Before the written record
Stick-and-ball games were played by many nations across North America long before any European wrote about them. No nation, museum or encyclopedia page read for this site gives a dated origin, so this timeline starts with the first written accounts. The figures that circulate are estimates: about 1100 CE, attributed to History.com in a search summary we could not check; about 1,000 years, the author S. L. Price's estimate on PBS NewsHour in 2025; and nearly a thousand years, in the joint statement of the United States and Canada in January 2025. The Choctaw Nation's Biskinik says only that Choctaws have played for centuries. The nations' own accounts are on Indigenous origins.
1630s to 1899
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1636 (1637 in one encyclopedia summary) | Jean de Brébeuf's Relation describes the Huron game of crosse | Davis; CLHOF; Canadian Encyclopedia (summary) |
| 1667 | La Potherie describes a Miami game with about 2,000 players (his own figure) | Davis |
| 1718 | French account of large Potawatomi games near Detroit (unconfirmed, single source) | CLHOF |
| 2 June 1763 (4 June per Wikipedia) | An Ojibwa game of baggatiway outside Fort Michilimackinac precedes the capture of the fort | Michigan DNR; Wikipedia (summary) |
| 1834 | Kahnawake and Akwesasne exhibition games in Montreal | Canadian Encyclopedia; CLHOF |
| 1856 | Montreal Lacrosse Club founded; CLHOF credits it with the first formal rules | CLHOF (Wikipedia gives the same year) |
| 1859 (disputed) | Claimed declaration of lacrosse as Canada's national game; called a myth by the Dictionary of Canadian Biography | Lacrosse Canada; CLHOF; DCB |
| August and September 1860 | W. G. Beers keeps goal before the Prince of Wales; his rules pamphlet follows | Canadian Encyclopedia; DCB |
| 26 September 1867 | National association formed at Kingston (27 clubs per Lacrosse Canada, 29 per the DCB), adopting Beers's rules | Lacrosse Canada; DCB |
| 1867 | Montreal and Kahnawake players tour England; American Indian magazine dates a bar on Indigenous players joining the association to this year | Canadian Encyclopedia; American Indian magazine |
| 1869 | Beers publishes Lacrosse: The National Game of Canada | Canadian Encyclopedia; DCB |
| 1876 | Second tour of the British Isles, organised by Beers | DCB; Canadian Encyclopedia |
| 22 November 1877 | First U.S. intercollegiate game: NYU against Manhattan College (CLHOF) or Columbia (Wikipedia) | CLHOF; Wikipedia (summary) |
| By 1880 | Indigenous players barred from Canadian championship play | Downey; CLHOF; American Indian magazine |
| 1881 | First intercollegiate tournament; Harvard beat Princeton 3 to 0 | USILA |
| 1882 | Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association formed (unconfirmed, single source) | CLHOF |
| 1883 | Third British tour: 62 games in 41 cities | Canadian Encyclopedia |
| 1890 | First known women's game, St Leonards School, Scotland | USA Lacrosse; CLHOF |
1900 to 1979
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1901 | Minto Cup donated (single source) | CLHOF |
| 2 to 7 July 1904 | Olympic lacrosse at St. Louis; Winnipeg Shamrocks gold, Mohawk Indians bronze | Olympedia |
| 24 October 1908 | Olympic lacrosse at London: Canada 14, Great Britain 10 | Olympedia |
| 1910 | Mann Cup donated (single source) | CLHOF |
| 1913 | Women's teams move to 12 a side (St Leonards' girls' teams, per CLHOF) | CLHOF; USA Lacrosse |
