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choctaw stickball championships
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Choctaw Stickball: Lacrosse’s First Cousin

If you have been playing lacrosse for more than 15 minutes, you should probably know the basics of where modern lacrosse comes from.  If you don’t know much about where the game came from, don’t fret because US Lacrosse has a quick history of the game that will get you all caught up.  And one of the things that US Lacrosse mentions as a corollary to modern lax is Choctaw stickball, a game historically played and practiced by Native Americans in the Southeastern portion of the United States.

The LA Times recently posted a long article about Choctaw, and how there is a small, but dedicated, group of players in Mississippi.  And while there are many similarities, there are also some interesting differences, and I now have a serious hankering to get in on this action!  If any of our readers have actually participated in a Choctaw game, we would LOVE to hear about it!  They have over 45 teams at some events in Mississippi, so someone out there MUST have played!  We’ve heard about another two-stick lacrosse cousion, Kapucha Toli, before in our Old School series, but this is something else!  It just seems way more violent!

Want to know the rules?  They’re simple.  It shouldn’t take too long.

Choctaw Stickball rules
Choctaw Stickball rules via the LA Times.

Read the LA Times article, watch the video below, and decide if you want to learn more about the first cousin of Modern Lacrosse!  Seems like one heck of a game and it looks like a ton of fun.  No pads, two sticks instead of one, and a lot of sweet lax-like action.  We’re down with Choctaw, are you?

Ok, this version of the game might be even more BA than box lacrosse!  Did you see some of those hits?  CRAZY!

choctaw stickball championships
Choctaw Stickball Championships

Photo courtesy Kereion’s Flickr account.