Lacrosse relies on athleticism, but many athletes choose major sports (such as basketball or football) first. Lacrosse coaches often say, “Give me an athlete and I can turn him into a lacrosse player.” The lacrosse adage was cited in 1930:
 
“There is too much of the idea that in the colleges today you can take a football man who is big and strong and maybe fast and turn him into a Lacrosse player in six or eight months.”
   
“I can take any great athlete and turn him into a lacrosse player” was cited in 2009.
   
   
Google Books
Intimate Talks with Great Coaches
By Edward Dana Caulkins
New York, NY: Wingate Memorial Fund, Incorporated
1930
Pg. 531:
There is too much of the idea that in the colleges today you can take a football man who is big and strong and maybe fast and turn him into a Lacrosse player in six or eight months.
     
Your Best Lacrosse
SUNDAY, JANUARY 25, 2009
How Can I Shoot The Lacrosse Ball Faster?
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I tell all my guys to fall in love with the gym. Learn to love the weightroom. Get stronger. I can take any great athlete and turn him into a lacrosse player. But I can’t always take a lacrosse player and turn him or her into an athlete.
 
Upstate Game Day
ON THE STICK: Lacrosse balance of power shifts to Upstate
March 20, 2014
By JOHN CLAYTON
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“Spartanburg has a lot of athletes,” he said. “If you give me an athlete, I can turn him into a lacrosse player.”
 
Gwinnett Prep Sports
May 12, 2016
Getting to Know… Henry Autler
By Paul Thomas .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
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HA: It’s a sport where, the way I got drafted into lacrosse at the college level was I was playing football and they asked for athletes. The old saying used to be, “Give me an athlete. I’ll turn him into a lacrosse player.” The reason for that is because it’s a hand-to-eye coordination game. You’ve got to have that coordination. I was an athlete. That’s how I got into it.