Box lacrosse 1998, the NLL entered into the Canadian market for the first time with the Ontario Raiders. Although 5 of the league's 9 teams are based in American cities, more than two-thirds of the players are Canadian. During play, a team consists of six players: a goaltender and five "runners". A runner is any non-goalkeeper position player, including forwards, transition players, and defenders. Runners usually specialize in one of these roles and substitute off the field when the ball moves from one end to the other. When the sport originated teams played with six runners. However, in 1953 the sixth runner,
Box lacrosse very different and do not lend well to one another. A defender is a player position whose primary responsibility is to prevent the opposing team from scoring. Unlike in field lacrosse where some defensive players carry longer sticks, all box lacrosse defenders play with a maximum long stick. Defensive tactics include cross checking (where a player uses the shaft of his stick to push the opposition player off balance), body checking (where a player makes contact with the opposition player in order to slow him down), and stick checking (where a player makes contact with the opposition player's stick in