Box lacrosse
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Box lacrosse (sometimes shortened to boxla, boxcrosse, or indoor lacrosse) is an indoor version of lacrosse played all across Canada and parts of the United States. The game is generally played in summer on an ice hockey rink from which the ice has been removed; the playing area is called the box, in contrast to the unenclosed playing field of field lacrosse. Box lacrosse was invented in the 1930s as a way to promote business for ice hockey arenas, and quickly became the most popular version of the sport in Canada.
Box lacrosse is also the more popular version of the game in the Czech Republic, probably due to the locals' familiarity with ice hockey. Box lacrosse is also played to some degree in the United States and Australia, though primarily by players brought up playing the outdoor game.
Box lacrosse and field lacrosse are played under two very different sets of rules and on very different surfaces, however most of the national representatives of the Canadian and Iroquois Nationals field lacrosse teams are primarily box lacrosse players. In recent times though, many of the best of these players are recruited by US university teams or professional clubs in Major League Lacrosse, and become more acquainted with the field game.
In box lacrosse the goal is smaller (4 ft × 4 ft or 4 ft × 4 ft 6 in; 1.22 m × 1.22 m or 1.22 m × 1.37 m) than in outdoor lacrosse (and the goalkeeper usually bigger). On the floor, the team consists of a goalkeeper and five runners (from a total squad of between 16 and 24 players). The goalkeeper can be replaced by another runner (often when a penalty has been signalled by the referee or at the end of a period). The attacking team must take a shot on goal within 30 seconds of gaining possession of the ball, and play is rougher than in the field game.
A game consists of three periods of twenty minutes each, with the teams changing ends each period. If the game is tied at the end of regulation play, overtime periods can be played. Overtime may or may not be sudden death, depending on the league.
The National Lacrosse League plays a version of box lacrosse that is sometimes referred to as indoor lacrosse. The NLL game is identical to standard box lacrosse, with slightly modified rules, the major ones being:
- they play their games in the winter, on artificial turf placed on top of the ice,
- they play four fifteen-minute quarters rather than three periods, and
- solid wooden lacrosse sticks are not allowed.
A national senior men's lacrosse championship, the Mann Cup, has been awarded in Canada since 1901, and is the most prestigious lacrosse trophy in Canada. It has been contended for under box lacrosse rules since 1935 (in place of field lacrosse rules). A junior men's championship, the Minto Cup, has been awarded since 1937 (the Minto Cup was also awarded to a senior men's champion from 1901 to 1934).
In 1994 lacrosse was declared the Canadian national summer sport by act of Parliament (ice hockey is the national winter sport). Almost all summer lacrosse in Canada is played under box lacrosse rules.
The first World Indoor Lacrosse Championships were held in 2003. The competitors were national teams of Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, the Iroquois Nation, Scotland, and the United States. Canada defeated the Iroquois Nation in the final by a score of 21 to 4.
