Lacrosse Hits

Once, the game of lacrosse was known to be very rough. The game is played with tenacity, so injuries are frequent - at times unavoidable. Due to the temperament the game is played, deaths occurred. Being a warrior’s game, these mishaps are understood and to be accepted and welcomed as part of the training. The players, Indian braves themselves, would also require no less, and those weak weren’t fit to play the game. It was a culling of sorts, where only warriors of great destiny were deemed fit to play such an important game.

That was what lacrosse once was, a game played as prelude or finale to war. It was a game that would settle disputes and curb hatred from erupting to an all out war. Native North American chieftains agree to such a game, understanding that while it may not prevent a single death from happening, the game could prevent a thousand of deaths from happening. So from sunup to sundown, three days straight, virile men on horseback with the strength of a thousands struggle for a single ball, maneuver it on a mile length playing field to score that one goal that could be decisive to its tribal interest. The players of the opposing tribes would also do no less, to further their own tribal interest onto the playing field. By the end of the day, the shamans and the witchdoctors that act as the umpires and referees would treat the wounded and prepare for the service those that had fallen during the day.

With only the barest of rules attached to the game, almost anything is allowed, except the bringing of actual war weapons into the field. The objective of the game is scoring goals, but that doesn’t prevent participating Indians to attack the players of the opposing team, in fact the focus becomes exactly that. In order to have a better time scoring those goals, the players rationalize that injuring the opposition and hard would be the best resolution. So there go the very first lacrosse hits, a feature that would become very integral and significant in its modern form.

Not allowed to bring weapons of any kind, and not allowed to outright harm the opposing players, these tribal players make do with their hickory sticks to deliver harm or punishment or absolution to players of the opposing teams all the while still “playing” within the confines of the game. So there you will see players hacking for the ball as well as hacking against each other and those in possession of the ball. The sticks used, the forerunner of the mis-coined term “crosse”, weren’t made for killing, but they make a very good switches. And when the French Jesuit missionary Jean de Brébeuf witnessed a Huron Indian game going on, he saw a game full of antics and magnetism despite its grim foundation.

The French settlers living in the fringes of Canada then adopted the sport, renaming it lacrosse, and playing their variant that’s smaller in scale and remarkably less violent. The lacrosse hits are codified to make it less injuring without destroying the game stimulation. Rules for hits in lacrosse are arrange, foul areas are designated, and now lacrosse was ready for the 20th century.

Today, lacrosse hits are very much integral to the game, except maybe women’s lacrosse and high school lacrosse. In the box variant lacrosse especially, where lacrosse hits are permitted designated areas in the body, it still retains strong the game it was once played.

Many have speculated that it was the hits in lacrosse that gave the game much its charm. It was played, deliberated, and intended, without, then it would be a game like all others: tedious and unexciting.