Intercrosse (also called soft stick lacrosse, softcrosse, modcrosse, or pop lacrosse) is a non-contact form of lacrosse using modified lacrosse equipment. An intercrosse stick is different from a normal lacrosse stick: the head is completely plastic while the head of a traditional stick has a pocket of synthetic mesh or leather and nylon string. The ball is larger, softer, and hollow, unlike a lacrosse ball, which is solid rubber.
Intercrosse as a competitive adult sport is popular in many continental European countries, particularly in the Czech Republic, as well as in Quebec, Canada. Generally teams consist of five players per side, and the field size is 20 m wide and 40 m long. Goals are the same size as box lacrosse, 4 feet in height and width (1.2 x 1.2 m). As there is no contact allowed in the game, a player is not allowed to carry the ball for more than 5 seconds. Once it has obtained the ball a team must shoot on the goal within 30 seconds or lose possession. [1]
The international governing body is the Fédération Internationale d'Inter-Crosse (FIIC), it was formed in Paris in 1985. The FIIC hosts three international intercrosse competitions. [2] The World Games was the first to be created in 1987. The World Games are an annual event where players from different countries come to compete and celebrate the sport of intercrosse. Players are divided randomly into mixed-gender teams to provide a focus on fair play and community. [3] The World Championship started in 1999 and has been held bi-annually since 2006. The World Championship is for national teams and is meant to develop the sport at the elite level. [4] Started in 2010, the European Cup is given to the club team earning the most points accumulated each year in approved tournaments across Europe. [5]
Soft stick lacrosse is also a popular way to introduce youth to lacrosse. [6] It can be played outdoors or indoors and has a developed curriculum for physical education classes. [7] Generally, the goals are small, semi-circular, portable nets and there is no goalie. Since 1992, a National Pop Lacrosse Championships has been held in the UK for primary school children. [8] The title was won by Strathblane Primary School in 2019. [9]
Complementary Historical Details:
1990 Milan ( Arese) FIIC World Games: The teams were mixed genders for most. A College Laval grade 8 boy was selected and sent as team Canada. The sport was played with goalies wearing a similar outfit as hockey goalies without the big pads. Having goalie positions on the field would be the big difference with pop lacrosse. Canada Team was led by André Barrette, Michel Savoie and Jocelyn Beauvillier. Canada and Checkoslovakia faced each other in finals and Canada won the unofficial title. The games were held at the same time of 1990 FIFA World Cup.
Floorball is a type of floor hockey with five players and a goalkeeper in each team. It is played indoors with 96–115.5 cm-long (37.8–45.5 in) sticks and a 70–72 mm-diameter (2.76–2.83 in) plastic ball with holes. Matches are played in three twenty-minute periods. The sport of bandy also played a role in the game's development.
Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers of players, apparel, and playing surface, they share broad characteristics of two opposing teams using sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal.
Ice hockey is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hockey sticks to control, advance, and shoot a closed, vulcanized rubber disc called a "puck" into the other team's goal. Each goal is worth one point. The team which scores the most goals is declared the winner. In a formal game, each team has six skaters on the ice at a time, barring any penalties, one of whom is the goaltender. Ice hockey is a full contact sport, and is considered to be one of the more physically demanding team sports.
Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively modified by European colonists, reducing the violence, to create its current collegiate and professional form.
In many team sports that involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting opposing shots on goal. Such positions exist in bandy, rink bandy, camogie, association football, Gaelic football, international rules football, floorball, handball, hurling, field hockey, ice hockey, roller hockey, lacrosse, ringette, rinkball, water polo, and shinty, as well as in other sports.
Box lacrosse, also known as boxla, box, or indoor lacrosse, is an indoor version of lacrosse played mostly in North America. The game originated in the 1930s in Canada, where it is more popular than field lacrosse. Lacrosse is Canada's official national summer sport. Box lacrosse is played between two teams of five players and one goalie each, and is traditionally played on an ice hockey rink once the ice has been removed or covered. The playing area is called a box, in contrast to the open playing field of field lacrosse. The object of the game is to use a lacrosse stick to catch, carry, and pass the ball in an effort to score by shooting a solid rubber lacrosse ball into the opponent's goal. The highest level of box lacrosse is the National Lacrosse League.
