History of Lacrosse
Source of information from St Leonards School, Scotland. Link below
http://www.stleonards-fife.org/Index.asp?MainID=4382

Lacrosse has a history that spans centuries and is rooted in Native American religion. It was often played to resolve conflicts, prepare for war, heal the sick, and develop strong, virile men. To Native Americans, lacrosse is still referred to as "The Creator's Game." Legend tells of as many as 1,000 players per side, from the same or different tribes, who took turns engaging in a violent contest. Contestants played on a field from one to 15 miles in length, and games sometimes lasted for days. Some tribes used a single pole, tree or rock for a goal, while other tribes had two goalposts through which the ball had to pass. Balls were made out of wood, deerskin, baked clay or stone.

The evolution of the Native American game into modern lacrosse began in 1636 when Jean de Brebeuf, a Jesuit missionary, documented a Huron contest in what is now southeast Ontario, Canada. At that time, some type of lacrosse was played by at least 48 Native American tribes scattered throughout what is now southern Canada and all parts of the United States. French pioneers began playing the game avidly in the 1800s. 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.

The first women's lacrosse game was played in 1890 at the St. Leonard's School in Scotland. Records give details of the House matches played during the Spring Term 1890. Unfortunately there are no direct references as to how lacrosse came to be included in the curriculum. However, in 'Yellow Leaves' the autobiography of the school's first Headmistress, Miss Louisa Lumsden, (later to become Dame Louisa) a letter written home from White Mountains, New Hampshire dated September 6th 1884 tells of her visit to watch the Canghuwaya Indians play lacrosse against the Montreal Club. She said: - "It is a wonderful game, beautiful and graceful. (I was so charmed with it that I introduced it at St Leonard’s)"

Miss Lumsden had left St Leonard’s in 1882 so it can only be assumed that she suggested the idea of lacrosse to her successor Miss Frances Dove (later to become Dame Frances). The most interesting reference to the introduction of lacrosse is to be found in a small note book entitled "Rules and Record of the Challenge Shield Competition" dated March 1890 which states:- "that owing to the lack of a drill mistress... it was decided to award the Shield on a competition in lacrosse."

The June issue of the 'St Leonard’s Gazette' 1890 reported the first house matches:- "Whether the game on the whole has proved successful may be doubted but at least we have advanced so far in its mysteries as to get a good and exciting game in the field with teams of eight and they lasted one hour not including a ten minute interval in the middle, after which goals were changed ...the game was close and fast but the play rather wild and far too much on the ground." Photographs of players at this time show them holding sticks with very large nets, no bridge and short handles. Originally the house teams consisted of 8 players and the table below indicates the changing size of teams and the names of the positions.

St Leonard’s contributed to the development of lacrosse in other schools. In 1896 Miss Frances Dove left to found Wycombe Abbey School and immediately introduced lacrosse. In 1902 M. Colbeck, a Senior, spent a fortnight at Rodean to start lacrosse there. St Leonard’s influence on lacrosse was not confined to Great Britain. Rosabelle Sinclair, also a Senior, was instrumental in introducing lacrosse as a game for women in the United States.

On leaving school she attended Madame Osterberg's College of Physical Education in Dartford and subsequently was appointed Athletic Director at Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore. An article in "The Baltimore Sun" reproduced in the May 1955 issue of the St Leonard’s Gazette indicates that women's lacrosse had disappeared in America when Rosabelle Sinclair arrived in Baltimore. It states:- "Introducing the game there in 1926, she succeeded in injecting her enthusiasm into her pupils with the result that they, in their turn, went to spread the gospel among the colleges in the East." St Leonard’s has therefore been influential in the development of women's lacrosse in the United Kingdom and in America.

Men's and women's lacrosse were played under virtually the same rules, with no protective equipment, until the mid-1930s. At that time, men's lacrosse began evolving dramatically, while women's lacrosse continued to remain true to the game's original rules. Men's and women's lacrosse remain derivations of the same game today, but are played under different rules. Women's rules limit stick contact, prohibit body contact and, therefore, require little protective equipment. Men's lacrosse rules allow some degree of stick and body contact.

While modern lacrosse has been around for over 70 years, until about 20 years ago it had only been played for the most part in Canada and the United States, with small but dedicated lacrosse communities in Great Britain and Australia. Since then however, lacrosse has flourished at an international level with the sport establishing itself in many new and far-reaching countries, particularly in Europe and East Asia.

With lacrosse not having been an official Olympic sport since 1908, the pinnacle of international lacrosse competition consists of the quadrennial World Championships. Currently, there are World Championships for lacrosse at senior men, senior women, under 19 men and under 19 women level. Until 1986, lacrosse world championships had only been contested by the United States, Canada, England and Australia, with Scotland and Wales also competing in the women's edition. The expansion of the game internationally has seen the 2005 Women's World Cup competed for by ten nations, and the 2006 Men's World Championship was contested by 21 countries.

Women’s World Cup Results:

The 2009 Women’s World Cup will be held in Prague, Czech Republic.

For more information visit www.lacrosseworldcup2009.com

The next largest international field lacrosse competition is the European Lacrosse Championships. Held for both men and women, the European Lacrosse Federation (ELF) has been running the European Championships since 1995. Before 2001 the Championships were an annual event, but in 2001 the ELF changed the format to every four years between the World Championships. Before 2004, only 7 nations had ever participated, but in 2004 there was a record number of participating countries, with 12 men's and 6 women's, which made it the largest international lacrosse event of 2004.

The 2008 European Lacrosse Championships will be held in Lahti, Finland.