How can you convince your friends to play lacrosse?
Growing the game is something many in the lacrosse community are passionate about, and that means convincing new people to pick up a stick and give the sport a shot. But with knowledge of lacrosse limited, especially in some places more than others, it can be a challenge to change someone’s mind.
But lacrosse has a lot to offer. These are some of the best arguments to keep in your back pocket when it comes to convince your friends to give lacrosse a chance.
How to Convince Your Friends to Play Lacrosse
Fastest Sport on Two Feet
Lacrosse certainly lives up to its nickname of being the fastest sport on two feet. The speed of the game can’t be recreated anywhere else and is immediately experienced upon first viewing of the sport.
There is nothing better than introducing your friends to the game and watching their faces as they realize how fast and physical lacrosse really is. It can be difficult to put into words how satisfying it is to watch the ball get cleared down the field on a fast break as it touches the sticks of every member on the field just to be tic-tac-toed into the back of the net.
The overall speed of the sport can be very enticing to athletes and is typically a major reason why beginners pick up a stick.
Tight Community
Compared to other sports on a global level, lacrosse still hasn’t found its way to becoming a household name. A majority of people don’t even know what lacrosse is beyond it being played with a stick and a ball.
The lacrosse community ranges from youth players picking up a stick for the first time to legends of the game who have been playing for generations. The obscurity of the sport has made it easy to connect and build a tighter community, especially in the digital age. The immediate connection you have with a random stranger once you both find out you are ambassadors of the game is unmatched compared to any other sport around.
In short, lacrosse is a great way to make friends.
Deep History
On a face level, people tend to believe that lacrosse is a relatively new sport because of its lack of presence in middle schools and high schools, but they couldn’t be farther from the truth.
The title of being the oldest sport in North America is something to be proud of and instantly tells the tale of who started this sport and the purpose of the game. Learning the history of the game comes naturally as one continues to play it. Every lacrosse player falls down the rabbit hole of YouTube videos and internet searches related to the history of lacrosse. The overall honor and respect that comes with the Creator’s game can’t be found anywhere else in sports and truly elevates lacrosse over the rest.
Combination of Sports
Nothing is better than hearing all of the different sports comparisons when an experienced player tries to explain the sport of lacrosse to someone who has no previous knowledge of the game. If an individual has any previous athletic experience, their transition into lacrosse tends to be relatively easy due to lacrosse feeling like a combination on many different sports.
Lacrosse has the physicality of hockey, the strategy of basketball, and the endurance of soccer. It is always fascinating to see how different athletes bring their previous knowledge of their previous sports to the game of lacrosse and how that affects their playing style from the very start.
Unmatched Brotherhood & Sisterhood
You always hear about the brotherhood that comes with football, but as someone who played both football and lacrosse, I will be the first to tell you that the brotherhood found on a lacrosse field offers so much more compared to football. Many football players that transition over to lacrosse always talk about how nice it is to not be just a face on a 100-man roster but to feel like an individual a part of a tight-knit family.
Due to the sport’s lack of wide popularity, lacrosse teams genuinely gain a sense of camaraderie from being “the odd sport out.” Once a player picks up a lacrosse stick, they are part of a lifelong group that can say that they played lacrosse. That love for the game never fades away and transitions over to many cultures that truly are looking to grow the game. With the intentions of lacrosse being so pure, finding friends and a place where you feel like you belong is very easy within the lacrosse community.
You Can Hit People
I hate to say it, but normally when you say that you can hit people in lacrosse, people genuinely jump right on board.
