Lacrosse: a Brief Intro to the Sport Taking Over the US
Lacrosse is generally considered America’s oldest organized sport. It evolved from games and tribal training involving potentially hundreds of Native Americans of the 15th century through to the game we know today – with formal rules starting to be documented in the 1800s. Lacrosse’s popularity grew through prep schools and colleges. It’s only grown over recent years and it’s now one of the country’s fastest-growing sports. It’s taking over America.
It might not quite match the audiences of basketball, football, and baseball but if participation rates continue to grow as they are, it may become part of the mainstream sooner than we think.
Lacrosse participation
Lacrosse participation is growing exponentially. It’s growing exponentially in all areas of the country. More children are playing the sport and youth participation is skyrocketing. More college students are playing – men and women. Professional lacrosse leagues are popping up all over the country.
US Lacrosse recently published a survey that suggested players had increased from 253,931 in 2001 to 624,593 in 2010.
Lacrosse popularity explained
The popularity of lacrosse is relatively easy to understand and easy to explain. It’s popular as a participation sport and it’s popular for viewers.
Lacrosse can be played by everyone and there are leagues to suit every skill level. You need to be fit and you need to be agile but lacrosse can be played by anyone – tall or short. You aren’t precluded from playing if you don’t fit into a certain athlete box. There are opportunities to play no matter your age or skill level. As a youth, you may have school competitions and out of school competitions. As an adult, you can play in a league that suits your skill level – amateur and professional
Lacrosse is also an incredibly popular spectator sport. The action, the passes, and the bullet-like shots on goal make for great viewing. The viewer numbers for the NCAA Men’s Competition and other professional leagues are growing. As well as being popular on television, NCAA and Professional League games now regularly draw crowds of over 10,000 people.
Lacrosse is a unique sport. It’s fast-paced and exciting. There is no other sport like it so there is no other sport it really needs to compete with. Having said that, there are some visual elements of the game of Lacrosse that may make it appealing to fans and spectators of other sports. Players wear helmets like football players. They check like hockey players and when they’re playing outdoors the field is somewhat like a soccer field.
Talk to anyone about lacrosse and they will tell you about how they were hooked from the moment they first saw a game. Parents who take their children to a game often report the same.
Benefits of lacrosse
The benefits of lacrosse are great. Lacrosse appeals to parents for safety reasons. It’s a contact sport but it’s generally considered safer than other contact sports. Lacrosse players generally suffer fewer injuries. This is appealing to parents who want to encourage their children to get involved in sports but are worried about them getting hurt.
Lacrosse, like other sports, offers a number of benefits to children especially. By playing lacrosse children can learn about teamwork. They will improve their self-esteem and learn self-discipline and other social skills. These skills are all important skills to learn and they are transferable to other areas of life. Focus and discipline can also help children improve their academic skills.
Improving your lacrosse skills
Many who start playing lacrosse then decide that they want to improve their skills. There are workout routines you can follow to increase your fitness and strength in a functional way that improves your strength and athletic ability.
Players are also looking to improve their agility. There are also other tools like this – a lacrosse rebounder. Using an exercise tool like this helps to ensure that your lacrosse stick becomes an extension of your arms and hands.
Lacrosse takeaways
Lacrosse is the sport that is taking over and the US. Participation rates are skyrocketing. Professional Players are becoming stars and viewer numbers are going up.
People love watching the game and players are also looking at ways that they can take the game more seriously.