Lacrosse History, a History of One Sport or Two? A Comparative Analysis of Men's Lacrosse and Women's Lacrosse in the United States
2014; Routledge; Volume: 31; Issue: 13 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/09523367.2014.930709
ISSN1743-9035
Autores Tópico(s)Sports Analytics and Performance
ResumoAbstractMen's lacrosse and women's lacrosse share a name, but their histories differ. Both sports developed and became organised in close concert with the race, class and gender expectations of the eras. As a result, the sports began with rules that reflected those norms. Over time, the sports developed separately and generated unique forms, even as they sustained moments of interaction. Therefore, men's lacrosse and women's lacrosse are different sports. Using comparisons as the mode through which to view the sports, this article explores the organised beginnings of men's lacrosse and women's lacrosse to establish that the sports began and continued within identity-based norms. Through the discussion of the practical distinctions and critical understandings of the differences between the games, the author poses that these dissimilarities are relevant in considerations of the separate sports as they continue to change in the larger US sporting context. As sports such as basketball demonstrate, these arguments matter because broad-scale comparisons of women's sports to men's frequently render women's sport participants, and the sports they play, inferior. Notably, women's lacrosse participants also employed comparisons to distinguish and claim their history as unique from that of men's lacrosse. A comparative analysis highlights points of disjuncture between the sports and contextualises the importance of gender in the articulations of difference.Keywords:: men's lacrossewomen's lacrossetewaarathonsport rulessport comparisons AcknowledgementsThe author thanks Elaine Stowell, another umpire, who generated the field diagrams for this article, and the outside reviewer, whose suggestions without question made this piece a stronger one. Finally, she thanks Susan Bandy, whose patience and compassion saw this work through.Figure 1 Men's Lacrosse Field, 1993.Display full sizeNotes 1.CitationForbes and Livingston, "From Frances Jane Dove," 83. Hereafter, all references to the sports refer to the field versions unless otherwise noted. 2. The author intentionally refers to the sports as men's lacrosse and women's lacrosse to resist further conflating their sameness. 3. Although women's basketball frequently differed from men's, the distinctions were rooted in socio-economic class and the varying expectations of femininity. Therefore, multiple versions of women's basketball existed. For further discussion, see CitationCahn, Coming on Strong, 83–109. 4.CitationFestle, Playing Nice, 286. 5.CitationMessner, Taking the Field, 140. 6.CitationTheberge, Higher Goals, 156. 7. Ibid., 154. 8.CitationPoniatowski, "You're Not Allowed," 44–6. 9. Some prominent examples of coaching guides include: CitationBoyd, Lacrosse; CitationBrackenridge, Women's Lacrosse; CitationDelano, Lacrosse for Girls; CitationGreen and Kurtz, Modern Women's Lacrosse; CitationPietramala and Grauer, Lacrosse; CitationHanna, Lacrosse for Men and Women; CitationScott, Lacrosse; CitationTrafford and Howarth, Women's Lacrosse; and CitationUrick, Lacrosse. 10.CitationWeyand and Roberts, The Lacrosse Story; CitationFisher, Lacrosse; and CitationClaydon, St. Leonards. 11.CitationFisher, Lacrosse, 9. 12.CitationWeyand and Roberts, The Lacrosse Story, 271–83. 13. A ProQuest search of dissertations with women's lacrosse or female lacrosse in the title generated only five results. CitationBrown, "Attitudes towards Fair Play"; CitationChamberlain, "Comparison of Lower Extremity"; CitationCollins, "An Examination of Factors"; CitationConnelly, "An Investigation"; and CitationRandolph, "Analysis of the Effectiveness." 14.CitationBrown, "Attitudes towards Fair Play," 1–14. 15.CitationCahn, Coming on Strong, 71; and CitationFestle, Playing Nice, 222–3. Cahn listed women's lacrosse as a sport colleges were adding at the club level in the 1930s, and Festle noted that the NCAA voted to add women's lacrosse championships in 1985. 16.CitationGuttmann, Women's Sports, 107–8. 17.CitationGerber et al., The American Woman. 18.CitationMcCrone, Playing the Game, 127–53. 19.CitationVennum, American Indian Lacrosse, 9–25; and CitationNAITC, Tewaarathon, 1–4. 20.CitationFisher, Lacrosse, 13–14. 21. Ibid., 14–15. 