Charlotte North on lacrosse's return to the Olympic stage: "To have that Olympic dream is electrifying"

Charlotte North knows the comparison will throw you off, but she wants you to stay with her: Lacrosse, which has been added to the Olympic programme at LA 2028, is akin to modern-day basketball.

Especially the sixes format, says the American stay, which is set to feature on the Olympic stage in less than four years' time.

"I know it's crazy, but once you break it down, and look at the details with a microscope, there's a lot of crossover" between the two sports, she tells Olympics.com in an interivew.

"It's really fast paced, has offensive and defensive schemes, and a transition game," she adds. "There are a lot of parallels between the two. Sixes lacrosse will be exciting, fast. It will be high scoring. There will be a lot of creativity on display, and I'm sure that it will not disappoint."

It's a monumental moment for the sport of lacrosse as it returns to the Olympic Games, having previously been included, but way back in 1904 and 1908. In October of 2023, it was announced that the sport - along with baseball/softball, T20 cricket, flag football and squash - will be a part of the Olympic programme.

"I'll never forget that day; it was a really surreal experience," said North, who helped lead Boston College to an NCAA title before moving on to the pros and featuring for Team USA, which calls her "the most electrifying player in the sport right now."

"It's a dream for every athlete who first picks up a stick and ball from a young age, because the Olympics is the pinnacle of sports," North explained. "The Olympics is the pinnacle of everything as an athlete; it's the highest performers in their craft."

"To have that Olympic dream in our sport is electrifying. You can feel it every field you step on. Every young girl I meet who is picking up a stick for the first time and hearing that the Olympics is in the conversation of where she can go is so inspired.

"I can't say enough about what it means to be included in the Olympics in LA 2028."

• Here are the five sports being added to the Olympic programme at LA 2028
• Here's what you need to know about lacrosse

Charlotte North on lacrosse at LA 2028 - and her love for basketball

Lacrosse consists of two teams trying to shoot a rubber ball into the opposition's goal using a stick with a net on its end. That net is used to carry, pass, catch and shoot - with only goalkeepers allowed to touch the ball with their hands.

"Lacrosse is played out of the air and so it allows for a lot of that run-and-gun speed and transition game similar to basketball," explained North. "You're trying to get that ball in bounds and push the pace up the field. So, a lot of passing plays occur in lacrosse, when you're trying to beat that foot speed [of your opponents]."

While lacrosse has traditionally been played in a 10-a-side format on a bigger pitch, sixes is played on a 70m x 36m (239ft x 118ft) pitch featuring goals 10m in from the end-lines.

"Sixes is a lot easier to understand for the casual fan," said North. "And it makes it easier for youth players so they can quickly understand it and get a team together at their local park. It's a really fun game to play; a great iteration of our sport. It's beautiful to watch because there's so much skill and speed involved. And I think those are the things that will be showcased the most at LA 2028."

North grew up in Dallas, Texas, and her first true sport was actually basketball, which she played competitively through high school. But after picking up club lacrosse she fell in love with the sport, heading to Duke and then Boston College at the collegiate level.

Since helping BC to its first national title in 2021, North has featured on a Team USA squad that claimed the world title in 2022 over Canada, their ninth world title in 11 stagings of the championships since 1982.

But Canada won at the World Games 2022 - Birmingham just a week later, continuing a rivalry - for the men, too - that should feature in the global conversation leading up to LA.

North, who now lives in the Boston area, has never gone too far from her basketball roots, though, she said: "I grew up a Dallas Mavericks fan. Someone I always idolised has been Steph Curry and his style of basketball, just because it is so different... he has a flair to his game.

"And on the women's side, Sabrina Ionescu and Caitlin Clark. [They are] consistently breaking down all these barriers and setting a new standard for what it means to be a professional women's athlete."

Lacrosse's roots with the Haudenosaunee

The sport of lacrosse was actually invented by the Native American nation of tribes known as the Haudenosaunee, formerly the Iroquois. Today, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy spans between upstate New York in the U.S. and across the border into Canada.

The Haudenosaunee still field teams to play internationally.

"To see what they've done, they have really set the stage and landscape of our sport," said North. "They have inspired so many and they give back to the lacrosse community in ways that is so impactful; more impactful than anyone could ever really describe. With lacrosse being an Indigenous game, to see them represent the whole nation on the world's biggest stage, it's a really cool thing."

As North spoke to Olympics.com, she had a special lacrosse stick hung on her office wall just behind her.

"This stick was actually given to me by Lyle Thompson, who's a member of the Haudenosaunee men's national team, and one of the all time greatest players to ever play at any level," she explained. "He's been an inspiring mentor of mine."

For now, North is all lacrosse, all the time. She plays on the U.S. squad and is also a part of a pro league in America, Athletes Unlimited, and just finished runner-up in the summer season that wrapped up in recent days. She commentates on the sport on TV, and has been active in the coaching and camp spaces - as well as growing the sport on her social media.

And while she's amped for the sport itself, she'd like to be a part of the Games in four years' time, too.

"There's definitely an Olympic dream for me," she said. "I don't plan on stopping playing anytime soon. ... Every workout and every training session, it's in the back of my mind. I'm I'm inspired every day by Olympic athletes.

"I get chills thinking about it because, you know what? You train for your whole life to get to that point. To know that our sport is now among all of all the sports that have been on the Olympic stage, it's amazing."