History of LAX

The sport of lacrosse dates back to the ancient North American Indian game of "baggataway", which played an important part of their social, cultural and spiritual heritage. French missionaries are believed to have given the sport its name, likening the stick to a Bishop's crozier.

The history of international lacrosse dates back to the 19th century when a Canadian team played the Iroquois. In fact, lacrosse was on Olympic exhibition sport at the 1908 London, 1912 Amsterdam, 1932 Los Angeles and 1948 London games.

The development of the box lacrosse game occurred in the early 1920's when the marriage of Canada's two most popular sports were combined the skills and action of field lacrosse with the speed and action of hockey.

Box Lacrosse is the uniquely Canadian version of lacrosse, which was developed as the indoor answer to the outdoor game. The game was developed by a group of hockey promoters, whom changed the number of players and moved it into indoor hockey arenas. It has since, achieved considerable success and is the most popular version of lacrosse played in Canada.

The Mann Cup, originally donated by Sir Donald Mann in 1910 as a challenge trophy for the Canadian amateur champion team, was transferred to box lacrosse in 1933. Outdoor lacrosse has made something of a comeback in Canada, however, box lacrosse is still far more popular than field lacrosse in Canada.
In 1986, the Major Indoor Lacrosse League (MILL) began operating with six teams in the United States, playing a form of the sport very similar to boxla.
The National Lacrosse League (NLL) was organized in 1997 as a group of independently owned teams to begin play the following year. After much negotiation, the MILL merged into the NLL, which played its first season in 1998.