Grow the Game®

Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin
Share on reddit
Share on whatsapp

Throwback Thursday: Vintage Lacrosse Literature

Since my significant other is an English major, I tend to find myself in bookstores more often now than in years past. Short trips, vacations or just passing through, when the lady sees an unique or classic looking bookseller, we always stop to look for lost treasure.

This time around, we were strolling through downtown Boise, Idaho when a place by the name of Trip Taylor’s Used Books caught her eye. We stopped in and were immediately surprised by the volume of materials in such a small building, but all organized with great efficiency. While she gazed at all of the books that were older than dinosaurs, I climbed upstairs to where they kept their books on sports.

After flipping through a ton of Sports Almanacs and neat old school sports relics, something caught my eyes in the Other Sports section. In between a book on Kayaking and Long Distance Running was a book titled Lacrosse: Technique and Tradition. I immediately snatched it off the shelf as if the place was crawling with Maryland natives with lax sticks in hand.

Staring at the cover I saw a couple Johns Hopkins and Maryland players battling over a ground ball, from what I guessed to be from the mid-70’s. Upon investigation I was able to determine the book was authored by Bob Scott back in 1976 with the help of the Johns Hopkins lacrosse program.

Throwback Thursday: Lacrosse: Technique and Traditon - Johns Hopkins Maryland lacrosse

Before I dive any deeper in to the contents of this lacrosse player’s bible, I would like to show off a few of my favorite images, it is #ThrowbackThursday after all!

I was determined to buy the book at any cost, and luckily that cost was only $5! I was glued to the pages when I first picked it up and I continue to flip through it constantly. After a quick Google of the title when I got home, it turns out this book is pretty easy to find on the web and years later Coach Petromala helped to update the classic and reissue a modern version.

I must ask, did any of our readers used to read this book? Did you use any of the drills? Did it help?!?! I’ve got to know more about this book and why they don’t continue to update it constantly, this thing is gold! Also, let us know of other awesome vintage lacrosse literature to add to our growing collection!

[mks_separator style=”solid” height=”4″]

Organized lacrosse has only been in Idaho since around the year 2000, so how the book made it to town and stayed in mint condition is beyond me, but I am elated to add it to my growing collection.

Over the next few months we will be trickling out the lessons from the book and pointing out how in 40 years, the game hasn’t changed too much. Sure there are some huge differences on how the game is conducted, but the fundamentals continue to stay rooted in lacrosse’s rich history.