22.CitationEdmunds, "Native Americans," 724. Activist acts included the 1969–1971 occupation of Alcatraz and the 1973 occupation of Wounded Knee, the site of a massacre of 250+ Native Americans in 1890. 23.CitationNAITC, Tewaarathon, Introduction. 24. Ibid. 25. Ibid., 8. 26. Ibid., 34. 27. Ibid., 35. 28.CitationMorrow, "The Institutionalization of Sport," 241. 29.CitationFisher, Lacrosse, 18. 30.CitationBoyd, Lacrosse, 15; CitationNAITC, Tewaarathon, Forward; and CitationWeyand and Roberts, The Lacrosse Story, 3–4. 31.Native American is the term commonly used in the USA to refer to aboriginal populations, whereas First Nations is that used in Canada. The Mohawk people are a member of the Iroquois Nations or Hodenosaunee (People of the Longhouse). CitationFisher, Lacrosse, 12. 32. Other sources, including Weyand and Roberts, also reference baggataway as a predecessor of 'modern' lacrosse. Various tribes had different versions of stick and ball games. Boyd also referenced a game knattleikr that had been played in Iceland in 874 that Norseman brought to North America and potentially influenced North American stick-and-ball games. No lacrosse historian has referenced this potential lineage; indeed, Claydon challenged this reference in the interview. CitationWeyand and Roberts, The Lacrosse Story, 4; CitationBoyd, Lacrosse, 14; and Feffie Barnhill and Jane Claydon (interview with the author, Lewes, DE, September 8–9, 2011). 33.CitationFisher, Lacrosse, 25; and CitationWeyand and Roberts, The Lacrosse Story, 17–18. 34.CitationFisher, Lacrosse, 29. 35.CitationBeers, Lacrosse. 36.CitationMorrow, "The Institutionalization of Sport," 243–5. 37.CitationFisher, Lacrosse, 26. 38.CitationRobidoux, "Historical Interpretations," 276. 39.CitationFisher, Lacrosse, 27–8. 40.CitationBeers, Lacrosse, 83–4. 41.CitationPutney, Muscular Christianity, 11–72, 99–126. 42.CitationFisher, Lacrosse, 90–1. 43. Ibid., 87. 44. Ibid., 104. 45. Ibid., 108. 46. For a more detailed discussion of the development of box lacrosse, see CitationNAITC, Tewaarathon, 149–55, and for the importance of box lacrosse to Canadian identity specifically, see CitationFisher, "Splendid but Undesirable Isolation." 47.CitationVerbrugge, Active Bodies, 53–60. 48.CitationClaydon, St. Leonards, 16–32. 49. Ibid., 16. 50. Ibid. 51.CitationClaydon, St. Leonards, 16; and CitationMcCrone, Playing the Game, 72. 52.CitationClaydon, St. Leonards, 20. 53.CitationClaydon, St. Leonards, 55–79; and CitationMcCrone, Playing the Game, 72. 54.CitationClaydon, St. Leonards, 80; CitationFisher, Lacrosse, 147; CitationGerber et al., The American Woman, 112–3; and CitationWeyand and Roberts, The Lacrosse Story, 272–4. 55.CitationClaydon, St. Leonards, 80–91. 56.CitationClaydon, St. Leonards, 88. The USWLA was the first governing body of women's lacrosse in the USA and lasted until 1998 when it joined with men's lacrosse associations as part of the merger that created US Lacrosse. 57.CitationRichey, "The USWLA Expansion Program," 135; CitationPitts, "The 1970 United States Tour," 144–5; and CitationWeyand and Roberts, The Lacrosse Story, 274. 58.CitationCahn, Coming on Strong, 97; and CitationWeyand and Roberts, The Lacrosse Story, 273. 59.CitationCahn, Coming on Strong, 97–8; and Verbrugge, Active Bodies, 115–6. In the USA field hockey was a women's sport, whereas in England men played field hockey also. 60.CitationFisher, Lacrosse, 148. 61.CitationMcCrone, Playing the Game, 140. 62.CitationFisher, Lacrosse, 148. 63. Ibid., 139. Although the term crease had been used in women's lacrosse, in 2014 it officially refers to only the circle around the goal in the men's game. The women's game uses the term goal circle instead. It is not uncommon, though, to hear someone say 'crease' in reference to the goal circle. Crosse refers to the stick used to play men's lacrosse or women's lacrosse. Although similar in name, the crosses have variant constructions. 64.CitationFisher, Lacrosse, 150. This literary trajectory was homage to Weyand and Roberts's problematic quotation of men's lacrosse's roots. 'Lacrosse was born of the North American Indian. It was christened by the French, but adopted and raised by the Canadians. In all its full grace and beauty it has been wooed by athletes of the United States and the British Commonwealth.' CitationWeyand and Roberts, The Lacrosse Story, 1–2. 65.CitationGerber et al., The American Woman, 112–3. 66.CitationForbes, "Lacrosse," 641. 67.CitationClaydon, St. Leonards, 80, 90. Quotation in Claydon's book. The citation merely stated 'Quote by Rosabelle Sinclair,' thus the original source is unclear. 