Lacrosse in different cities, flying into town for games. Canadians and Native Americans make up over 90% of the players. The NLL started in 1987 as the Eagle Pro Box Lacrosse League. Teams in Philadelphia, New Jersey, Baltimore and Washington, DC, played a 6-game season. The league operated as the Major Indoor Lacrosse League from 1989 to 1997, when there were six teams playing a 10-game schedule. The current NLL name began in the 1998 season, which included the first Canadian team. The most successful franchises have been the Toronto Rock and the now-defunct Philadelphia Wings, each has won six championships.
Lacrosse in Canada Lacrosse in Canada Modern lacrosse in Canada has been a popular sport since the mid 1800s. Only field lacrosse was played until the 1930s, when box lacrosse was invented. In 1994 Parliament passed the "National Sports of Canada Act" which declared lacrosse to be "Canada's National Summer Sport", with ice hockey as the National Winter Sport. Lacrosse was played by First Nations peoples before the arrival of European colonists. The first documented description of the game was in 1637. The game was called "baggataway" and "tewaarathon", which was played by two teams with 100 to 1,000 men each on a