How Long are Lacrosse Games?
Lacrosse is the fastest sport on 2 feet, but how long do the games last? Read on to find out.
The answer to how long are Lacrosse games can vary between leagues. As Lacrosse can be such a physically demanding game, higher leagues tend to stick to a shorter game format, and as such, on average, how long are Lacrosse games actually?
Premier Lacrosse League
48 minutes broken down into 4 12 minute quarters. Half time is generally a 10 minute break and 2.5 minutes between quarters.
National Lacrosse League
60 minutes broken down into 4 15 minute quarters. Half time is generally a 10 minute break (or 15 in hotter climates), with 2.5 minutes between quarters.
Box Lacrosse
60 minutes broken down into 3 20 minute thirds. Generally this has 2 5 minute breaks but can differ between leagues.
So How Long is the Lacrosse Game?
As shown above, the normal format for a Lacrosse game is 60 minutes historically, but the Premier Lacrosse League is coming in and changing that for the better. It’s not a straightforward answer to how long are Lacrosse games, but I’ve shown the lengths for each type of game that you will see. Below I will cover Highs school as it’s not so simple, and a few other details about Lacrosse games too.
A lot of you are probably thinking how long are Lacrosse games and why does 12 minutes make a difference between the PLL and the NLL? The main reason is entertainment, you can have a much faster no holds barred game if it’s broken down into 12 minute quarters.
Research suggests that 15 minute quarters lead to burnout and a higher requirement of subs, slowing the overall pace of the game down, especially in the late stages. As the sport is so fast, shorter games are key for player longevity and reducing injury.
How Many Players on a Lacrosse Team?
A Lacrosse team would typically have 10 players on the pitch, and each team generally has a 26 player roster. This comprises 1 goalie, 3 defenders, 3 midfielders and 3 attackers.
How Do the Players Set Up?
The Lacrosse field is a basic rectangle broken into the defence, centre and attack areas. The defence and attack areas are generally 35 yards, and the centre is 40 yards so it’s not quite thirds. The wing area dictates the threshold which midfielders must stand behind before face off is played.
The formation is a 4-3-3, with there needing to be 4 players within your defending half, and 3 players always in the attacking half, leaving 3 players (generally the midfielders) able to roam the pitch.
This setup is the fastest setup generally, and also doesn’t allow you to flood forward in attack, and in effect actually shortens the passes and makes play more interesting. If a team was allowed to stack up front and they lost the ball, then an attacker at the other end of the field could easily receive the ball from a pass and be 1 on 1 with the keeper.
How Long is a High School Lacrosse Game?
High school Lacrosse games do vary in length depending on seasonal attributes. In the colder states, games tend to run for 40 minutes with 4 10 minute quarters, in warmer climate states they run for 48 minutes, 4 x 12 minute quarters.
Note that if you’re out to watch a High school Lacrosse game and you’re on a time constraint, don’t forget that the intermittent half time period is 10 minutes long. So your question how long is a high school lacrosse game has been covered, along with the PLL, NLL and box lacrosse in general.
Conclusion
I’m glad I was able to answer your question of how long are Lacrosse games. If you want to find any more information about how long is a Lacrosse game, or High school Lacrosse games, check out these links below here and here.
Thank you so much for reading, I would really appreciate it if you could take the time to comment and share this, so that others can learn about how long are Lacrosse games and youth Lacrosse.
If you liked the content, please be sure to follow my blog, and my other social media pages too for more great content. Thank you for reading my how long are lacrosse games article!
1 Comment