Grow the Game®

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A Unique Game: Tradition And History In Lacrosse

Editor’s Note: Welcome Nicole Dyrdahl to LAS!  Nicole will be covering women’s lacrosse this spring and we’re REALLY pumped to have her on board.  She’s a game grower, and a lover of all things lax.  In this post, Nicole talks about where the game comes from, and how important history is when moving forward!

2009_tournament_early_morning
It's lacrosse time.

When I stepped outside this morning, it hit me: smelling that warm, almost-spring air… it’s lacrosse season!

Now I know most of you are already practicing, gearing up, rockin’ your Flow Society shorts and pines, etc. But I just wanted to take this moment to reflect on something.

Every season, the first thing I do with my team, is talk to them about the history of lax and where it came from. Why?  Because lacrosse isn’t just about being a Bro or living the Brolife style.  It’s a rich game of tradition and history, and lacrosse possesses an enormous amount of camaraderie when done right.

Being a lacrosse player makes us a part of the oldest club in America. This isn’t just a sport that kids in the suburbs made up one day. It was once a war game, that Native Americans poured their heart, soul, sweat, blood, and tears into every time they played it.  Once it started to become popular in the late 1800s the game started to change drastically and it was made into the sport that it is today. What hasn’t changed though, is when you choose to play lacrosse, you end up putting your heart and soul into the sport. Lacrosse is a lifetime commitment. You learn things about yourself, about being apart of a tradition, that no other sport compares too.

When I have the sit down with my team and their parents, I stress how much the game means to me, and how much the game should mean to them if they choose to make this life long commitment. No other sport tests you mentally and physically like lacrosse does.

I am proud to be apart of the tradition of lacrosse. Nothing has taught me more about myself and my strengths and weaknesses than the sport has.  I even take the game and the tradition so seriously, that over the summer I got a tattoo in honor of it. Two Woody sticks crossed, with the spoken word of ‘Sister’ in Cherokee underneath.

With Crooked Arrows film coming out this spring, I think it will bring a ton of attention to our sport; the game of lacrosse.  I for one, am extremely STOKED for it. But when lacrosse becomes huge after the movie, and it becomes extremely cool to play it, let’s just not forget where it was we came from, and how much blood and sweat was poured into the game, to get it where it is today.

Amazing main photo courtesy of Ann Arbor Pioneers Lacrosse.