Lacrosse in Spanish

lacrosse in spanish

Lacrosse is one of the fastest growing team sports in the United States and is played by more than 2.5 million young people — including nearly 150,000 girls. It’s a fast-paced game where players compete to send the ball through their opponents’ goal as many times as possible and prevent their opponents from scoring. Each goal counts as one point. Men’s teams usually consist of 10 players: the goalkeeper, three defensemen and three attackmen.

The sport’s true origin is disputed but Canada, beginning in the 19th century, gets the most credit for modernizing and popularizing it. A resemblance to Native American games dating back centuries also is apparent.

During a game, players are in constant movement: dodging, running full-tilt, passing or shooting the ball. The defenders try to harry the attacker, intercept his pass, or knock the ball off his stick. Attackers hurl the ball over and under and around defenders, scoop it up off the ground while running at full speed, or make quick deceptive shots at the goal. Besides the obvious running and jumping, there’s a lot of hand-to-hand contact.

There are few rules, but the game requires a high degree of physical fitness and excellent hand-eye coordination. The athletes must be able to dodge and run at great speeds, throw and catch the ball with accuracy, and handle a stick that is up to 53 inches long and weighs about 40 pounds.

Although the field of play is small, the athletes must be able to move quickly and change directions with ease. Unlike soccer, the game has no offside rule and both sides play on their own half of the field.

The defenders and midfielders must be able to protect the goalkeeper and prevent attackers from getting behind them, so the defenders are usually larger than the attackmen. The players wear protective gear, including helmets, face masks and eye goggles, which are essential to protecting the players’ faces from errant crosses or hits.

The first Spanish club was founded in 2001 when Jenny Paulin, a German who had represented her country at an international level, moved to Madrid and decided to help the sport she loved by founding the Madrid Lacrosse Club. Although the club has a number of dedicated supporters, it is not registered at a national level and therefore receives no official funding from any entity. Despite this, the rag-tag group of pioneers has grown to about 100 members, and has organised clinics and tournaments in collaboration with the Give & Go Foundation. Several international coaches, including the National Team coach Mike Bartlett, have taken an active interest in Spain, bringing equipment and hosting clinics. The club hopes to have a fully-registered association by 2012.