MARYLAND AT A GLANCE

STATE SYMBOLS

• Maryland State Sport - Jousting
  

  Maryland State Team Sport - Lacrosse

JOUSTING
Jousting became the official sport of Maryland in 1962 (Chapter 134, Acts of 1962; Code State Government Article, sec. 13-308). Maryland was the first state to adopt an official sport.

The annual Maryland State Jousting Championship was held October 5, 2013 at the Anne Arundel County Fairgrounds, 1450 Generals Highway (Route 178), Crownsville. The Championship has been sponsored since 1950 by the Maryland Jousting Tournament Association. Also, the National Jousting Championship was held at Petersville on October 12, 2013

Tournaments conducted in Maryland are "ring tournaments" which involve charging a horse at full-gallop through an 80-yard course toward suspended rings. Using a long, fine-tipped lance, the rider has 8 seconds to complete the course and "spear" the rings, scoring points accordingly. From three equally-spaced arches, rings are hung 6 feet 9 inches above the ground and range in diameter from one-quarter inch to nearly two inches depending upon the skill-level of the contestant. A family sport, jousting skills frequently are passed from one generation to the next.

Today, jousting competitions are held from May through October in Maryland.

LACROSSE

Effective October 1, 2004, Lacrosse became the official team sport of Maryland (Chapter 272, Acts of 2004; Code State Government Article, sec. 13-308).

Known as the oldest sport in North America, lacrosse was played by native American tribes probably for centuries before the first account of it was written in 1636 by a French Jesuit missionary in Canada. Among native Americans, lacrosse was played by tribes throughout the Great Lakes region, and in what is now the southeastern United States, and all along the East Coast, a range which encompasses Maryland.

Lacrosse players, University of Maryland vs. The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, April 2002. Photo by Rob Brown.

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Lacrosse is a fast-paced game played on a field in which the ten players on each team attempt to get a small ball into their opponent's goal while keeping it out of their own goal. A team consists of a goalie, three attackers, three midfielders, and three defenders. A long-handled stick with a net pocket on the end is used to throw, catch, and scoop the ball. From the stick, the game derives its name. To early French Canadians, the stick resembled a bishop's crosier, la Crosse.

In the United States, lacrosse became popular on college campuses in the late 1800s, beginning with New York University in 1877. The University of Maryland fielded its first team in 1910. In 1926, the first women's lacrosse team in the country was established at the Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore. Lacrosse made its Olympic debut in 1904, with the Johns Hopkins University team representing the United States at the summer games in 1928 and 1932. That school has remained a lacrosse power-house, ranked number one in the postseason coaches poll in 2002, 2003, and 2004. Other Maryland teams have performed well. The U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis won its eighth consecutive intercollegiate title in 1967, and in 2005 is ranked fifth in the nation, behind Johns Hopkins, Duke, Georgetown, and University of Virginia. In 1997, the University of Maryland won its fifth National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) women's championship.

Since 1995, lacrosse has grown rapidly as a club sport and at middle- and high-school levels in Maryland.

In 1997, Maryland became home to the Lacrosse Museum and National Hall of Fame.

The Chesapeake Bayhawks debuted in the Nationals Division of Major League Lacrosse in June 2001 as the Baltimore Bayhawks. In March 2010, during a restructuring of the League, the team relocated and assumed their current name. They play at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis.

Maryland college lacrosse teams have won national championships in recent years. On May 30, 2005, The Johns Hopkins University Blue Jays defeated Duke University's Blue Devils to win the Division I Men's Lacrosse championship of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The Johns Hopkins University Blue Jays again defeated Duke University's Blue Devils on May 28, 2007, to win the Division I Men's Lacrosse championship of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Played at M & T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, the victory gave the Blue Jays a record-breaking ninth national title. Most recently, on May 28, 2012, Loyola University Maryland's Greyhounds defeated the University of Maryland's Terps to win the Division I Men's Lacrosse championship of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

Maryland not only wins, but also hosts competitive lacrosse events. From June 23 to July 2, 2005, Annapolis, Maryland, hosted the World Cup, International Federation of Women's Lacrosse Associations. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men's lacrosse championship match was played at M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, on May 28, 2011 and will return May 24-26, 2014.

In 2003 and 2009-2011, Balitmore hosted the national conference for US Lacrosse. This conference is open to US Lacrosse member coaches, officials, and administrators, and offers field demonstrations, and educational clinics and sessions. The conference is scheduled to return to Baltimore in January 2015.

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