| 1925 | Canadian Lacrosse Association formed in its modern form (Lacrosse Canada traces its roots to 1867) | CLHOF; Cornwall Sports Hall of Fame; Lacrosse Canada |
| 1926 | Rosabelle Sinclair starts the women's programme at the Bryn Mawr School, Baltimore | USA Lacrosse; CLHOF |
| 1928 | Amsterdam Olympic demonstration ends in a three-way tie; CLHOF calls all three joint gold medallists, though demonstration events awarded no official medals | CLHOF |
| 1929 | The USILA replaces the USILL (Wikipedia gives 1926 or 1905 for the USILA) | USILA; Wikipedia (summary) |
| 1930 or 1931 | First box lacrosse league (1930 per the CLHOF timeline; 1931 per CLHOF's 1931 page and Wikipedia); CALA adopts box in 1931 | CLHOF; Wikipedia (summary) |
| 1931 | United States Women's Lacrosse Association formed | USA Lacrosse |
| August 1932 | Los Angeles Olympic demonstration; the United States beats Canada 2 to 1 in a three-game series | USA Lacrosse |
| 1936 | Maryland, first listed winner of the Wingate Memorial Trophy | USILA |
| 1948 | London Olympic demonstration; the United States and Great Britain draw 5 to 5 at Wembley | USA Lacrosse |
| 1967 | First men's world championship, a four-team invitational in Toronto, won by the United States | USA Lacrosse |
| 17 May 1967 | Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame opens in New Westminster | CLHOF |
| 1971 | AIAW founded to govern women's college sport | USA Lacrosse |
| 5 June 1971 | First NCAA men's championship: Cornell 12, Maryland 6 | Cornell Athletics; USILA |
| 1972 | IFWLA founded (first formal meeting in London per USA Lacrosse; Williamsburg, Virginia, per Wikipedia) | USA Lacrosse; Olympedia; Wikipedia |
| 1974 | International Lacrosse Federation founded; Melbourne invitational | FIL (2019); Olympedia; USA Lacrosse |
1980 to 2007
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Nations '80, the first world box championship, Vancouver | CLHOF |
| 16 May 1982 | First NCAA women's championship: Massachusetts 9, Trenton State 6 | NCAA |
| 1982 | First IFWLA World Cup, Nottinghamshire; the United States beat Australia in overtime | USA Lacrosse; CLHOF |
| 1983 | Iroquois Nationals formed and sanctioned by the Grand Council of the Haudenosaunee | Haudenosaunee Nationals |
| 13 March 1986 | Eagle Pro Box Lacrosse League, now the NLL, founded; first season 1987 (CLHOF dates the NLL to 1987) | NLL; CLHOF |
| 1986 | Iroquois Nationals refused entry to the world championship in Toronto | Harvard Project; Downey |
| 1987 | Iroquois Nationals admitted to the ILF as a full member (Wikipedia gives 1988, an old team brochure 1992, a 2025 Syracuse.com article 1985) | Harvard Project (2002); Downey (2012); American Indian magazine (2021) |
| 1990 | Iroquois Nationals' first world championship, Perth, on Haudenosaunee passports | Onondaga Nation |
| 12 May 1994 | National Sports of Canada Act names lacrosse Canada's national summer sport | Justice Laws Website |
| 1995 | First women's under-19 world championship, Haverford; Australia beat the United States 5 to 4 | USA Lacrosse |
| 1997 | Major Indoor Lacrosse League becomes the National Lacrosse League | NLL |
| 1998 | US Lacrosse founded through the merger of eight national organisations | USA Lacrosse |
| 2003 | First sanctioned World Indoor Lacrosse Championship, Ontario | CLHOF |
2008 to 2028
