Early Lacrosse Rules

James Laverance

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Feb 12, 2013
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An early example of how the game of Lacrosse was played and how it could of had an influence on Ice-Hockey later on.
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Constantine Republican, 27 Jun 1838, Wed, Page 1
 

Killion

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Feb 19, 2010
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^^^ Interesting stuff James. Note the size of the field, "a half a mile"... As you know Native North Americans would often play Lacrosse to settle disputes internally & between Tribes, games going on for days and often over miles, vast tracts of land. Absolutely mind blowing when you think about it, imagine such events.
 
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James Laverance

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Feb 12, 2013
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This comes from a second hand resource written in 1969.

"In 1874 the Crescents and Victorias played a game on the Montreal rink, wearing skates, using lacrosse sticks and ball, and playing under lacrosse rules. The venture proved to be an unprofitable one, as the bouncing ball caused several hundred dollars' worth of damage to windows. Enthusiasm for lacrosse on ice did continue for a few more years in some areas, however.
In 1879 : "Lacrosse On Ice - A match will be played on the Victoria Rink ice on Wednesday afternoon, between 9 players of the Independent Lacrosse Club and an equal number of the Montreal team. The ball, in accordance with suggestions of our own, will be a soft, springy affair, so that glass and spectators will be safe."
Sports and games in Canadian life, 1700 to the present
 
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Killion

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Feb 19, 2010
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This comes from a second hand resource written in 1969.

"In 1874 the Crescents and Victorias played a game on the Montreal rink, wearing skates, using lacrosse sticks and ball, and playing under lacrosse rules"....

Excellent find.... I'm absolutely certain games of pickup & organized Lacrosse on ice with skates simply HAD to have been taking place for years, decades before even this date outdoors. Hell, I played it as a kid for a lark on numerous occasions with friends. It wasnt feasible obviously as the ball without netting or caging around the natural ice surfaces on which we tried it out resulted in long hunts for the ball which was impossible to keep within the confines of the boards or shoreline... but for those of us adept at using a Lacrosse Stick to pass & catch the puck proficiently not really a problem, though it was "non-contact". If you'd have introduced full contact, never mind having your head down, your head up instead & looking skyward, on skates... reaching for a catch you'd have been absolutely smoked, totally cremated.... Thats pretty hysterical actually. That they tried it on in a late Victorian era arena of mere whisp Dasher Boards & windows all over the place which absolutely would have been destroyed. Front row spectators getting crashed, ball ricocheting through them like an IED. :laugh:
 
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James Laverance

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Feb 12, 2013
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William George Beers from Montreal wrote the Canadian Rule for 12 men per side in 1860...

"In 1860, Beers began to codify the first written rules of the modern game. Prior to this, all rules of the game needed to be decided prior to each game. Some of the rules established by Beers were the size of, and the use of a rubber lacrosse ball, that the lacrosse stick could be any length, but the pocket needed to be flat in the absence of a ball, length of the field to 200 yards (180 m), size of the goal and goal crease, twelve members of a team on the field at a time, and the length of a match to first to reach five goals, or lead by three."
William George Beers - Wikipedia
 
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Canadiens1958

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Nov 30, 2007
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Lake Memphremagog, QC.
Aware of William G. Beers. There is a thesis in French building on his work. Have to find it.

More important is the cross border flow of information that contributed to the growth of various sports.
 

James Laverance

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Feb 12, 2013
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Lacrosse Rules in 1882.

"LACROSSE is the national ball game of Canada, as ductions of Japan. Relief or raised so on the cricket is of England and base ball of the United States of America. The aborigines had the game before the discovery of the New World, and different Indian tribes played it in different manners, generally with much roughness and violence. The present name was given it by French Canadians, owing to the resemblance of the curved netted stick, the chief implement used in the pastime, to a o: crozier or crosse. men gradually took up the game it became more refined. In 1867 the National Lacrosse Association was formed, and drew up a recognized code of rules. Lacrosse cannot be aptly compared to hockey or football, since striking or even touching the ball with the hands or feet is inadmissible. The crosse somewhat resembles a racket bat. It is a stick with one end curved, and the hook so formed is fitted with network, which must not bag. The ball is of india-rubber, from 8 to 9 inches in circumference. The other requisites are a level piece of turf about 200 by 100 yards, and the goals. These may be any distance apart, according to agreement and the space available. Each goal is composed of two flag posts, 6 feet high and a like distance apart. The usual number of players is twelve on each side, and the captains station them somewhat as in football. A game is scored by one side driving the ball between their opponents, goal posts, and a match is three games out of five. There is no “off side’’ as in football, and the chief feat of the player is to catch the ball on the network of the crosse, dodge his opponents by running as far as practicable, and then throw the ball to one of his own side who is nearer the enemy's goal. A game is commenced by the ball being placed on the ground midway between the two goals and a player from each side “facing '' for it with the crosse till one of them succeeds in sending it on the way to the opposite goal. After each game goals are changed. During winter the game is played by skaters on the ice, or on the snow with the aid of snow-shoes. A native Indian team introduced the pastime into England in 1867; several amateur clubs were formed; and a set of rules wasdrawn up by an English Lacrosse Association on February 12, 1868. They differ somewhat from the Canadian regulations,—the goal posts being 7 feet apart with tape across the top, and a match being decided by the number of ol. won during a specified time. The pastime, however, never took deep root in England, so many other old-established games of ball being more popular, and is now but little practised."
Encyclopædia Britannica
 

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