by Cameron Scott

Created on: April 21, 2009

In both field and box lacrosse, players from one team try to score goals by firing a ball into a net guarded by a goalkeeper ('goalie'). That is where the similarity between these two games ends.

Field lacrosse is played on an outdoor field 110 yards long and 60 yards wide, which is slightly larger than the dimensions of a standard football field. Box lacrosse, also called boxla, is played indoors, traditionally on concrete or artificial turf surfaces that are hockey rinks during the winter. Consequently its playing field is much smaller, just 60 to 70 yards in length and 25 to 30 yards wide.

A field lacrosse goal is six feet high and six feet wide. A box lacrosse goal is approximately four feet by four feet, depending on league. This is approximately the same size as a hockey net.

Field lacrosse is played in four quarters of 15 minutes each. Box lacrosse has three periods of 20 minutes each, the same as, you guessed it, a hockey game.

Field lacrosse teams consist of either ten (men's) or twelve (women's) players, who are divided into attackmen, defensemen, midfielders, and a goalie. Men's field lacrosse defensemen have crosses up to five feet long. The off sides rule gives a minimum number of attackers and defenders who must be in the attacking and defensive field halves respectively.

In contrast, a box lacrosse team consists of a goalie and five runners, divided into left crease, left corner, right crease, right corner, and point. The five runners range throughout the box similar in style to (what else?) a hockey game, and all have the same size crosse. When on defense, the positions are usually man to man coverage. On offense, the team looks for a basketball-style breakaway.

Field lacrosse is a passing game, so the goalie has to be good at reading the tactics of the opposing team to anticipate the direction of shots on goal. He also has the best overview of the game of any player, so he constantly shouts out a ball's position to coordinate his team's defense, while attacking players can take their time setting up the attack so long as the ball remains in active play.

Box lacrosse is a much faster, rougher game, with no dedicated defensemen and no time for the goalie to verbally coordinate the defense. Because of the 30 second rule, shots on goal are hard, fast, and frequent, so the box lacrosse goalie wears heavy protective equipment resembling that of his hockey counterpart. If a shot on goal is not taken in those 30 seconds, possession reverts to the other team.

Box lacrosse was developed in Canada, and for now, it is still most popular in Canada. However, its international popularity is slowly growing.

Learn more about this author, Cameron Scott.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.