Ballou High School in Washington might not seem the mostly likely school to have a lacrosse team.

华盛顿Ballou高中可能看上去不大像有一支长曲棍球队的学校。

But lacrosse has grown beyond the popular image of a sport mainly for wealthy private schools. Ballou is a public school in one of the poorest neighborhoods in the city. In the past six years, more than forty students have died violent deaths. Many were the result of drug violence.

但长曲棍球队已经超出了主要存在于有钱的私立学校这一普遍印象。Ballou是位于华盛顿最贫穷的街区之一的一所公立学校。在过去六年里，四十多名学生死于暴力冲突，其中大部分是由于毒品暴力。

Ballou has just had its first year with a lacrosse team. The team is for girls. They lost every game. But their coach, Holly McGarvie, says this was also the first time they ever played.

Ballou刚刚度过拥有一只长曲棍球队的第一年。这是一支女子球队。她们场场比赛都败北。但她们的教练霍莉·麦加维（Holly McGarvie）表示，这也是她们第一次打球。

HOLLY McGARVIE: "You know, I think the goal each year is going to change. This year, I think, just starting and building a foundation that we can build from and create a tradition of women’s lacrosse here at Ballou.”

麦加维：“你知道，我认为每年的目标都会不同。今年刚刚起步，正在尽力打好基础，并在Ballou创建女子长曲棍球的传统。”

Members of the lacrosse team practice at Ballou High School in Washington Lacrosse is a fast-moving sport, the modern version of a game played by American Indians. Teams try to make goals with a ball caught and thrown using a net at the end of a stick.

长曲棍球是一项快速移动的运动，它是一种印第安土著游戏的现代版本。各队使用一根顶部带网的球杆来传接球从而完成进球目标。

School officials decided to make changes at Ballou after less than sixty percent of the senior class graduated in two thousand six. Since then the graduation rate has improved by ten to fifteen percent. Rahman Branch, the school principal, says one change was to increase activities after the school day.

在2006年高年级班不到60%的毕业率后，学校官员决定做出改变。自那以后，毕业率提高了10%到15%。学校校长拉曼·布兰奇（Rahman Branch）表示，变化之一是增加了课后活动。