It has been a long road from sideshows, to club play, to intramural leagues, to inter-collegiate teams, to Olympic exhibitions, to a "professional" indoor league, to finally, the Spring of 2001, outdoor Lacrosse becomes a Major League sport.
Why has it taken so long?
The game of Lacrosse is a fast-paced, team sport with plenty of action and strategy. So why isn't it as popular as the other sports of today? It has the pace of hockey, it has the physical impact of football, it has the camaraderie of soccer, and it is older with more history than all of these sports combined. In fact, Lacrosse is believed to be the oldest team sport in the world.
What is the future of Lacrosse?
The sport of Lacrosse is the most popular it has ever been. Fan attendance at the Men's NCAA Lacrosse Championships has nearly tripled in the last 10 years, with over 100,000 Lacrosse enthusiasts attending the men's Division I, II and III championship tournaments in 1999. International Lacrosse has recently grown to include Sweden, Germany, and the Czech Republic as competing nations. Development efforts are now underway in more than a dozen other nations, including China, Korea, Argentina and Italy. The Lacrosse players of today will be playing a sport that is known worldwide and has an accepted professional, major league venue. How will this change the level of play? How will the game adapt to this new found, long deserved recognition?
These are just some of the questions that we will answer as we follow some of today's most talented players, talk with the sports most influential figures, and take an in-depth look at the sport of Lacrosse, that was known to its creators as Little Brother of War.