1838 but it’s history dates back way farther than the 1800’s. Lacrosse was first played by a group of iroquois in the early 1630’s. It was played for reasons other than as a form of pure competition. Back in the day, it was played to
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Although lacrosse has had it’s ups, for a short period of time it began to decline in popularity in the 1930s. Less people were attending the games which led to some teams and programs having to shut down which led to many disappointed people. Despite its downfall, it quickly sprung back up during what was considered to be the “ NCAA Era’’ which ran from 1971 to 1998. The popularity was brought back largely due to the Gait twins. Paul and Gary Gait were two brothers who excelled highly at the sport of lacrosse. They attended Syracuse University and won 3 consecutive championships from 1988 to 1991. They invented the “ Air-Gait” which is the equivalent to a slam dunk in basketball that we see today. They attracted more skilled athletes to the sport, doing so made the sport more popular which led to the stands filling up, bringing in more revenue. It was safe to say that lacrosse was finally