William George Beers

William George Beers
A portrait of Beers taken in 1868
Born	May 5, 1843(1843-05-05) Montreal, Quebec
Died	December 26, 1900(1900-12-26) (aged 57) Montreal, Quebec
Nationality	Canada
Occupation	Dentist
Known for	"Father of modern lacrosse"

William George Beers (May 5, 1843 – December 26, 1900), a noted Canadian dentist and patriot, is referred to as the "father of modern lacrosse" for his work establishing the first set of playing rules for the game.

Lacrosse

William Beers was involved with lacrosse from a young age. As a teenager, in 1856, was a member of the Montreal Lacrosse Club. He was selected at age 17 to be a goalkeeper for a Montreal exhibition team that played a match before the Prince of Wales.

In 1860, Beers began to codify the first written rules of the modern game. Prior to this, all rules of the game needed to be decided prior to each game. Some of the rules established by Beers were the size of and the use of a rubber lacrosse ball, that the lacrosse stick could be any length, but the pocket needed to be flat in the absence of a ball, length of the field to 200 yards (180 m), size of the goal and goal crease, twelve members of a team on the field at a time, and the length of a match to first to reach five goals, or lead by three.^[1][2]

In 1867, as lacrosse was growing significantly in popularity, Beers created the Canadian National Lacrosse Foundation. In 1869, Beers published a book on lacrosse entitled Lacrosse: The National Game of Canada. In 1876, Beers organized a team of Canadian players and Indians players to tour England, Scotland, and Ireland to showcase the sport.^[3] During this trip in 1876, Queen Victoria witnessed an exhibition game and was impressed, saying "The game is very pretty to watch." Her endorsement was enough for many English girls' schools to adopt the sport in the 1890s.^[4] Again in 1883, Beers returned to England to showcase lacrosse. This time Beers brought two teams to play exhibition game.^[3]

Dentistry

Beers was a successful and notable dentist. After finishing his schooling in 1856, Beers completed a dental apprenticeship. By the early 1860s, Beers was a successful dentist and began publishing article in journals.^[5] In 1868, he founded Canada's first dental journal, the Canada Journal of Dental Science.^[6] He also served as dean of Quebec's first dental college at Bishop's University. He held this position for only a short time. Differences in opinion regarding curriculum and concerns over the use of untrained dental assistants led Beers to resign from the position^[7]

Nationalism

Beers was a strong Canadian nationalist. Besides advocating for lacrosse to become the national sport of Canada believing it would serve as "unifying symbol for the emerging Canadian nationality," Beers also defended the country against the Fenian Raids in 1866 and 1870.^[8] During the raids, Beers helped establish the Victoria Rifles of Canada.^[9]

Bibliography

Beers, William George (1869). Lacrosse: The National Game of Canada. Dawson Brothers (sanctioned by "National Lacrosse Association of Canada"). pp. 256. http://books.google.com/books?id=opZJAAAAIAAJ&q=Lacrosse:+The+National+Game+of+Canada&dq=Lacrosse:+The+National+Game+of+Canada&pgis=1. 

References

1. ^ Scott, Bob; Scott, Robert (1978). Lacrosse: Technique and Tradition. JHU Press. ISBN 080182060X. http://books.google.com/books?id=IFVz2I7qI80C. 
2. ^ "Lacrosse History". STX Lacrosse. http://www.stxlacrosse.com/theculture/history.cfm. Retrieved 2008-11-17. ^{[dead link]}
3. ^ ^{a b} "Death of Noted Lacrosse Player" (PDF). New York Times. January 6, 1901. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9904E2DD1330E132A25755C0A9679C946097D6CF. Retrieved 2008-12-30. 
4. ^ Thompson, Jonathan (October 14, 2001). "Sportsactive: Your sport Lacrosse; Think it sounds a bit soft? Think again.". HighBeam Research. The Independent Sunday. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-79111255.html. Retrieved 2008-11-18. 
5. ^ "William George Beers Biography". Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online. http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=5957. Retrieved 2008-12-30. 
6. ^ "Bibliography of Canadian Health Sciences Periodicals: Dental titles.". McGill University. http://www.health.library.mcgill.ca/osler/canjournals/dental.htm#B. Retrieved 2008-12-30. ^{[dead link]}
7. ^ Nicholl, Christopher (1994). Bishop's University, 1843-1970. McGill-Queen's Press. pp. 373 pages. ISBN 0773511768. http://books.google.com/books?id=jV15rHknPuoC&pg=PA343&lpg=PA343&dq=beers+dental+college&source=bl&ots=kZv_AQdxMu&sig=bpO4NF1rrSP84XJp9neCngEYGXI&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA343,M1. 
8. ^ Fisher, Donald M. (2002). Lacrosse: A History of the Game. JHU Press. ISBN 0801869382. http://books.google.com/books?id=N8dQ11uQxrQC&pg=PA29&dq=william+beers+nla&as_brr=3&client=firefox-a#PPA26,M1. 
9. ^ "Victoria Rifles of Canada fonds (P190)". McCord Museum of Canadian History. http://www.musee-mccord.qc.ca/scripts/explore.php?Lang=1&tableid=18&tablename=fond&elementid=46__true. Retrieved 2008-12-30. 

Persondata
Name	Beers, William George
Alternative names
Short description	Dentist and codifier of lacrosse
Date of birth	May 5, 1843
Place of birth	Montreal, Quebec
Date of death	December 26, 1900
Place of death	Montreal, Quebec