Indoor soccer or arena soccer is a five-a-side or six-a-side version of minifootball, derived from association football and adapted to be played in walled hardcourt indoor arena. Indoor soccer, as it is most often known in the United States and Canada, was originally developed in these two countries as a way to play soccer during the winter months, when snow would make outdoor play difficult. In those countries, gymnasiums are adapted for indoor soccer play. In other countries the game is played in either indoor or outdoor arenas surrounded by walls, and is referred to by different names.
Women's lacrosse, sometimes shortened to lax, is a field sport played at the international level with two opposing teams of ten players each. Originally played by indigenous peoples of the Americas, the modern women's game was introduced in 1890 at the St Leonard's School in St Andrews, Scotland. The rules of women's lacrosse differ significantly from men's field lacrosse. The two are often considered to be different sports with a common root.
Broomball is a both a recreational and organized competitive winter team sport played on ice or snow and is played either indoors or outdoors, depending on climate and location. It is a ball sport and is most popularly played in Canada and the United States.
Field lacrosse is a full contact outdoor sport played with two opposing teams of ten players each. The sport originated among Native Americans, and the modern rules of field lacrosse were initially codified by Canadian William George Beers in 1867. Field lacrosse is one of three major versions of lacrosse played internationally. The rules of men's lacrosse differ significantly from women's field lacrosse. The two are often considered to be different sports with a common root. An outdoor six-a-side version, lacrosse sixes, was established in 2021 and features six players per team, reduced field size, and shorter duration to be conducive for daily tournament play. Another version, indoor box lacrosse, is also played under different rules.
Street hockey is a collection of team sport variants played outdoors either on foot or with wheeled skates, using either a ball or puck designed for play on flat, dry surfaces. The object of every game is to score more goals than the opposing team by shooting the ball or puck into the opposing team's net. All games are derivatives of either the sport of ice hockey, floor hockey, bandy, and/or field hockey.
A lacrosse stick or crosse is used to play the sport of lacrosse. Players use the lacrosse stick to handle the ball and to strike or "check" opposing players' sticks, causing them to drop the ball. The head of a lacrosse stick is roughly triangular in shape and is strung with loose netting that allows the ball to be caught, carried, passed, or shot.
Beach handball is a team sport where two teams pass and bounce or roll a ball, trying to throw it in the goal of the opposing team. The game is similar to standard handball, but it is played on sand instead of on a solid floor. Because the ball loses most of its bounce on sand, there is little to no dribbling, and players instead perform more passing as the rules of travelling still apply.
In field lacrosse, the goaltender is the most important and last line of defense between the opposing offense and the goal. The goaltender's primary roles are to defend the opposing team's shots on goal and to direct the defense.
The Czech Lacrosse Union, is the governing body of lacrosse in the Czech Republic. It conducts national junior and senior championship tournaments for men and women in field lacrosse, box lacrosse and intercrosse. The Czech Lacrosse Union sends national teams at the World Indoor Lacrosse Championship, World Lacrosse Championship and Women's Lacrosse World Cup in senior and junior categories.
The goaltender or goalie is a playing position in indoor or box lacrosse. More heavily armoured than a field lacrosse goaltender, since the invent of indoor lacrosse in 1931, the box lacrosse goalie has evolved into a much different position than its field lacrosse cousin.
The FIIC Intercrosse World Championship is the bi-annual international championship for intercrosse. The World Championship is organised by the Fédération Internationale d’Inter-Crosse (FIIC). The men's competition was started in 1999 and the women's in 2001. The men's and women's tournaments are usually held in the same venue.
The Canada men's national intercrosse team is the intercrosse team representing Canada internationally, and a member of the Fédération Internationale d'Inter-Crosse (FIIC). Canada until 2003 operated under the name Quebec. The team has competed in the annual Intercrosse World Championship several times starting in 1999. Canada did not participate in the 2005 Intercrosse World Championship and 2012 Intercrosse World Championship.
The Belgium men's national intercrosse team is the intercrosse team representing Belgium internationally, and a member of the Fédération Internationale d’Inter-Crosse (FIIC). The team also participated at the 1999 Intercrosse World Championship and 2000 Intercrosse World Championship.
The sport of lacrosse has been played in the United States by Native Americans long before European exploration. The sport is most popular in the northeast and mid-Atlantic areas of the country. However, the game has recently developed into a popular team sport for both men and women in all regions of the United States.