Brendan Reeser

Prof. Campbell
UWRT 1101
11/6/2014
A New Perspective on an Old Sport
Part1: The UNC Charlotte club lacrosse team is the subject of my ethnography. This is an
athletic team not sponsored by the university so it is funded by the players. I observed the team
during their practice at the recreational fields on the UNC Charlotte campus. They meet there
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 6 to 8pm every week. Lacrosse is played in the spring so
the team is currently on its off season. In the spring, the practices will be every day for at least
two hours. To gain further insight into the team, I interviewed a senior captain who has been a
part of the team for four years. I also researched other college lacrosse programs who are
preparing for the 2015 season. I joined the lacrosse team this year and I still have much to learn
about the team and culture.
I arrived to the field at exactly 5:30, thirty minutes before the start of practice. There were
only ten players there at this time, those who want to get extra work in before practice. Players
put their equipment on and tweak their sticks to make sure they are the same as how they left
them after last practice. In lacrosse, your stick is more personal and customizable than any piece
of equipment in any other sport. The stick is composed of a head and shaft which can be any
combination of thousands of different models from over thirty different companies. You can
have the same stick as another player but the mesh stringing in the head of the stick makes no

two alike. The stringing determines how you throw, catch, shoot, run with the ball, it is
everything. Each player has a different idea of what the best way to string a stick is because of
how they learned or what they do. There is no right or wrong way to string a lacrosse stick, if it
works for you then stay with it. Ive met several players who have sticks that I cannot even begin
to play with but they play better than me so it must be working for them. Discussion of sticks and
stringing are common topics before practice. During my observation, one player got a new stick
and had to show it off to the other players. Words such as dope, nice, and sick were used
to describe the new stick. Players are very protective over their equipment, especially their
sticks. Its strange to be proactive of equipment that is constantly being abused and smacked by
other players but off the field sticks are treated like babies. More players begin to show up and
the discussions become louder. Groups form between the players as they get suited up in
shoulder pads, elbow pads, helmets, gloves, and cleats. Uniforms have not arrived yet, so players
wear mismatching pennies they have gotten from various lacrosse teams. Players which were on
the team last year wear their Charlotte pennies. I observed that the older players mostly group
together because they are familiar with each other and the freshman are left to awkwardly keep
to themselves or introduce themselves to the other members. Coach yelled to hurry up and
practice was about to begin.
Practice always begins with a lap around the field to get warmed up. Captains form two
lines shoulder to shoulder and wait for all players to line up before beginning the run. This is one
of the most structured events during practice as the entire team runs at the same pace in almost
absolute silence. The run concludes with a team huddle around the coach. The coaches, along
with the captains, give the outline for the practice and inspire the team to work hard while also
having a good time. They break out with the chant NINERS ON THREE..1..2..3NINERS!

Players separate into four evenly distributed lines the width of the field to warm up passing in
what is called line drills. After warming up, the defense and offense separate to work on their
individual skills with the different coaches. Defense works mostly on positioning and learning
the team defense. Shouts of words that most people dont have any comprehension of such as
FIRE, SLIDE, IM HOT, IM LEFT, IM RIGHT, IVE GOT YOUR TWO, IM THREE can
be heard all the way at the other end of the field from the mouths of the defense. Offense works
on shooting and offensive plays. The offensive players are much more subdued and most of the
talk is just ooing and ahhing at goals being scored. Talking amongst each other, phrases like
Rip, top shelf, burner, on a rope are used to complement each other. After around forty five
minutes of separate practice, the defense and offense reunite for a drill called number. The drill
gives the offense one more player than the defense and it is the goal of the offense to score. They
are expected to score because they have the advantage but the defense takes great pride in
stopping the offense. This is a fast passed and fun drill that offers competition between players.
Lots of friendly yelling can be heard from both teams whether a player makes a good play,
scores a goal, takes the ball away, or messes up. When someone on the offense drops a pass or
throws a bad pass the team automatically lashes out on them for ruining the drill. Players will
joke around and call each other names to mess with them. As much as the players mess around,
the goal of practice is to improve. If a freshman or younger player messes up, a veteran play will
pull them aside and talk to them about what they did wrong and how to improve next time. The
practice almost always concludes with a full field scrimmage. The teams are divided in half and
they will play until the end of practice. This is fun for all the player and they have a good time
doing it but the competition level is still high. The losing team at the end of practice has to run
four full field sprints, so there is an incentive to work hard and give all of your effort. At the

