Get the scoop on lacrosse bros and gals
Andrew, resident of Bristle Cone, wearing the boys lacrosse gear appropriate for a contact sport including a helmet, mouthpiece, pads, and gloves.
By Kathy Dunker with photos by Kathy Dunker and Julie Montoya
Soccer moms move over! Lacrosse is here and it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. So get out your sticks and mouth guards and jump on board the bandwagon. Leagues start as young as seven years old and lacrosse appears to be the up and coming sport for boys as well as girls.
Lacrosse for girls is very different from lacrosse for boys in several ways, including contact rules, field length, number of team players, game time, and gear. The game is fast-paced and is a contact sport for boys who can check an opposing player but is a non-contact sport for girls.
Boys lacrosse requires players to wear a helmet, padded gloves, a mouth guard and pads on the shoulder and arms. Girls lacrosse allows players to only contact sticks during play. Girls gear includes protective eye goggles and a mouthpiece. Only the goalie uses neck and chest pads on the girls team as well as a helmet.
A boys lacrosse field is 110 yards long and 60 yards wide with the goals spread 80 yards apart, leaving 15 yards behind each goal. The lacrosse playing field for girls is longer than the field for boys. Generally, girls lacrosse goals are spaced 90-100 yards apart with 10 yards behind each goal, making the girls lacrosse field 120 yards in length.
Boys lacrosse is played with ten players on each team: a goalie, three defense, three midfielders and three attacks. Lacrosse rules require four players to remain on the defensive half of the field and three players to remain on the offensive half of the field throughout the game.
Twelve members make up a girls lacrosse team: a goalie, five defense players and six attacks. During game play, five players must stay on the defensive half of the field and four players must stay on the offensive half of the lacrosse playing field.
Boys lacrosse games are divided into four quarters of 15 minutes each with a 10 minute break at half time. Girls lacrosse games are divided into two halves of 20-25 minutes each. And there is a 30 second shot clock when a player is in the goal zone, similar to basketball.
Lacrosse season is typically March to May, although summer and fall leagues can be found as well. A few popular area leagues include South Suburban www.wwpr.org, Parker Hawks www.parkerlacrosse.com, Valor youth lacrosse www.leaguesathletics.com, and Cougars lacrosse www.cougarslax.com.
Girls South Suburban Panthers enjoyed playing summer league to keep their skills sharp with their typical gear being only eye goggles and a mouthpiece for all players except the goalie.
