By Kim J. Harmon

 

Lacrosse is the fasting growing sport in Connecticut and for anyone who still hasn’t tried it, the Newtown Lacrosse Association will be holding registrations for the 2005 season on Wednesday, November 10, from 6 to 9 pm, in the Newtown High School cafeteria.

Boys and girls – grades three through eight – are eligible. There will be travel programs (5th/6th and 7th/8th grade teams) for the more experienced players and in-house programs (3rd/4th, 5th/6th and 7th/8th grade divisions) for everyone else.

Last year some 250 boys and 100 girls participated.

Maura Fletcher, who will step in as the Newtown High School girls’ lacrosse coach in the spring, would like to see those numbers – especially on the girls’ side – increase.

“When I started helping out eight years ago there were only 18 girls,” said Mrs Fletcher, who is a former player at Villanova University and former assistant coach at Upper Arlington High in Ohio and Fox Lane High in Bedford, New York. “We’ve had a lot of growth and offered a 3rd/4th grade in-house division for girls last year and it worked out great.”

Mrs Fletcher hooked up with the Newtown High program last spring, assisting head coach Sara Strait. The Lady Nighthawks finished 12-5 overall, losing 13-12 to Joel Barlow in the South-West Conference championship game.

Coach Patrick stepped down at the conclusion of the season.

“It was a good lead in for me to make the commitment,” said Mrs Fletcher, “and now I realize I can do it.”

But with the high school spring season still five months away, Mrs Fletcher – who will not coach a youth team next spring, only help out – is focusing on getting the word out about youth lacrosse in Newtown. She understands that lots of local kids are involved in baseball, softball and soccer in the spring and the thought of making a commitment to lacrosse – which travels quite a bit to find opponents – may be too daunting for some, but said, “It’s not just a travel sport now.”

Nor is it all that a difficult sport to learn.

“If you can get your basics of catching and throwing down,” said Mrs Fletcher, “the rest comes easily.”

So, if you are interested in participating in lacrosse next spring, make sure to plan a trip to registration night on Wednesday, November 10.

Origins Of Lacrosse

Created by native Americans, lacrosse was considered by many tribes to be excellent practice for war – the Cherokees even called it “the little brother of war.” Teams could have consisted of as many of hundreds, or even thousands, of players, goals were often miles apart and games lasted as long as three days.

But the Six Tribes of the Iriquois, in the area which is now southern Ontario and western New York, created their own version of lacrosse called baggataway or teewaraathon.

According to many sources, the first Europeans to witness baggataway were French explorers who felt the stick resembled a bishop’s crozier – or la crosse, in French – so baggataway took on the new name.

In the early 1800s, Europeans in Canada began playing the game and Montreal’s Olympic Club organized a team in 1844, specifically to play a match. The first step lacrosse took towards becoming a legitimate, modern sport came when the Montreal Lacrosse Club (formed in 1856) developed the first written rules.