Lacrosse-An Inside Look at a
Discourse Community
By: Julian Mucha and Josh Ford
What is Lacrosse?
● Lacrosse started off as a team game
played by American Indians using a ball
that is thrown and caught using a stick
● Originally started with 100-1000 players
on a field ranging from 800-3000 meters
Lacrosse is This
Goals
Win, win and win. The team wants to win the
conference, win the SELC playoffs, and make
the national playoffs. Winning is the goal.
Communication
During practice and game situations, the team
heavily relies on talking and shouting in game
to let each player know the play and their
position on the field.
Genres
The team will often meet for meetings in the
SAC conducted informally which are normally
held at the beginning of the season.
Lexis
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Attack
Midfield
Defense
Goalie
Crease
Head
Shaft
•
•
•
•
Fire
Slide
Help
One More
Levels of Knowledge
•
•
•
•
•
•
Head Coach
Assistant Coach
President
Vice Presidents
Captains
Players
Interview
Why did you join the lacrosse club?
-After high school, I was recruited to several Division II and III colleges to play,
but the money just wasn’t there unfortunately. UNC Charlotte offered me a full
academic ride and I accepted the offer. I was impressed by the talent and
structure of the club program here and decided that I wasn’t ready to give up
playing.
-I transferred here from another school playing lacrosse there, and wanted to
continue to play the sport
I love so I decided to join.
What do you like about lacrosse?
-The fast pace, the physicality, the intensity, the level of skill required, and the
culture as a whole. Lacrosse players have their own culture and we all can
relate to each other regardless of where we’re from.
-I love how it is like a combination of sports, including soccer, hockey and
basketball. It’s a really fast game with a lot of contact and requires a lot of time
and effort to acquire the necessary skills to be one of the best. Out of all the
sports I’ve played it is by far the most fun and unlike other sports lacrosse
players are usually grouped together and have a certain stereotype. Only sport
that is most similar to a fraternity
Interests you have?
-Outside of lacrosse, music is one of my biggest interests. I’ve been playing
music for about 17 years.
- Playing soccer and hanging out with friends.
How does the lacrosse club conduct meetings?
-We usually meet in the SAC for our meetings. We conduct them in a pretty
informal way, with lots of joking and laughing, but when we need to focus things
will take a more serious tone.
-All meet up in a room that either the president or coach tells us about.
Meetings are usually just at the beginning of the season.
How does the club communicate amongst themselves?
-On the field, we are constantly talking to each other. Everyone needs to
always know where everyone else is at all times so we can work as a unit, so
communication is key. Off the field, we take advantage of social media as much
as we can to try to keep in contact with all 50 members at once. Facebook is an
easy way to make sure everyone sees important messages
-On the field everyone is communicating and letting everyone know where they
are and what play they are running. Off the field we use facebook, emails and
texting
Observations
The practices are on Mondays, Wednesdays,
and Fridays from 6-8 on the recreational fields.
Most players show up at 6 with practice starting
off with some stretches and a light warm up
run. The team then practices separate drills
and then come together for some offense vs.
defense drills.
A Game
Practice