All About Lacrosse Everything you need to know about the sport By: Anthony L. All About Lacrosse Everything you need to know about the sport

Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: What is lacrosse Chapter 3: The Lines on the Field Chapter 4: Equipment Chapter 5: How to Play Chapter 6: Face-offs Chapter 7: The Lines on the field Chapter 8: Positions Chapter 9: Penalties Chapter 10: Personal Fouls Chapter 11: Technical Fouls Chapter 12: First Game, First Goal Chapter 13: Conclusion Glossary Bibliography

Introduction Have you ever wanted to play a contact sport that isn’t quite as rough as football, but still very action packed? Lacrosse is the sport for you. In this book, you will learn about lacrosse, how to play, what the lines on the field are for, the equipment, the positions, the penalties, and finally my own personal narrative about my first goal. This sport, the discipline, the confidence, the exercise, and the pride will make you a better person later on in your life.

What is Lacrosse? Lacrosse is an action packed contact sport. This is a team sport, with ten people on the field per team. The purpose of the game is to score more goals than the other team. Each goal is 1 point. You score a goal by shooting a lacrosse, a hard rubber ball, into a net with a lacrosse stick. A lacrosse stick is a light metal stick with black rubber on one end (called the butt of the stick) and a plastic oval-like frame on the other side of the stick (called the head). Strung to the head is a mesh pocket/net to hold the ball when running down the 110 yd. x 60 yd. field. The game is divided into quarters. Youth quarters are usually 8-10 minutes. High school quarters are 12 minutes. College and professional quarters are 15 minutes. One person defending another

The Lines on the Field There are a number of lines on a lacrosse field. The midline divides the field in half. There is an X in the middle of the midline for face-offs. Near the sidelines, there are two wing lines, that cross this midline. These lines are where the wing midfielders go when there is a face-off. The end lines are the boundary lines behind the goals. The restraining lines are parallel to the midline. The restraining lines are the lines that separate the offense and defensive zones. The crease line is the half-circle in front of each net. The sidelines are the boundary lines the long way down the field. On one of the sideline, there is a substitution box where players substitute in and out of the game. There is also a penalty box. A Men’s Lacrosse Field layout.

Equipment The equipment is a very important part of lacrosse. It prevents players from getting concussions and other injuries. The helmet is probably the most important piece of safety equipment. The helmet protects players from getting concussions and other injuries to the head. Connected to the helmet are the mouth guard and chinstrap. The chinstrap supports your chin and the mouth guard protects your teeth from injury. Shoulder and elbow pads protect players from getting hurt when checked or slashed. Padded gloves protect players hands. A cup protects the groin area, when a lacrosse ball hits you there. Lacrosse sticks are the most important piece of the equipment. Without sticks, lacrosse would be a whole different sport.

Passing, Catching, and Shooting How to Play Lacrosse is a complicated sport. There are many rules and skills you need to know in order to play the game. Here are some of the basics. Passing, Catching, and Shooting Passing and catching are very simple. For passing, you hold one hand at the bottom, or butt, of the stick, and the other one just below the middle of the stick. You bend your elbows slightly, and point the butt of the stick at receiver’s stick. Finally, you pull your bottom hand away from the receiver and push your top hand toward the person. The head of your stick should now be pointed at the receiver’s stick. Shooting is the same as passing, except you follow through and push and pull much harder. To catch the ball, you put your dominant hand where the metal part of the stick (the shaft) meets the head, and the other hand at the butt. When the ball is passed to you, you try to get the ball to land in the mesh pocket. Cradling Cradling is how you protect the ball from falling out of the net of your stick. This is done by having one hand at the butt of the stick, and the other hand at just below the head of the stick. First, you have your hands holding the stick at your waist. Then, you flick your wrist on your top hand so the head of the stick goes across your face. Without cradling, the ball is much harder to carry in the net. Ground balls Picking up ground balls with your stick can be a game changer. Ground balls are balls that no one has possession of. To pick up a ground ball, you have one hand at the butt, and the other at the head. You get your body low to the ground and put your foot on one side of the ball and scoop it in the net of your stick. Then you bring the head up towards your face and start cradling and running to score. How to Pass Scooping up a Ground Ball.

