Tor! W
Kontra!
How does the game translate overseas?
By Mark Macyk
ould a FOGO by any other name sound as sweet?
The world may never know. While some lacrosse terms sound foreign even to the uninitiated American ear, they tend to be the same words that fans will hear shouted in (accented) English on international sidelines this month in Denver. The simple reason behind that is while lacrosse is quickly becoming an international sport, English already is an international language. The many American trailblazers bringing lacrosse across the pond have found a willing populace and encountered few language barriers.
Of course, having a native tongue like Swedish or German at your disposal does come in handy against less multilingual nations.
“That depends on who we’re playing against,” joked Austria coach Chris Arnold, when asked whether his team speaks German or English on the field. Arnold, who grew up on Long Island, has run Team Austria since 2009 and speaks German, but mostly communicates with his players in English. Lacrosse translates easily in Austria because many of its traditional sports, like soccer and rugby, are field- based games.
“The idea of a goal at each end is not foreign to them,” Arnold said. “It’s just the sticks.”
While they have plenty of German soccer terms, such as “tor” — meaning goal — at their disposal, when an Austrian puts one in the back of the cage he just usually calls it a goal. The Austrians learned the game by watching American videos on the Internet. “It’s remarkable,” Arnold said. “There are no lacrosse stores around here. They just became serious students of the game.”
62 LACROSSE MAGAZINE July 2014>>
“we tried to speak norwegian to them and the players started making fun of us. So we made them run.”
In Sweden, it’s mostly the same. They learn English at a young age, so in the late 1980s, when an American who fell in love with a Swedish girl wanted to bring lacrosse to his new home, he had no trouble communicating the rules of the new game. The Swedes, who are a nation of hockey players, were quick to embrace lacrosse as a summer sport. Today lacrosse has been present in Sweden for so long that their challenges, such as training coaches and referees and securing support from government bodies, mirror those of up-and- coming American areas.
– Norway co- coach Dan Scolaro
The Swedes do throw in a few native terms. On a fastbreak they’ll shout “kontra,” meaning counter, but for the most part they run their practices using the same words any American would.
Yet there is one way to tell what country a player hails from: by the way he plays. It tends to be representative of the culture in which he grew up. Sweden, with its universal health care, high quality of life and history of cooperation, plays a sort of socialistic style that de-emphasizes the individual.
The Swedes use some native terms. On a fast break they’ll shout “kontra,” meaning counter.
“We have a history and a culture that
is very team-orientated,” said Swedish lacrosse director John Sagrelius, who was among that first group of Swedes to learn the game. “We don’t really have the skills to focus on one or two guys. To play a Swedish team, you will have to run very much and you will need to win the ground balls and really try.” Norway coaches Dan Scolaro and Jim Morrison, both former Notre Dame players, said their players speak English fluently and the practices are run in English. “We tried to speak Norwegian to them and the players started making fun of us,” Scolaro said. “So we made them run.” Over in Central Europe, Arnold contrasted
the fun-loving, rowdy Irish
team that he used to coach with the stoic, all-business Austrians.
“The same way you would imagine a Germanic-type people to play,” Arnold said. “These guys are methodical about offense and methodical about their clears and rides. They follow the rules and they apply them. They’re rigid. They may not have the flashiest skills compared to the Americans, but they know the game.” And it turns out there’s another common bond besides language uniting lacrosse players across the world. “In general it attracts the same kind of people that it does here,” Arnold said. “It’s not the shy, introverted ones. It’s the crazy guys.” LM
A Publication of US Lacrosse
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