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| August 2008 (30 September per Wikipedia) | ILF and IFWLA merge into the Federation of International Lacrosse | FIL (2015); Olympedia; Wikipedia |
| 2008 | The federation recognises the Haudenosaunee women's team (not confirmed by World Lacrosse) | American Indian magazine |
| July 2010 | Iroquois Nationals do not play at Manchester after the United Kingdom refuses their passports | Windspeaker; Onondaga Nation |
| 2012 and 2013 | FIL joins GAISF (2012) and is recognised by the International World Games Association (2013) | World Lacrosse (2023) |
| 2015 | Onondaga Nation hosts the world indoor championship | Onondaga Nation; CLHOF |
| 2016 | UWLX, the first women's professional league (founded 2015 per Wikipedia) | USA Lacrosse |
| 2017 | Lacrosse debuts at The World Games with women's field lacrosse, Wroclaw | World Lacrosse |
| 30 November 2018 | IOC provisional recognition | World Lacrosse (2021) |
| May 2019 | FIL renamed World Lacrosse (USA Lacrosse: after the 2018 championship) | Olympedia; USA Lacrosse |
| 2019 | Premier Lacrosse League's inaugural season | Boston.com |
| 2018, 2020 or May 2021 | Sixes created (2018, Syracuse.com), launched (2020, World Lacrosse's World Games page) or formally introduced (May 2021, World Lacrosse release) | Syracuse.com; World Lacrosse |
| 14 August 2020 | Joint statement opens a pathway for Haudenosaunee teams to The World Games 2022 | World Lacrosse |
| December 2020 | The PLL merges with Major League Lacrosse | Boston.com |
| 20 July 2021 | IOC Session grants World Lacrosse full recognition | World Lacrosse (2021) |
| 2022 | Iroquois Nationals renamed Haudenosaunee Nationals | Haudenosaunee Nationals |
| 7 to 17 July 2022 | The World Games, Birmingham, Alabama: sixes' global debut; Canada wins the men's and women's golds | The World Games; World Lacrosse |
| August 2022 | LA28 organisers shortlist lacrosse | Olympedia; World Lacrosse |
| 16 October 2023 | 141st IOC Session approves lacrosse (sixes) for LA28 | IOC |
| 22 August 2024 | Canadian Heritage note sets out the National Olympic Committee obstacle for a Haudenosaunee team | Government of Canada |
| 18 December 2024 | Athletes Unlimited suspends its lacrosse league indefinitely | Athletes Unlimited |
| 17 January 2025 | The United States and Canada ask the IOC to let the Haudenosaunee compete under their own flag | Joint statement |
| 2025 | The PLL's Women's Lacrosse League plays its first season, in sixes | USA Lacrosse |
| 12 November 2025 | LA28 lacrosse schedule published: 24 to 29 July 2028, Exposition Park Stadium | World Lacrosse |
| 15 April 2026 | World Lacrosse adds its 96th and 97th members | World Lacrosse |
| 2 August 2026 | The United States beat Canada 16 to 4 in the Women's World Championship final, Tokyo | World Lacrosse |
| 23 October 2026 | No IOC decision admitting a Haudenosaunee team had been found by this date | This site's research (latest dated source: June 2025) |
| 2026-27 (upcoming) | NLL's 40th anniversary season | NLL |
| 18 to 27 June 2027 (upcoming) | Men's World Championship, Tokyo | World Lacrosse |
| 4 to 10 October 2027 (upcoming) | First World Lacrosse Sixes Championships, Colorado Springs | World Lacrosse |
| 24 to 29 July 2028 (scheduled) | Lacrosse sixes at the Los Angeles Olympics, the first Olympic women's lacrosse | World Lacrosse; USA Lacrosse |
The stories behind these rows are told on the History pages, listed on the History section page. Results since are in Events.
