Box Lacrosse?

Typically, Americans that begin to play the sport of lacrosse will be playing the game outdoors and on a field with 10 players on the field for each team. This is the standard for lacrosse in America and is also the set up that high schools, colleges, and most clubs use when playing lacrosse. In the lacrosse community, this type is called “Field Lacrosse”. Most people would find this obvious because it is unlikely that you would be able to play the sport anywhere else, but this is not the case. North of the border, in Canada, most kids grow up playing a type of lacrosse that is a little different than the Field lacrosse you might play in the states.

In Canada, there are many hockey rinks that are located outdoors, which is convenient because in the winter it is rarely warm enough to melt the ice that would be in the rink for people to play hockey on. In the summer however, the ice will melt and what’s left will be a hockey rink with a concrete floor. Using their resources to their advantage, Canadians began playing lacrosse in hockey rinks with 5 players a team and much smaller nets than in Field lacrosse, much more similar to hockey. As this began to be more popular, the sport took off in Canada while the field game was still being played in America. The lacrosse that is typically played in Canada is referred to as “Box Lacrosse”. In simpler terms, it is a combination of hockey and Field lacrosse. It features some of the same concepts and schemes as hockey but using lacrosse sticks and equipment

Box Lacrosse Arena

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There is often a discrepancy between which version of Lacrosse is more fun or exciting to watch. Personally, I enjoy the field game because there is much more room to run around and be athletic. It is also interesting to see how a Box lacrosse player develops their skills from playing in tight spaces in a hockey rink as opposed to a field player who has much more room to run and show off their athleticism. All in all, Box lacrosse is a version of lacrosse that not many people are aware of and is growing into the United States increasingly. Maybe one day, there will be just as much Box and Field Lacrosse in both countries!