At Oshawa Minor Lacrosse, you’ll find many players and parents who are fanatical about the sport. Here are a few reasons why…
Fun
Lacrosse is fun to play and exciting to watch. It is characterized by intense action, strategy, finesse, and power. It is a game with long, looping passes and short bullet-like shots: to catch a pass over the shoulder while running at full stride, to hit the top corner of the net while in full flight, or to stop a shot aimed low through a maze of players requires a range of skills unsurpassed in any other sport. The wide open-nature of the game makes it a great spectator sport.
Fitness
Lacrosse is a game of speed and stamina – there’s no standing around in lacrosse. With its back-and-forth nature, all lacrosse players, even goalies, are kept active.
Lacrosse is a great way to build cardiovascular endurance, coordination, agility, and strength. Kids who are tired out from running around sleep better, and those who have slept well have more energy to run around, be creative, and solve problems.
See Top 10 Health Benefits of Lacrosse for even more information about the health benefits of playing lacrosse. For more information about the importance of fitness for Canadian youth, see Benefits & Guidelines: Children & Youth Age 5-17 from Participaction as well as The 2016 Participaction Report Card On Physical Activity For Children And Youth.
Player Safety
Lacrosse is a contact sport, and with all contact sports, parents and players are concerned about injuries. Oshawa Minor Lacrosse stresses fun, fair play and a safe playing environment.
You may be surprised to find out that according to the Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program (CHIRPP), Canadian youth lacrosse players have fewer reported injuries than ice hockey, soccer, football, and rugby players.
Minor lacrosse is quite different than the pro games you may have seen on TV. Many of the infractions that are accepted in the professional league would result in a penalty and/or suspension in ANY minor lacrosse association.
Based on 2005 enrolment data from Statistics Canada (the latest stats we could find) combined with the 2002 CHIRPP Team Sports Injury Brief, lacrosse is much safer than many other sports.
One of the things going for lacrosse safety-wise is that the players are in proper shoes on a stable surface. Combined with protective equipment and limited-contact rules, players are better prepared to absorb the contact that would otherwise throw them off balance in other sports.
Teamwork
Team sports are an excellent way learn how to come together and work towards a common goal. The players work, sweat, plan and play together. Overcoming obstacles within a team is also a good way to develop lifelong friendships.
Like other team sports, lacrosse offers opportunities to develop leadership skills, social interaction skills, a sense of belonging and camaraderie, as well as physical skills, friendships, and respect for teammates, coaches, and officials.
Cross Training
The promotion of speed, stamina, sportsmanship and team play in lacrosse provides excellent cross-training for other sports like hockey, basketball and soccer. If hockey is your main sport, OMLA invites hockey players from all the leagues in Oshawa to come play the fastest game on two feet!
Read more about the benefits of lacrosse for hockey players.
Why female hockey players should consider lacrosse.
Lacrosse offers specific benefits to basketball players as well, as noted here.
Why Ringette players should play lacrosse.
Tradition & History
Lacrosse has a long history in Canada, and its origins date back to long before Canada adopted it as its national sport.
Lacrosse was played by Indigenous people before the arrival of European colonists. See here to view the Origin of Lacrosse.
Within Canada, Lacrosse has officially been recognized as our National Summer Sport since 1994, but its popularity dates back to before confederation. Written Canadian references to lacrosse appear as early as 1637, and the National Lacrosse Association of Canada was formed in 1867. Watch and hear many interesting stories about the history of lacrosse in Canada can be seen here, at the CBC lacrosse archives.
In Oshawa, organized 'town' lacrosse was played as early as 1872. 2022 will be the 150th year of lacrosse in Oshawa!
Scholarship Opportunities
Field lacrosse is an NCAA sport, and many top colleges are attracted to the skills that Canadian players develop by playing box lacrosse. Read about the Canadian impact on field lacrosse here: Canadians Make an Impact on American College Lacrosse Teams or search online for “lacrosse scholarships” to find out more.
Some other considerations for parents…
Here are a few extra perks, from a parent’s point of view:
- Our box game is played where it’s warm (unlike hockey), dry (unlike soccer), and never gets rained out (unlike baseball).
- The City League box season is short (April to the end of June), intense, is a great complement to winter sports, and does not intrude on family vacation time.
- Lacrosse is very competitively priced compared to other sports
