One of my favorite things to do is Lacrosse.

I ultimately enjoy the flow I experience

while playing the sport. Which brought me to think, what lot of opportunities the sport offers. In

summary, theres playing and coaching the game yet I have already played Lacrosse for more

than eight seasons why not coach it? From there, I came to see myself assistant coaching a

youth level team. Specifically, Napa Junior Lacrosse Clubs 14U Boys B team, headed by my

mentor Joe Fischer.

Like all sports, they start somewhere, Lacrosse; a ball and stick game created by Native

American people residing in the eastern half of North America around the Great Lakes. The first

tribe to be recorded playing Lacrosse was the Algonquian Tribe in the St. Lawrence Valley of

what is now known as Qubec, Canada. Jane Claydon's article, published by the Federation of

International Lacrosse explains the Native American game as originally, played over huge open

areas between villages and the goals, which might be trees or other natural features, were

anything from 500 yards to several miles apart.

These games were considered grand contests, with no real constraint to how many

participators are allowed. Players were equipped with their handmade Lacrosse sticks and the

knowledge that the ball was not to be touched by a players hand and there were no

boundaries. Original Lacrosse sticks had been built with wood for the shaft and deer sinews for

the netting. In the 1630s, French Jesuit missionaries discovered natives playing. One

missionary, Jean de Brbeuf, is credited with naming the game lacrosse through his journals in

the year 1636. The game can also be recognized as The Creators Game for the sport was seen

as a medicine game, gifted by the Native American people's deity.

 Lacrosse has boomed in popularity, so much so, that it is being played in both male and

female adaptations of the game, from the ages of four and up, throughout 56 different nations.

Not only is it played in a ten per team outdoor format but is also played in a six per team indoor

format. For example, in the United States of America, Lacrosse is being played in the youth, high

school, collegiate and professional ways. A team playing outdoor men's Lacrosse consists of one

goalie, three defenders, three midfielders and three attackmen for scale.

My personal involvement with the sport began in the year 2008, when my perception of

my previous sport Baseball, altered. I saw Lacrosse as a chance to re-ignite my interest in

athletics. Lacrosse allowed me to exert energy through player to player contact like in American

Football, while also requiring a type of athleticism seen in Soccer and it shed light on a new

definition of finesse I had not seen in a sport before. Eight years of play and Ive decided

assistant coaching a youth level lacrosse team will better broaden my sense of the game, people

skills and leadership.

This project has so far consisted of spending Tuesdays and Thursdays, 5:00-7:00 P.M.

with the boys at practice. While there, I discuss with co-coaches about the practice schedule and

what new material, in the form of drills, we can introduce to the players. My favorite source for

in practice Lacrosse content is the US Lacrosse magazine. The print not only offers

professional player insight on how to improve your game through drills, tips and tricks but also

curates the Lacrosse community for stories across the board. February 2017s volume 41 of the

magazine contains a tip from a professional goalie, John Galloway. John preaches the

importance for goalies to be more athletic as it will benefit them in their play. We tell our

younger guys to be an athlete, not to fall into the notion that goalies arent athletes, said
Galloway. In the sport, there has been a common, slow in terms of athleticism, stereotype

applied to goalies because in most cases people choose to play goalie to get out of the running

for other positions.

Most importantly, I have seen growth in myself by way of leadership. That is exactly

what one aspect of my goal for this project was. By needing to be able to address any given

player on any of their Lacrosse questions has taught me to have a sense of empathy for the

player. I mean empathy, by understanding the situation of the player. This ultimately, has honed

my people and leadership skills making me a better person.

 Works Cited

The Spirit in the Stick by Neil Duffy (Duffy, Neil. The Spirit in the Stick. Virginia Beach,

VA: Duffy, 2007. Print.)

Claydon, Jay. "Origin & History of Lacrosse." Federation of International Lacrosse.

Federation of International Lacrosse, n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2017.

Schneider, Megan. "How to Get Your Stick Dirty." US Lacrosse Magazine Feb. 2017: n.

pag. Print.