The Ancient Roots of Lacrosse: From Baggataway to the Olympics

Long before lacrosse had rulebooks, referees, or Nike-sponsored sticks, it was called Baggataway — a game played by Indigenous nations across what is now Canada and the northern United States. It wasn't just recreation. Baggataway was used to settle disputes between tribes, to build unity within them, and sometimes to prepare young men for the physical demands of conflict. Games could stretch across open fields for hours, with dozens or even hundreds of players on each side.

The earliest written records of the game date back to the early 1600s, when French colonists observed Indigenous communities playing it and gave it the name "lacrosse" — a reference to the hooked stick's resemblance to a bishop's crosier, "la crosse" in French. From those roots, the sport was gradually codified, organized, and — like many things in that era — adapted into the more standardized version played today.

What's remarkable is how much of that original spirit survives. The stick skills, the endurance, the constant motion — they trace a fairly direct line back to a game invented centuries before organized sports as we know them existed.

Lacrosse's relationship with the Olympics has been anything but smooth. It debuted as an official medal sport at the 1908 London Olympics — and then, almost as quickly, lost its footing. It appeared only as a demonstration sport in 1928, 1932, and 1948, before disappearing from the Olympic program entirely for decades.

That absence is finally ending. Lacrosse is set to return as a full medal sport at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics — 120 years after its Olympic debut. It's a striking comeback for a sport that, for most of the 20th century, existed almost entirely outside the world's biggest athletic stage.

That long gap says less about the sport's quality and more about geography. Lacrosse has always been concentrated in North America, without the global footprint that keeps sports like soccer or basketball in constant Olympic rotation. Its return in 2028 is as much a bet on lacrosse's growing international reach as it is a nod to its deep, centuries-old history.

For a sport with such an unusual origin story — born from Indigenous tradition, nearly erased from the Olympic stage, then revived generations later — the 2028 Games feel less like a debut and more like a homecoming. It's a reminder that some of the oldest games still have room to grow into something new.