Lacrosse

Lacrosse has been a central element of Indigenous cultures for centuries, but once non-Indigenous players entered the sport, it became a site of appropriation – then reclamation – of Indigenous identities. The Creator’s Game focuses on the history of lacrosse in Indigenous communities from the 1860s to the 1990s, exploring Indigenous-non-Indigenous relations and Indigenous identity formation. While the game was being appropriated in the process of constructing a new identity for the nation-state of Canada, it was also being used by Indigenous peoples to resist residential school experiences, initiate pan-Indigenous political mobilization, and articulate Indigenous sovereignty. This engaging and innovative book provides a unique view of Indigenous self-determination and nationhood in the face of settler-colonialism.

North America's Indian peoples have always viewed competitive sport as something more than a pastime. The northeastern Indians' ball-and-stick game that would become lacrosse served both symbolic and practical functions—preparing young men for war, providing an arena for tribes to strengthen alliances or settle disputes, and reinforcing religious beliefs and cultural cohesion. Today a multimillion-dollar industry, lacrosse is played by colleges and high schools, amateur clubs, and two professional leagues. In Lacrosse: A History of the Game, Donald M. Fisher traces the evolution of the sport from the pre-colonial era to the founding in 2001 of a professional outdoor league—Major League Lacrosse—told through the stories of the people behind each step in lacrosse's development: Canadian dentist George Beers, the father of the modern game; Rosabelle Sinclair, who played a large role in the 1950s reinforcing the feminine qualities of the women's game; "Father Bill" Schmeisser, the Johns Hopkins University coach who worked tirelessly to popularize lacrosse in Baltimore; Syracuse coach Laurie Cox, who was to lacrosse what Yale's Walter Camp was to football; 1960s Indian star Gaylord Powless, who endured racist taunts both on and off the field; Oren Lyons and Wes Patterson, who founded the inter-reservation Iroquois Nationals in 1983; and Gary and Paul Gait, the Canadian twins who were All-Americans at Syracuse University and have dominated the sport for the past decade. Throughout, Fisher focuses on lacrosse as contested ground. Competing cultural interests, he explains, have clashed since English settlers in mid-nineteenth-century Canada first appropriated and transformed the "primitive" Mohawk game of tewaarathon, eventually turning it into a respectable "gentleman's" sport. Drawing on extensive primary research, he shows how amateurs and professionals, elite collegians and working-class athletes, field- and box-lacrosse players, Canadians and Americans, men and women, and Indians and whites have assigned multiple and often conflicting meanings to North America's first—and fastest growing—team sport.

To understand the aboriginal roots of lacrosse, one must enter a world of spiritual belief and magic where players sewed inchworms into the innards of lacrosse balls and medicine men gazed at miniature lacrosse sticks to predict future events, where bits of bat wings were twisted into the stick's netting, and where famous players were—and are still—buried with their sticks. Here Thomas Vennum brings this world to life.

This classic book on women's lacrosse has been updated with recent rule changes and the state of the game today. Women’s lacrosse is one of the fastest-growing sports in the United States. As stick technology advances, athleticism increases, and rules and regulations adapt, even the most experienced players and coaches need to keep current on all aspects of the game. Janine Tucker, head women’s lacrosse coach at Johns Hopkins University, and Maryalice Yakutchik, a writer and former lacrosse player, here supply the ultimate guide to women’s lacrosse. Each chapter provides a detailed explanation of a specific skill or technique, illustrated with easy-to-read instructional diagrams and photographs. Coach Tucker begins with lacrosse survival skills—throwing, catching, cradling, and scooping ground balls—and then moves on to more advanced techniques, such as precise checking, fast footwork, correct stick and body position, deceptive shooting, and quick dodges. Chapters on cutting-edge offensive and defensive strategy and on specialized skills, such as goal-tending and the draw, will get any team ready to hit the field. Fully updated, this edition includes * Detailed skill instruction * Drill suggestions throughout the book * New rules regarding the center draw and running through the crease For young women who want to play at the college level, the concluding chapter on recruiting offers a timeline; testimony from players, parents, and college coaches who have been through the process; and a sample résumé. Highlighting the most current strategies and tactics in the game today, Women's Lacrosse is a comprehensive instructional guide for coaches and players at all levels.

The director of athletics at Johns Hopkins University traces the history of lacrosse and offers detailed explanations of the sport's techniques and strategies, presenting line drawings and action photographs to illustrate aspects of play.

The first book from the team behind Inside Lacrosse magazine, this is a snapshot of the continent's original sport. This exquisite and lavishly illustrated coffee table book takes provides a visual journey through the "fastest game on two feet." With a charismatic prologue written by lacrosse legend Roy Simmons, Jr., Lacrosse is a glossy, photographic encyclopedia of this great game. Chapters are dedicated to the sport's Native American roots, men and women's college play, the pro indoor and outdoor games, and many other topics.