Face-offs Face-offs are very important. Face-offs happen at the start of each quarter and after each goal. The center midfielder from each team takes the face off. First, you hold the stick as if you would hold the handle bars on a bike. You crouch down low, facing the other teams goal. The ball is placed on the center X of the midline. When the referee says “Down!”, you put your stick on the ground, parallel to the other person’s stick, with the mesh net in front of the ball. When the referee calls “Set!”, you make sure you are ready to take the face-off. When the referee blows his whistle, both center midfielders try to clamp down on the ball. While the center midfielders are trying to win the face-off, the other midfielders start charging from each wing area to help them win the face-off. Face-offs are important because they help your team get possession of the ball. Two people doing a Face-off

Positions Where the positions play Player Positions in Lacrosse There are 4 positions in lacrosse: attack, defense, midfield, and goaltender (goalie). The attackmen are the offense in the lacrosse. The defenders play defense in lacrosse. The midfielders play both attack and defense. Finally, the goalie protects the net. He stands in the crease. Where do the Positions Play? Attack and defense each have their own zones at opposite ends of the field. They are not allowed to leave these zones. The zone’s boundary line is a restraining line. Goalies can move anywhere, but typically they just stay in the crease. Midfielders can move around the entire field. All positions are set up like the number 3 on a die. Attackmen are near the opponent’s goal, with a wing at each side of the goal, and the center attackman either in front or behind the net. Midfielders playing attack are in front of the attackmen, in the same formation. The defense covering them are directly in front of the attackmen. Where the positions play

Penalties To help keep lacrosse a safe sport, there are many penalties. There are two types of penalties, personal and technical fouls. Personal fouls are penalties such as slashing or tripping. If you get a personal foul, you sit in the penalty box for 1 minute, giving the other team an extra player advantage. A technical foul, such as stalling or pushing, gives the other team possession of the ball. A referee calling a penalty

Personal Fouls An Illegal Cross-check. Slashing is where a player hits someone hard on the body. This is a 1 minute penalty. Tripping is where a player intentionally trips someone. This a 1 minute penalty. Illegal cross-checking is where a player checks someone in the helmet or the back. This is a 1 minute penalty. Unsportsmanlike conduct is where a player taunts, intentionally hurts, or says something bad to another player. This is either a 1 minute penalty or ejection Unnecessary roughness is where a player hits someone intentionally, for no purpose. This is either a 1 minute penalty or ejection. Illegal body-checking is similar to unnecessary roughness. That is where player checks someone for no purpose. This is either a 1 minute penalty or ejection. Illegal lacrosse stick, gloves, or mouth guard is where a player does not have the proper equipment, the equipment does not meet the standards. That player is not allowed in the game. An Illegal Cross-check.

Technical fouls give the other team possession Holding is where a player grabs an opponent. Interference is where a player unnecessarily gets in the way of an opponent. Off-sides occurs when a player crosses their zone line. Pushing happens when a player pushes an opponent from behind. Screening is when an offensive player makes contact with a defensive player to get open. Stalling is when a player purposely runs down the clock. Warding is when the ball carrier uses their free hand to push the defensemen to control and redirect a stick check. Lacrosse Tripping

First Game, First Goal (Personal Narrative) It was my very first game of lacrosse. My team, the Birmingham Bulldogs, was playing the Grosse Pointe Hornets. I was on the field for the second time that game. We had just scored. My team was demolishing the Hornets, the score was 12-2. We won the face-off, and we were on a fast break. The Bulldogs passed the ball around several times when finally the ball ended up with our attackman behind the goal. I looked around. I was wide open. “Here’s your help!”, I shouted. The attackman fed me the ball and I shot the ball as hard as I could. I shot a hard bounce shot. When I looked in the net, there was the ball. I could not believe it! My coaches were roaring. I was so excited. I hit my stick on the ground as hard as I could. I had scored my first goal! That is how I shot my First goal.

Conclusion This book covers many aspects of lacrosse, from the required gear, to how to do a face off, to learning the difference between personal and technical fouls. Personally, I think lacrosse is an amazing sport. If you want to learn more about this sport, you can join a local team, watch it on TV, or read more books on this topic. I like lacrosse, and I hope you do to!

Glossary Attackmen: The offensive people in lacrosse. Bounce Shot: A shot that bounces before going into the net Check: An attempt to knock the ball out of some else’s stick. Concussion: A bad head injury that can cause dizziness, headaches, memory loss, etc. Contact Sport: A sport where you are allowed to hit people. Crease: The 15 x 15 yd. circle around the goal. The net is at the back of the crease and the goaltender stands in front of the crease. Defensemen (defenders): The people who defend against the attackmen. Fast Break: When one team has the ball, and there are more attacking players then defensive players. Feeding: An assist, or a pass to someone who shoots at the goal and scores. Goaltender (Goalie): The person who stands right in front of the net in the crease protecting the net from the ball. Midfielders: The people who play both Offense and defense

Bibliography http://files.leagueathletics.com/Images/Club/9537/gear-guy.jpg http://www.walax.com/UserFiles/File/boys%20personal%20and%20technical%20fouls.pdf http://www.e-lacrosse.com/laxicon.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_lacrosse www.chalktalksports.com Lacrosse For Fun By: Sandra Will pgs. 6-20 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lacrosse www.kingstonyouthlacrosse.org www.nrilacrosse.org https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xS9VnlfhQk www.training.coachup.com ‪lancasteronline.com‪638 × 489‪Search by image www.nfloa.org