lacrosse

Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively modified by European colonists, reducing the violence, to create its current collegiate and professional form.

Players use the head of the lacrosse stick to carry, pass, catch, and shoot the ball into the goal. The sport has five versions that have different sticks, fields, rules and equipment: field lacrosse, women's lacrosse, box lacrosse, lacrosse sixes and intercrosse. The men's games, field lacrosse (outdoor) and box lacrosse (indoor), are contact sports and all players wear protective gear: helmet, gloves, shoulder pads, and elbow pads. The women's game is played outdoors and does not allow body contact but does allow stick to stick contact. The only protective gear required for women players is eyegear, while goalies wear helmets and protective pads. Lacrosse sixes is played by both men and women on a smaller field and is the most common version at multi-sport events. Intercrosse is a mixed-gender non-contact sport that uses an all-plastic stick and a softer ball.