Without the protective gear, injuries do mount.

"I've had fingers banged up and tons of hits to the head," says 25-year-old Diane Pan, a New Jersey native and now medical student at UH Manoa.

The goalkeeper is the only player allowed to wear protective gear, such as a facemask, helmet, and body padding.

Lacrosse has enjoyed popularity on the Mainland, primarily on the East Coast, and is beginning to gain a foothold in Hawai'i, thanks in part to the efforts of the Wahine Lacrosse Club.

Stephanie Hsu, 22, an architect intern in Honolulu, who played varsity lacrosse for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, describes the sport as, "kind of like soccer or hockey, but played in the air."

Different rules

In women's lacrosse, 12 players take the field for each team (there are 10 per side in the men's game). The field measures 100 yards long by 70 yards wide, with goal nets 80 yards apart at opposite ends of the field.

Women's lacrosse differs from the men's game in that body-checking is not allowed. However, "a player's hands are considered part of the stick (referred to as a 'crosse'), and are fair game when a defender is attempting to knock the ball out of an opponent's crosse pocket," Wahine Lacrosse Club founder Stephanie Jones said.

In men's lacrosse, a defender may take whacks at a ball-carrier. In the women's game, a defensive player may only strike with her crosse from a distance no greater than eight inches from a ball-carrier's stick to try to get the ball loose. Strikes above the shoulders are forbidden.

The crosse can be made of wood, lightweight metals or synthetic materials. The pockets of the crosse are made of nylon or leather woven into a small basket-like cradle, approximately seven inches wide, while the goalkeeper's crosse pocket may be 12 inches wide.

The ball is made of hard rubber, much like a hockey puck.

As one begins to master the stick handling, next comes the opportunity to test those skills in actual competition.

Hawai'i tournament

Recently, the Wahine Lacrosse Club put its skills to the test against international competition during the fourteenth annual Hawai'i Lacrosse Invitational Tournament; held the last weekend of October at Kapi'olani Park.

The Wahine Lacrosse Club played against teams from the Eastern United States, Canada, Australia and Japan.

With the caliber of competition, Jones said the tournament "has established itself as the premier fall lacrosse tournament in the nation."

Despite ending the tournament with an 0-5 record, the Wahine felt they gave a respectable effort against teams that have much more experience.

Pan said she relished playing against international competition, and added that, "Everyone had a great attitude ... and really enjoyed being on the field together ... Stephanie Jones deserves a lot of credit for keeping the Wahine (club team) up and running."

Hsu, a Spokane, Wash., native raised in Winter Park, Fla., with eight years of lacrosse experience, is ever a student of the game.

"I like the intensity of the game," which "requires skill, speed, agility ... and there's always room for improvement," she said.

"I love being kept on my toes," says Diane Pan, front, on why she enjoys playing lacrosse. Photos by Oscar A. Hernandez photos

Pan has more than 10 years of lacrosse experience, and played for her club team at Rutgers University.

When not practicing for lacrosse, Hsu maintains her fitness for the sport by running, swimming, and weight training. She also played volleyball and ran cross-country in high school.

Despite Pan's full schedule as a medical student she finds time to not only play lacrosse, but during the off-season she maintains her fitness by surfing, running and working out in a gym.

An ancient sport

Jones, a mother of a 4-year-old girl, expressed her love of the game due to its "rich cultural history," referring to the game's Native American roots. "It's so awesome to play America's first sport," she said.

U.S. Lacrosse, the sport's national governing body, said the game played by Native Americans is rooted in religion, referring to the game as "The Creator's Game."

In its infancy, the game was played by tribes as a means of conflict resolution, and competition would last between one to three days. The game sticks were made of wood; and the balls also made of wood, or deerskin, baked clay, or stones.

Lacrosse received its namesake from the French, in which "lacrosse" translates to "The Cross." The first documents of lacrosse came from Jesuit missionaries from France. They named it La Crosse because the sticks reminded them of the "crosier" that Bishops carried in church services.