Free Play Academy Newsletter #40

We are back from the holiday season!

I hope that you all enjoyed the time off & enjoyed the company of your loved ones.

Back to our weekly programming…

Topics that will be covered:

1. How we got to modern Lacrosse. 

2. The Thompson Trio.

3. Self-Talk scientific study & findings. 


How we got to modern Lacrosse.

Lacrosse is the oldest team sport, created by Native Americans thousands of years ago, played between 100-1000 players on fields that stretched 2000 yards with no out-of-bounds. This is a brief timeline of how the modern game was formed.

In 1834, a team from the Caughnawaga Nation demonstrated lacrosse in Montreal for the first time. 20 years later, William George Beers was a teenager, founding the Montreal Lacrosse Club. In 1860, he began to codify the first written rules of the modern game. Prior to Beers, all rules were decided before each game.

Some of his rules included the use of a rubber ball, making the stick any length, a pocket that needed to be flat in absence of the ball, the field set to 200 yards, size of a goal and crease, 12 players per side, with the match being decided by the first to score 5 goals or lead by 3.

In 1867, Beers created the Canadian National Lacrosse Foundation, and 2 years later published a book called Lacrosse: The National Game of Canada.

In 1868, Native Americans held an exhibition in Troy, NY in front of 10,000 people. Following its success, the Mohawk Lacrosse Club was formed in the United States, where lacrosse began to burgeon.

Continuing on his trajectory in 1876, Beers organized a team of Canadian and Native American players to tour England, Scotland and Ireland — even catching Queen Victoria’s eye, as she said “The game is very pretty to watch.” That endorsement helped launch English girls’ lacrosse in schools around the country — and partly why they still play 12 per side today.

By the 20th century, more rule changes that included a shortened field size, fewer players per side and a game clock, led to thousands of high schools and universities adopting lacrosse as a sport, and the game achieving Olympic recognition in 1904 — only just recently announcing its return to the grand stage in 2028.

Today, lacrosse is most popular in the United States, Canada and the Haudenosaunee Nation, but is also played in 91 countries around the world — including federations in South America, Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia.

And in 2023, the University of Leeds mens lacrosse club founded The Beers Cup — an annual competition between clubs in Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool.


The Thompson Trio.

Many speculate that these three were the ones to spark the epidemic of creativity in the game that we’ve seen rise dramatically in the last decade.


Self-Talk scientific study & findings.

A corner stone of sport psychology, what we consciously think to ourselves matters & proves to be an enhancer of performance.

Beautifully insightful article here of comparing basketball players whom had internal dialogue of the tactics of the game versus positive self statements towards oneself.

Here’s a snippet I enjoyed: “Self-Talk is acknowledged as one of the most widely used cognitive techniques for a number of reasons: It occurs unconsciously and consciously; it can be used with or without prior training; it can be an overt or covert technique. Athletes, coaches, and sport psychology researchers attest to the widespread use of Self-Talk (Gould, Finch & Jackson, 1993; Gould, Hodge, Peterson, & Giannini, 1989; Heishman & Bunker, 1989; Madigan, Frey, & Matlock, 1992; Murphy & Ferrante, 1989; Park, 2000; Sullivan & Nashman, 1998; Weinberg, Grove & Jackson, 1992). Most importantly, Self-Talk’s definition as external and internal dialogues applied to offer instruction and reinforcement to performers during skill execution provides a versatile day-to-day performance aid (Hackfort & Schwenkmezger, 1993). In simple terms, Self-Talk can be described as what athletes say to themselves either overtly or covertly. Athletes use self statements in order to direct their attention (e.g., ‘focus’), to control their anxiety (e.g., ‘relax’), to judge their performance (e.g., ‘great job’). Through these dialogues, individuals have a chance to express their feelings, to verbalize their perceptions, to regulate and revise their thoughts in order to facilitate and enhance skill learning and execution (Zinsser, Bunker, & Williams, 2001).”

You can find the full study here: https://www.athleticinsight.com/Vol9Iss1/BasketballPDF.pdf


The Free Game

The part of lacrosse that is played with the mind.

What will be covered are the 8 Principles of Performance.

Any lacrosse player can own the 1st ever sport psychology methodology specific to the game of Lacrosse.

This purchase will include a FREE consultation with Coach McDonnell via in-person or Zoom.

Here is a preview.

The cost is $24.99

You can purchase The Free Game here.


Lean in, do the work, stay focused and become uncommon.

Have a great week.


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Free Play Academy Newsletter #41

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Free Play Academy Newsletter #39