Where We Play
During the season we train and play on South Hagley Park between 5.30pm and 7.30pm depending on the light.
How To Find Us
We use one of the training pitches on South Hagley Park on Deans Avenue side. We play on pitch 6 which is the pitch closest to the toilet block on Deans Avenue. Parking is available on Deans Avenue and is free after 5pm..
What Do You Need To Bring?
New Player?
Just bring yourself, training shoes and comfortable clothes. Lacrosse is an energetic game with plenty of running around. Also, it is sensible to bring some water / cold drink with you. We will provide you with any kit that you need and if you decide that after your first two free sessions you want to continue we can lend you a stick to use at training sessions for the entire season.
Existing player?
Bring youself and any kit that you have. If you don't have a stick we can lend you one (for a small fee!) to use for the practice sessions for the season.
History Of The Game
It's the year 1500, on a two-mile long playing field, with 300 other people...and you've been playing for 3 days...sounds too incredible to be true? Think again! It happened and so begins the game we now call lacrosse.
Indigenous Americans, the American Indians, started it. The tribe that first originated the sport were the Iroquois. They didn't just play lacrosse for a team sport as we do today, the most important reason for them to play was spiritual.
The game was known as "they bump hips" or "little brother of war". Although today's game of lacrosse is considered a rough sport, it's pretty safe compared to the original game. The differences between modern lacrosse and tribal lacrosse don't stop at the rule and playing style, the equipment was different too. The sticks used were wooden, hand cut and bent. Then they were strung with rawhide to make a pocket. Each stick was about three foot long and weighed a couple of pounds.
The game of lacrosse was first observed by non-natives in 1636 when French missionaries described it as "La jeu de la crosse", or the game of the cross; thereby giving it the name lacrosse. From then on the French pioneers began playing the game avidly and as a result, Canadian dentist W. George Beers standardised the game in 1867 with the adoption of the set field dimensions, limits to the number of players per team, and other basic rules.
Lacrosse was introduced to England by several Canadian tours during the last three decades of the 19th Century. These tours provided exhibition games between white players and Native American players and were held in dozens of towns around the country attracting large, interested crowds.
Lacrosse in New Zealand started in 2000 with the formation of a men's lacrosse league in Auckland. The New Zealand Women's Lacrosse Association was formed a year later in 2001 and established a women's league in Auckland.
From the very beginning, the NZWLA appointed Junior Development Officers to promote the sport in schools and we now have a very successful school league that runs between April and July and a one day schools tournament. The number of participating schools has grown from 4 to 20 in just four years.
New Zealand sent a team to the World Cup in 2005 for the first time.
