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.
"Ball players", a hand-colored lithograph by George Catlin.
A pair of wood lacrosse sticks.
Diagram of a Men's Lacrosse Stick Head
Field goalie's stick.
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.
Men's field lacrosse game between North Carolina and Duke
Ball-play of the Choctaw – ball up by George Catlin, c. 1846–1850
Ball Players by George Catlin
Richmond Hill "Young Canadians" lacrosse team, 1885