Passion and Olympic Dream: Inside India's Lacrosse movement

A group of men wielding crosses – a strange stick with a net attached to its head – and running around a field wearing helmets, was a strange attraction for locals in Gorakhpur in the eastern belt of Uttar Pradesh last month.

It was an unusual sight; but something which the group of men at the centre of it hope would become a norm in India over the next few years.

It was the Indian men’s team, building themselves from the ground up for the 2026 Asian Lacrosse Games, currently underway in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Lacrosse traces its origin back to the 12th century, but the sport has found a few takers in India over the last couple of years. The sport’s inclusion in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics roster – exactly a century after it was played in the 1908 Games – has piqued the interest.

One of the men leading the country’s charge with the aim of making it to the Olympic Games is Gunish Singh Bedi, the vice-captain of the Indian Lacrosse team.

"I started playing lacrosse two years back," said Bedi in a conversation with The Bridge.

An ex-hockey player and footballer, he picked the sport up on the recommendation of a former coach, after being sucked into the world of corporate to make a living in Mumbai.

"I did a bit of self research and after a lot of surfing (on the internet) found that Maharashtra is holding trials in Nagpur to form a state team," recalled Bedi.

He got to work soon after and built himself a crosse or lacrosse stick at home, watching YouTube videos. When he showed up in Nagpur, he was pitted against at least 25-30 other hopefuls.

Bedi excelled and was drafted into the state team. His experience in hockey helped.

"Hockey and lacrosse both have a stick and a ball. The difference is that the lacrosse stick has a net and the hockey stick has a ‘J’ curve," he explained.

"There is a lot of dribbling and hand-eye coordination also involved in both sports. So, if you’ve played hockey, it won’t take you a lot of time to adjust to lacrosse," he added.

Much like cricket, lacrosse is played in three different formats – Field, Box, and Sixes. It is the latter, where India is taking baby steps with sixes being the format set to be played at the Olympic Games two years down the road.

Sixes, the newest format of the sport, takes elements from both field and box lacrosse to form a faster, hybrid version. Like field lacrosse, it is played outdoors. It, however, drops from a 10v10 to a 6v6 as is the case in box lacrosse.

Having first hosted an All India Lacrosse Championship 90 years ago in 1936, the sport lost its popularity in India to competitors like hockey and others. It came to the forefront again only in 2021 after the Lacrosse Association of India (LAI) was granted an associate membership of World Lacrosse.

The sport hosted its first National Championship in 2024 in Agra, with athletes from 22 states in action.

Having made their international debut in both men’s and women’s events last year at the Okinawa Open in Japan last year, Bedi estimates that India currently has players northwards of 500 in lacrosse.

Despite the progress made, Indian lacrosse is still at a nascent stage. The Lacrosse Association of India is yet to receive formal recognition from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

Both the men’s and women’s team travelling to Riyadh for the 2026 Asian Lacrosse Games have chipped in money personally to fund their travel along with whatever the national federation could contribute. It would just be their second international tournament.

"It will be very funny of us to expect something from the government because there’s nothing happening as such," noted Bedi.

"In India, unless you win a medal at the top level, people won’t recognise the sport. Our aim is to make sure at least the next generation gets the benefit.

"There’ll be a lot more participation if we do well and then we can have expectations from the government. Everything is in process and every process takes time. Meanwhile, we give our best to expedite it," he added with a smile.

The process is indeed in place with the Asia Pacific Lacrosse Union taking a keen interest in the Indian market. The continental federation has helped set up coaching camps in the country and even helped procure sticks and other equipment to get the sport rolling in India.

The week-long national camp last month in Gorakhpur also saw a Japanese coach lead the charge for the Indian team as it formed an 18-member team for the Asian Lacrosse Games. The coach isn’t officially appointed and won’t be in the Indian dugout during the tournament, but would continue to guide the team.

The 2028 LA Olympics is a long road ahead, but there’s certainly a small lacrosse revolution brewing in India.