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,
Field lacrosse Field lacrosse Field lacrosse is a full contact outdoor men's sport played with ten players on each team. The sport originated among Native Americans, and the modern rules of field lacrosse were initially codified by Canadian William George Beers in 1867. Field lacrosse is one of three major versions of lacrosse played internationally. The other versions, women's lacrosse (established in the 1890s) and box lacrosse (originated in the 1930s), are played under significantly different rules. The object of the game is to use a lacrosse stick, or crosse, to catch, carry, and pass a solid rubber ball in an effort