The Lacrosse Info

Lacrosse is a team sport that is played by ten players (men) or twelve players (women), each of whom uses a netted stick (the crosse) in order to pass and catch a very hard rubber ball with the aim of scoring goals (each worth one point traditionally, but also two in Major League Lacrosse) by propelling the ball into the opponent's goal.The team scoring the most points after two halves, of varying length from competition to competition, and overtime if necessary, wins.

Most popular in North America, lacrosse is Canada's official national summer sport and the fastest growing sport in the US.

In its modern form, men's lacrosse is played on a field of grass, artificial turf, or field turf. Each team is composed of 10 players on the field at a time: three attackmen, three midfielders, three defenders and one goaltender. In men's lacrosse, players wear protective equipment on their heads, shoulders, arms, and hands, as body checking is an integral part of the game, and stick checks to the arms and hands are considered legal. Women's lacrosse is played in a similar manner except with two additional midfielders per team. Players of women's lacrosse need only wear protective eyewear, as contact is not permitted apart from minor stick-checks.
As mentioned men’s lacrosse is a full contact sport, with players wearing complete protective equipment. Thus checking - striking opponents’ stick or body with the crosse - is legal and very much part of the game.
A face-off

Each team starts with ten players on the field: a goalkeeper and three defenders at the defensive end, three midfielders across the midfield line, and three attackers at the offensive end. Each quarter starts with a face-off in which the ball is placed on the ground and two faceoffmen lay their stick horizontally next to the ball, head of the stick inches from the ball and the butt end pointing down the midfield line. Faceoffmen scrap for the ball, often by clamping it under their stick and flicking it out to their midfielders, who start on the wing restraining line near the sideline and sprint in when the whistle is blown to start play. Attackers and defenders cannot cross their restraining lineuntil one player from the midfield takes possession of the ball. A face-off also restarts the game after each goal.

Time continues to run in dead ball situations such as in between goals, with two exceptions: when the referees deem it necessary to avoid a significant loss of playing time, for example when chasing a ball shot far away; and in the last three minutes of the fourth quarter of any men’s game.

In men's lacrosse, players can be awarded penalties of two types by the referee for rule infractions. Personal fouls always result in the player serving time in the penalty box, located at the side of the field between the opposing teams' interchange benches. These penalties can last one, two, or three minutes at the referee's opinion. Two and three minute penalties are usually reserved for the most serious slashing or unsportsmanlike conduct fouls. Technical fouls are less severe and result in 30 seconds being served only if the foul was committed while the opposing team was in possession of the ball. If there was a loose ball situation or the player's team was in possession at the time of foul, they only result in a turnover. Technical fouls are releasable, meaning a player may return to the game without spending the entire duration of his penalty in the box if the opposing team scores during the penalty. Fouls form an important part of men's lacrosse as while a player is serving time, his team is man down. At this time his defense must play a zone while they wait for the penalty to expire while the attacking team has its best opportunity to score. A list of the fouls in men's lacrosse is as follows:

Tewaaraton Trophy is an award given to the top American college lacrosse player since 2001. There are separate awards given to the top male lacrosse and female lacrosse player.

A lacrosse stick (sometimes called a crosse) is a lacrosse player's most important piece of equipment.

The head of a lacrosse stick is the part used for handling the ball. Players catch, throw and cradle with the ball in the head of the stick.

Intercrosse is a non-contact form of lacrosse with a standardised set of rules using sofcrosse equipment. Intercrosse as a competitive sport is popular in many continental European countries, as well as in Quebec, Canada.

International Lacrosse Federation was founded in 1974 to promote and develop the game of men's lacrosse throughout the world. As of 2006, the international governing bodies for men's and women's lacrosse are separate, which is one of the obstacles of lacrosse one day becoming an Olympic sport.

European Lacrosse Federation

US Lacrosse

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