From the Creator’s Game to Brussels
The history of Lacrosse
Lacrosse began centuries ago with the Indigenous peoples of North America as a sacred, community game. In the 1800s it was codified into the modern sport and spread worldwide. It returns to the Olympics at LA28 in the fast-paced Sixes discipline — and you can play it right here in Brussels (Schilling, 2021; World Lacrosse, n.d.-a; International Olympic Committee [IOC], 2023).
Indigenous origins: “The Creator’s Game”
Long before Europeans arrived, many Indigenous nations played stick-ball games for ceremony, healing, community, and diplomacy. Among the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy), lacrosse is known as the Creator’s Game — a gift with spiritual meaning (Schilling, 2021).
Reliable timelines place origins centuries before contact; some overviews reference play as early as the 12th century (World Lacrosse, n.d.-a).
First written accounts & the name “lacrosse”
French Jesuit missionaries documented the game in the 1630s and used the term “la crosse.” These are the first European written records of a game already played for generations (USA Lacrosse, n.d.; World Lacrosse, n.d.-a).
From tradition to “modern rules”
In the 1850s–1860s, organized clubs formed in Canada. Dr. William George Beers and the Montreal Lacrosse Club (est. 1856) promoted standardized rules (rubber ball, team sizes, field dimensions) and helped the sport spread to Britain (World Lacrosse, n.d.-a; The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2013).
Women’s lacrosse emerged in Scotland in 1890 at St Leonards School before expanding across the UK and beyond (World Lacrosse, n.d.-a; USA Lacrosse, n.d.).
Box lacrosse (the indoor, rink-based version) developed in Canada in the 1930s, and remains hugely popular there (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2025; The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2013).
Worldwide growth (and the Olympics)
The game now spans dozens of countries and formats. In October 2023, the IOC approved lacrosse (Sixes) for Los Angeles 2028 — the sport’s Olympic return (IOC, 2023; World Lacrosse, 2023). Sixes is a 6-on-6, fast, TV-friendly format blending field and box elements (World Lacrosse, n.d.-b).
In Europe and Belgium (and Brussels)
The European Lacrosse Federation (ELF) was inaugurated in 1995 by six founding members, accelerating the sport’s organization across the continent (European Lacrosse Federation, 2011).
Lacrosse has been played in Belgium since 2001 (International School of Brussels), with a domestic league taking shape from 2009 onward; the community has since grown into multiple clubs and national teams (Belgium Lacrosse, n.d.).
Established in 2014, Brussels Lacrosse today fields three teams (men, women, youth) and has a community of 60+ members.
