Vagneur: A beginner’s guide to lacrosse

It’s a classic photo: A 9-year-old boy decked out in the latest lacrosse gear, taken by photographer Chuck Lyons, Traudl’s husband and a fellow grandfather. There are many action photos Lyons took that day, but the one most poignant in my mind is non-action, my grandson waiting for the face-off to take place. It’s a stance, displaying all the required equipment, ready for action, bent slightly at the waist, stick at the ready, held by padded gloves, feet placed one behind the other, ready to go any direction, the intensity on his face almost beyond imagination. It makes me smile and proud to be his grandfather. 

At that moment, he is one with the sport, one of genuine North American origination, going back to the 1300s, at least, maybe earlier. Native Americans invented the game of lacrosse for various reasons: some religious, some in preparation for war, others just for fun, or bragging rights. Today, there are 12 players on each side, but back in the day, there might have been anywhere from 100 to 1,000 on each team. 

The game usually started by throwing the ball, made of either animal skin or wood, high into the air, and the game was on. Early fields had a beginning on one end of an immense clearing, an ending at the opposite end of the field of play, which might have been a mile or more away, with no other definable demarcations. Goals might have been marked by rocks or certain trees. Before the match, players and their supporters passed the night in singing, dancing, and soliciting divine support. Games, along with feasts and other rituals, might have gone on for multiple days. Named by a Jesuit priest in the 1600s, lacrosse means “the stick” in French.  

It was brutal from the beginning, as it sometimes is today, although back then, they had no pads, no protection from an opponents stick, of which being “homemade”, there were maddening variations. Imagine young warriors, excited to prove their mettle for battle, slugging it out on an immense open space with hundreds of others just like them. Competition must have been intense. 

Modern field lacrosse attracts young warriors from today’s world, both boys and girls, and all the players seems to have a tremendous amount of motivation. But wait! If you’re the parent of a child who wants to play lacrosse, don’t despair because you think it might be dangerous. All sports have a danger component, as does walking down the sidewalk. Contact is allowed in boys lacrosse; girls is pretty much non-contact, but until you’ve watched a girl’s game, you probably haven’t thought the concept of “pushing” all the way through. Such gifted athletes, both boys and girls.

Since it’s a contact sport, the equipment for boys is as follows: helmet, stick, gloves, shoulder pads, arm pads, a mouth guard, and a protective cup. Rib pads are optional. Goalies wear a bit more protection, and let me tell you, watching these kids gear up before a game is witness to the seriousness with which they take their part. 

The girls, as mentioned, is non-contact, but equipment for them is still on the protective side: stick, mouthguard, and protective eyewear are the only required items for most players. Headgear and close-fitting gloves can be optional for field players. Again, goalies get a little more protection, as they’re in the hot zone where incidental contact may occur. 

Growing up through an earlier rendition of Aspen schools, I had no idea that lacrosse even existed, let alone what it was about. Recently, my grandson got involved with the Aspen Lacrosse Club (a good move on the part of him and his parents), and I rather rapidly began to pick up the nuances of the sport. “The fastest game on two feet,” as some wags call it, a veritable description of reality. 

There are two competitive kids lacrosse clubs in the valley: the Aspen Lacrosse Club (aspenlacross.org), and the Roaring Fork Lacrosse Club (roaringforklacross.org). Think there’s competition? Come by Crown Mountain Park for the annual tournament between local clubs including teams as far away as Steamboat and Vail. You might be amazingly surprised. 

The coach of my grandson’s team, Rick Stevens (You know Stevens, running for Basalt council) put the bug in my ear about the history of lacrosse last fall, piquing my curiosity, and I vowed that I would write about the game when spring rolled around. If I was a young, sports-minded boy or girl (My granddaughter will be playing her second year this spring), lacrosse would be near or at the top of my list. After skiing, of course. 

And here we go.

Tony Vagneur writes here on Saturdays and welcomes your comments at ajv@sopris.net.