Sources
- Onondaga Nation, Lacrosse
- Haudenosaunee Nationals, History
- Biskinik, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (5 July 2023)
- History.com, lacrosse origins (seen as search summary only)
- PBS NewsHour, The lesser-known history of lacrosse (26 November 2025)
- Andrew McFarland Davis, Indian Games: an Historical Research (Project Gutenberg text)
- Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame, Comprehensive Timeline
- The Canadian Encyclopedia, Lacrosse (main article; seen as search summary only)
- Michigan Department of Natural Resources, bulletin on the 1763 attack on Fort Michilimackinac (13 June 2013)
- Wikipedia, Fort Michilimackinac (secondary, seen as search summary only)
- Tabitha de Bruin and Jim Calder, Lacrosse: from Creator's game to modern sport, The Canadian Encyclopedia (2017)
- J. Thomas West, Beers, William George, Dictionary of Canadian Biography
- Lacrosse Canada, History of Lacrosse
- Lacrosse Canada, Commemorative lacrosse display in Kingston
- Vincent Schilling, The Creator's Game, American Indian magazine (NMAI), Spring 2021
- Allan Downey, Journal of the Canadian Historical Association, vol. 23 no. 1 (2012)
- Wikipedia, College lacrosse (secondary, seen as search summary only)
- Wikipedia, Montreal Lacrosse Club (secondary, seen as search summary only)
- Wikipedia, United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (secondary, seen as search summary only)
- Wikipedia, United Women's Lacrosse League (secondary, seen as search summary only)
- Peter L. Lindsay, William George Beers, The Canadian Encyclopedia (last edited 4 March 2015)
- USILA, National Champions
- USA Lacrosse Magazine, Eras tour: 100 years of women's lacrosse in the United States (4 March 2026)
- Olympedia, Lacrosse
- Olympedia, Lacrosse, Men, 1904
- Olympedia, Lacrosse, Men, 1908
- Cornwall Sports Hall of Fame, Joe Lally
- Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame, Year in Review 1928
- Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame, Year in Review 1931
- Wikipedia, Box lacrosse (secondary, seen as search summary only)
- Paul Ohanian, USA Lacrosse Magazine (17 October 2023)
- USA Lacrosse, U.S. Men history
- Cornell Athletics (12 October 2021)
- Wikipedia, Margaret Boyd (secondary)
- FIL, FIL thanks, IOC recognizes contributions of longtime leaders (3 February 2019)
- NCAA, Looking back at the first women's champions in NCAA history (10 March 2023)
- Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, Honoring Nations 2002 Honoree: Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse
- Wikipedia, Haudenosaunee men's national lacrosse team (secondary)
- Iroquois Nationals brochure (seen as search summary only)
- National Lacrosse League, NLL to celebrate 40th anniversary during 2026-27 season (13 March 2026)
- Justice Laws Website, National Sports of Canada Act (S.C. 1994, c. 16)
- USA Lacrosse, About USA Lacrosse
- FIL, 2015 Guide to International Lacrosse release (3 February 2015)
- Wikipedia, World Lacrosse (secondary)
- Sam Laskaris, Windspeaker (2010)
- World Lacrosse, The path to potential Olympic inclusion (13 June 2023)
- World Lacrosse, IOC grants Full Recognition to World Lacrosse (20 July 2021, copy hosted by the Asia Pacific Lacrosse Union)
- World Lacrosse, The World Games
- Syracuse.com article republished by the Onondaga Nation (5 June 2025)
- Boston.com, Premier Lacrosse League 2021 season (14 April 2021)
- World Lacrosse, IWGA and Birmingham 2022 confirm pathway for Haudenosaunee Nation (14 August 2020)
- World Lacrosse, Canada bests United States to secure a gold medal sweep at The World Games 2022 (16 July 2022)
- The World Games (11 July 2022)
- IOC, LA28 additional sports release (16 October 2023)
- Athletes Unlimited, official statement regarding AU Pro Lacrosse (18 December 2024)
- Joint statement from the United States and Canada on Haudenosaunee participation in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics (17 January 2025)
- World Lacrosse, Full lacrosse schedule revealed for Los Angeles 2028 Olympics (12 November 2025)
- World Lacrosse, World Lacrosse adds UAE and Tanzania as members (15 April 2026)
- World Lacrosse, 2026 Women's Championship concludes after ten days in Tokyo
- World Lacrosse, Tokyo announced as host city for 2027 Men's Championship (22 July 2026)
- World Lacrosse, first World Lacrosse Sixes Championships announcement (27 August 2026)
- Government of Canada, Canadian Heritage Question Period note PCH-2024-QP-00044 (22 August 2024)