Why play lacrosse? Lacrosse gets in your blood. It is a fraternal sport. Once you play, it will be something you want to give back to as you mature. Lacrosse is frequently quoted as being the fastest growing sport on two feet. Over the last 10-20 years it has exploded in CO, TX, WA, OR, and CA. It is no longer just an east coast game. Now it is time for the upper mid-west. It has always been big in MN and WI.
Lacrosse offers many attributes that appeal to several types of people.
- stick skills - Lacrosse develops great hand-eye coordination. Many skills can be developed playing catch with a friend or hours of solo wall ball. A great lacrosse player can do everything left and right handed.
- finesse - Master all the head, shoulder, eye, etc. fakes and various dodges/rolls.
- body and stick checks - Want the contact that soccer, track, and baseball don't offer?
- conditioning - Lacrosse is a game of endurance with sprinting and continuous running.
- strategy - Lacrosse is similar to basketball, hockey, soccer, etc. in terms of picks, give and goes, movement away from the ball, isolation plays, quick passes, etc. Learn team offensive and defensive philosophies.
- scoring - Lacrosse games can easily reach into the mid-teens. The old saying is/was the average score of a lacrosse game is 15-14. A good goalie has a save percentage of .500-.600.
Wayne Gretzky's father credited many of Wayne's skills to playing lacrosse. Too many quotes to list but search Gretzky and lacrosse for many quotes by his father on the benefits of lacrosse.
Jim Brown was a great lacrosse player. Per http://www.orangehoops.org/jbrown.htm, "Brown is considered one of the greatest lacrosse players of all time. His senior season he led Syracuse to an undefeated season as the team went 10-0, and was co-leader of the national scoring championship. Brown was so dominant in the game, that they changed the rules requiring a lacrosse player to keep his stick in constant motion when carrying the ball. He was a two-time All American Midfielder." Brown was quoted as saying (per the Hall of Fame) "I'd rather play lacrosse six days a week and football on the seventh." Brown lettered in four sports at Syracuse: lacrosse, football, basketball, and track.