Lacrosse is a sport played with a long-handled stick called a crosse that is strung with mesh at the end and a hard rubber ball that is 60mm in diameter and weighs 150 grams. Players vie for the ball and score points by shooting the ball into the opponent’s goal. Lacrosse has its origin in a game played by indigenous peoples of North America and was developed into a sport by French immigrants. The sport came to be called lacrosse, which is a combination of the French definite article la and crosse, the French word for stick, because the playing stick resembles the stick held by Christian priests.
In Japan, lacrosse is a sport popular among stylish women university students who can be seen around Tokyo carrying their lacrosse stick under their arm. Men who play lacrosse present a totally different appearance; they carry metal lacrosse sticks and wear protective helmets, shoulder, chest, and elbow pads, and gloves so they look a little like American football players.
I’m a fan of the Vikings, a lacrosse club team of working adults formed in 2011 in Tokyo. This year’s season opened on July 5. The Vikings play in Division One of the East Japan Club Teams Champions League of the Japan Lacrosse Association.
To explain in a little more detail, lacrosse is played on a field 100 meters long and 55 meters wide with two square goal areas measuring 1.83 square meters. The area behind the goals is part of the playing field, the same as in ice hockey.
Men’s teams consist of 10 players: 3 attackmen, 3 midfielders, 3 defensemen, and 1 goalkeeper who defends the goal. For each team, the field is split into an offensive side and a defensive side: 6 players are allowed on the offensive side and 7 players (including the goalkeeper) are allowed on the defensive side to protect the goal. The offside rule prohibits the remaining players from crossing the midfield line. One game is divided into 4 quarters lasting 20 minutes each. The length of the stick and the size of the mesh net are different depending on the role of the player. Top players can shoot the ball at a speed over 160km/h, which is why lacrosse is called “the fastest sport on two feet.”
In Japan, university club teams and adult club teams play against other teams in their respective leagues, which are classified by seven regions from Hokkaido in the north to Kyushu in the south. There is also a lacrosse team that is formed to represent Japan in the lacrosse World Cup held once every four years, the same as for soccer. I encourage everyone to go watch a lacrosse game if you get a chance!