68. Barnhill and Claydon (interview). Although the author has not seen this source herself, the quotation is included because it indicated what Claydon understood to be of importance. 69. Barnhill and Claydon (interview). Restraining lines refer to lines on the field that restrict movement. Despite the shared terminology, the lines on the men's lacrosse field and the women's lacrosse field differ in function and location. The number and the type, as in position, of players permitted on either side of the line(s) vary. Men's lacrosse has one restraining line, while women's lacrosse has two. The restraining lines were added to women's lacrosse in 1998 at the college level and in 2000 at the high school level. Boundaries were added to the women's game in 2006. Even though Claydon referred to the 1970s and 1980s, the changes she included were added decades later in the USA. 70.CitationGreen and Kurtz, Modern Women's Lacrosse, 5. 71. Dottie McKnight (interview with the author, Washington, DC, September 17, 2011); and CitationBoyd, Lacrosse. 72. McKnight (interview). 73. Barnhill and Claydon (interview). 74.CitationDelano, Lacrosse for Girls, 1. 75.CitationSmith, "Women's Lacrosse," 142. 76. The following organisations merged: United States Club Lacrosse Association, National Intercollegiate Lacrosse Officials Association, United States Lacrosse Officials Association, United States Lacrosse Officials Association, Lacrosse Foundation, United States Women's Lacrosse Association, Central Atlantic Lacrosse League and National Junior Lacrosse Association. 77. To compare the rules, the author selected the men's 1993 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rule book and the women's 1993–1994 USWLA rule book. The men used the NCAA rule book for high school contests also, but leagues and state administrative bodies could modify the rules for the corresponding groups. The USWLA rule book was used for all levels of competition. 78.CitationNCAA, 1993 NCAA Men's Lacrosse, 16. 79. Ibid., 18. 81.CitationUSWLA, Official Lacrosse Rules, 2. 82. Ibid., 10. 80. Ibid., 18–19. 83. Ibid., 9. 84.CitationNCAA, 1993 NCAA Men's Lacrosse, 28. 85.CitationUSWLA, Official Lacrosse Rules, 10. 86.CitationNCAA, 1993 NCAA Men's Lacrosse, 22. 87.CitationUSWLA, Official Lacrosse Rules, 7–8. Beers' original rule book for men's lacrosse in 1869 uses the terminology point and home to refer to positions. CitationBeers, Lacrosse, 191–6. 88.CitationNCAA, 1993 NCAA Men's Lacrosse, 10–15. Diagrams derived from rule book measurements. 89.CitationUSWLA, Official Lacrosse Rules, 4–6. Diagram derived from rule book measurements. Men's lacrosse also did not originally have boundary lines, but the sport added them early in the twentieth century. 90.CitationNCAA, 1993 NCAA Men's Lacrosse, 50. 91. Ibid., 51. 92. Ibid., 50. 93.CitationUSWLA, Official Lacrosse Rules, 17 (emphasis removed). 94.CitationForbes and Livingston, "From Frances Jane Dove," 83. 95.CitationNCAA, NCAA Lacrosse, 16, 36, 45–7. Fouls included targeting the head and neck and unnecessary roughness. 96.CitationNCAA, NCAA Women's Lacrosse, 9–13. Diagram derived from dimensions supplied in rule book. The NCAA rule books were used in order to compare similar levels of play. The NCAA published its first rule book for women's lacrosse in 2006; thereafter women's and girls' had two different rule books, the NCAA versions for intercollegiate play and the US Lacrosse version for high school and post-collegiate play. 97.CitationNCAA, NCAA Women's Lacrosse, 9. Out of bounds shifted in relation to who could receive possession after a ball left the field of play. The newer conceptualisation mirrors the men's game change in possession if a ball leaves the field. Field positioning altered, as the restraining lines delineating offsides and how many players of each team were permitted in attacking and defensive areas. The number of players permitted differs between men's lacrosse and women's lacrosse as do the lines of reference, but there were similarities in concept. 98.CitationNCAA, NCAA Women's Lacrosse, 16. 99.CitationNCAA, NCAA Women's Lacrosse.100. Ibid., 36. Notably, cross-check was added as a foul. Its definition is the following: 'using the shaft of the crosse to hit, push, or displace an opponent'.Additional informationNotes on contributorsMelissa C. WiserMelissa C. Wiser is a Lecturer in the Department of Human Sciences, Kinesiology-Sport Industry program at the Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA. She also holds a National Rating as a women's lacrosse umpire.
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