conclusion of practice the goals are carried off of the field and there is a search for the lost balls.
The last thing at every practice is a huddle at the center of the field where the coaches and
captains will talk about what went well and what needs to be improved upon. The team breaks
out the same way they started practice with the chant NINERS ON THREE..1..2..3..NINERS!
Players make their way back to the bench and take off their equipment. They casually discuss
goals, saves, checks, passes, and any plays that happened at practice. The teasing and name
calling continue the whole time until they leave. Players walk back to their cars or dorms and go
continue with their normal college life just as the other thousands of students.
Part 2: Being able to take a step back and view the team as an observer has made me realize
interactions, social norms, and characteristics that I have otherwise overlooked. One of the first
things which I noticed was the speech that the players use when talking to one another. I even
realized that my use of language changes when I am around the lacrosse team. The language is
very relaxed and informal. Words such as chill, bro, and sweet are suddenly added to my
vocabulary and used more regularly then cool or hey. The reason that this style of language is
used, almost involuntarily, is to fit in with the rest of the team. The easiest way to make people
believe that you belong to a group is to act and sound like you fit in. Connor Wilson from
Lacrosse All-Stars said The lacrosse community is about much more than playing the game.
Lacrosse is in the way you talk, the way you dress, even the food you eat. Lacrosse is an entire
community of people who are brought together by their passion for the game. Lacrosse is a sport
unlike any other, a little bit like hockey, a little like soccer, a little like football, but in a league
all its own. The players who choose to pursue this incredible sport are one of a kind. The phases
that lacrosse players use seem completely strange to others and the stereotypical surfer style of
speaking doesnt help people understand or relate to them any better.

One of the main topics that I began the ethnography eager to study was the stereotypes
associated with lacrosse players. Many people view lacrosse players as nothing more than
prototypical potheads. They are seen as unintelligent and dont care at all about school or
anything not relate to lacrosse for that matter. I asked one of the senior captains how he felt
about these stereotypes and he replied, The things that people say about lacrosse players
couldnt be further from the truth. As far as saying we are unintelligent, almost a third of our
team is in engineering and another third in business. Those are two of the hardest degrees to
receive at Charlotte. We have never had a player be ineligible to play because of not enough
credit hours or had a player drop out of the college. Unfortunately I cannot defend the claim to
drug users because according to an article posted by The Lacrosse Network, I higher percentage
of lacrosse players admits to drug abuse than any other NCAA sport. In response to this article,
the senior captain said, I think that the data may not be represented well because this was a
survey of the athletes and of course they are going to lie. The number is probably higher because
we (lacrosse players) are not afraid to admit using drugs. There are going to be a number of
athletes in any sport that do drugs.
During my observation of the lacrosse team I took note of the social groups which form
between teammates. Players will often form a stronger connection with players that share their
same position. There are three attackmen on the field during the game and they must know the
style that each other play with and where they are going to be at all times in order to effectively
run the offense. If the attackmen are not comfortable with each other then they will all be playing
separately and not work as a singular unit. Communication is even more important for
defensemen. The defense is not a man-on-man scheme, the players work cohesively to guard all
the players. If a defenseman is beat one-on-one, it is not his fault if they score. It is up to the rest

of the defense to adjust for the player in positon to score. Players naturally divided themselves by
position because that is who they are familiar playing with. Returning players have their
designated group which they are accustomed to hanging out with but new players must find a
place to fit in. I observed that the more skilled the player, the more excepting the rest of the team
will be to them. If a freshman makes a good play on the field, then an upperclassman may tell
them that he did well and will start talking to him. Being a good player is the easiest way to be
accepted and respected by the team. The new players are all finding their roles and place on the
team. It may take a while to get used to but come spring, they will be family, said the player I
interviewed when I asked him how the new player fit in with the rest of the team. The most
respected thing that a new player can do is to show up to every practice and work hard. If you
work your ass off, then there is a place on this team for you. said the captain. It doesnt matter
your skill level or how big of a personality you have, hard work will get noticed. On the back of
the teams shirt it reads HUSTLE, DEDICATION, COMMITMENT, SUCCESS
My observation of the club lacrosse team at UNC Charlotte gave me a new perspective
on the sport itself. I have been playing for over six years now but I never stopped to think about
how I was acting towards others or how they were acting toward me. The lacrosse team is a
collection of students perusing all different majors, have all different personalities, and come
from all different walks of life but the one thing that they have in common is their love for the
game. The senior captain said it best, Were more than just a teammates. Were brothers.