Why do you play?

[YESIAMAGIRL]

So guys......I'm a newbie to lacrosse and find it extremely fascinating (I don't play though just watch). I just wanna hear some good stories either on how you got starting playing lacrosse or why you love to play or both. Also as a new fan (and a girl), tell me some interesting facts about lacrosse.

[oaklandlax]

I once played long stick attack, then it broke and then I played with a short stick the rest of the year. Thats my story!

[CSUalum32]

there is so many reasons to play. i started cause it was something new and it looked fun, my neighbor got me into it.

reasons to play, the competition. the uslia has some very talented teams who are exciting to watch. it is kind of cool to play against big Division I colleges, not lacrosse D-I, but big univerisities. also allows you to travel to cool places around the country, and some not so cool places.

the fastest game on two feet. it requires great skill and ability to play, it is a combo of all the major sports. it is a blast to play and watch, where else can you see shot up to 100 mph and guys hitting each other with sticks. well, within reason anyways.

to keep it short and sweet, the friendships i made while i played. i had the opportunity to meet a lot of good people. the road trips with the team were always a great time. get to go somewhere new with 40 buddies and play the game we love, awesome. and unlike the horror stories i have heard about girls teams travelling, guys get along.

the stories you take away from playing are irreplaceable. from van wars, to the red roof in, crack bust in tallahasee next to our hotel, the early nauseous rides to the airport after the natl championships, to fifa tourneys and lets not even get started about Vegas trips.

well so much for short, overall it is a great experience, great game, great people. my two cents.

[ZagGrad]

In college, I played for the competition and to remain active. On the guy's side, lacrosse is a great stress releiver (what other sport can you legally wail on someone with a stick?). Since graduation, club tournaments (Vail, Vegas, Chicago) have become reunions for guys I don't see that often. The friendships I've made through lacrosse are what I enjoy the most about the sport.

[Guest]

Pshhh. easy, i play for the money, the women and to beat up on wanksta's, in that order, believe that, holla if ya hear me.

[jessexy]

i, believe it or not, was a swimmer prior to picking up a stick. after i quit swimming at A&M, i started getting fat and out of shape so i started playing lax.

[primetime21]

what other sport lets you accel at the things you are good. i ran track and played football....and lacrosse is a mix of both. i started playing because a friend got me into it and then he quit. our team is very close and we are like a family. i have 30 guys i consider good friends that i trust. that and i get hit light people up from time to time

[SMSlax]

Because of all the hilarious jokes you can make about your stick and balls and stuff. Thats the only reason.

Interesting fact: Lacrosse is a french word for something.

[Tim Whitehead]

La Crosse = The Stick

[Joe Oakland]

Like many other michigan kids, I got into lacrosse through hockey. It was a great thing to do in hte off season to keep the hand eye coordination fresh and the lungs/legs in shape. From that, came a love of the game that made me end up hangin up the skates and focusing on lacrosse. Bottom line, it's contagious.

A little side note: Among the Detroit Red Wings, I know for a fact that Doug Brown and Brendan Shannahan played lacrosse as kids and Shannahan, in fact, is actualy considering trying out for the Toronto Rock if the NHL season falls through. Also, from reading Wayne Gretzky's autobiography as a kid, he was a great lacrosse player also.

One last thing, a college teammate of mine at Wheeling Jesuit had a poster of Jim Brown which had a quote on it to the extend of "If I could play lacrosse for money, I never would have picked up a football," ?? (DO NOT TAKE THAT VERBATIM)

[MinesGoallie45]

After growing up where there was only a few lacrosse players and they were all the huge stoners of my town (Santa Fe, New Mexico), I had a foul taste in my mouth for the game, and I was a football player anyways, what did I need to play that funny game with stick for? But after a really bad stretch trying to play college football, I decided it was time for something new, and someone said I should try lacrosse. And its has been love ever sense.

I guess it does take a special person to stand infront of a goal and have shots going near 80-90 mph going at your head and other areas, but I would have it no other way. There is no sport that has such personal challenges while still playing as a team, where each player can show their skills and yet still make a team look good. That didnt happen when I was a Defensive lineman playing football, unless I really messed up or had a sack, no one ever knew I was there. Now as a goalie, people see what I am doing, and I am a leader on the field, and its a great feeling. It also gives me something to strive for too, that next level, and I am pushing myself forward, especially in Box Lacrosse, as a Box Goalie. (I love that gear)

Oh, and Lacrosse is named for the French word, La Crosse, which refered to the staff which a Catholic Bishop carries which itself is a version of a shepards crook. The Indians sticks reminded the French Pinoneers of the bishops crook, and thusly it was called La Crosse, evetually Americanized into Lacrosse.

[YESIAMAGIRL]

Why I like to watch lacrosse.......
First off, girls lacrosse is kinda boring. There's just something about guys hitting each other with sticks. I love how its so intense. But really, I don't know anything about how to play or any of the rules. I just like watching! Plus, lacrosse guys are way nicer than the jerky football players.

[benji]

style + grace + emotion = lacrosse.

... it also gets all the ladies

[Jay Wisnieski]

One day at USD's Dakota Dome, my girlfriend at the time walked up to two guys playing catch as I returned a basketball we had checked out. I went over, started talking to the guys, they invited me to practice, and I've been involved in lacrosse ever since.

I started playing defense once it was apparent that I had absolutely no offensive skill. The guy who started our team threw me a D-stick and said, "Here you go. Your job is to knock crap down."

[ZagGrad]

The guy who started our team threw me a D-stick and said, "Here you go. Your job is to knock crap down."

I'll have to use that line on some of my high school kids.