What Is Canada’s National Sport?

Canada declared Lacrosse as its national summer sport and Ice hockey as a national winter sport. Let’s know the detailed information about Canada’s National Sport.

History of Canada’s National Sport

Ice Hockey

Canada was the birthplace of modern ice hockey which was started in the 19th century. It is the most popular Canadian sport over the centuries. In 1875, this game was developed by a Canadian J.G.A Creighton. The first match took place in Montreal.

Not only men were involved, gradually women showed interest and began to play it. In the 2002 Winter Olympics women participated and won gold medals. This event was watched by over 6 million Canadians simultaneously men’s match was seen by 10 million people.

In 2004, a canvass was taken to find the 10 greatest Canadian of all time and Canadians vote went to two well-known players namely- Wayne Gretzky and Don Cherry. If you have observed the Canadian’s five-dollar note then you may find it as an amazing example of how much they love hockey.

Hockey won Canadians’ hearts. Consequently, they have written books on the importance and connection between Hockey and Canada like Jim Prime’s book, How Hockey Explains Canada: The Sport That Defines a Country.

The most famous national championships trophies are Memorial Cup and the Allan Cup for the junior and senior men sequentially.

Lacrosse

Lacrosse was represented as a national sport in Canada in 1859. What Canadian Law announced was -“Hockey and Lacrosse to be national sports.’ Today Lacrosse becomes a part of Canadians’ Indigenous culture. In 1925, the Canadian Lacrosse Association was established and what it does is conducting juniors and senior championship tournaments for both men and women. 

In 2003 it took part in the inaugural World Indoor Lacrosse Championship. The 2006 World Lacrosse Championship was conducted in London, Ontario where Canada defeated the United States 15-10 which broke the U.S constant winning streak. The great achievements in Canadian Lacrosse are rewarded by the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame. 

It is really good to know that the national sport of Canada is both Lacrosse and Ice hockey.