Women's Field Player Equiptment

In order to begin playing lacrosse, you must be outfitted with the correct equipment. In this post I will be helping you with what equipment must be bought for the women's game. The main pieces needed to play are protective eye wear, a mouth guard, a stick and a ball.

















Sticks


The most fundamental piece of equipment for the game is the crosse, the stick used to catch, throw, and cradle the ball. The crosse is composed of a shaft and a head that has a laced pocket to hold the ball. The earliest form of these sticks were made by Native Americans from wood and animal hide strings. These days, manufacturers use aluminum for the shaft and plastic for the head to help reduce the weight of these sticks.


The legal range of length is from 35 1/2 - 43 1/4 inches from the end of the shaft to the tip of the head. Since there are no specific different sticks for different positions (besides the goalkeeper), players may shorten their sticks for a couple of reasons. One is simply the height of the player. If she is shorter, handling a long crosse will be more difficult, so she may want to cut off some of the shaft to make it more manageable. Also, attack players tend to have shorter sticks to help avoid being checked and make it possible to cradle faster. The shaft, while mostly aluminum, can also be made with composites to help make it more durable or easier for the player to grip when wet or cold.


The head of must be seven to nine inches wide across and cannot contain mesh. Instead, the pocket is created by stringing many leather straps and strings to keep the ball in. However, the name of this area can be a little deceiving when it comes to the women's game. Unlike the men's game, there cannot actually be any concavity to the netted area or pocket in the field sticks. The ball must be even with or above the side walls of the stick when it is dropped in. Referees perform stick checks at the beginning of every game to ensure that the sticks are not illegal. Stick heads come in many different colors and designs, making it easy to personalize to your own unique style. Some of the designs are used to help improve certain skills like picking balls up off of the ground or shooting accuracy.

Balls


The ball used to play in official contests is yellow and made of solid rubber. It weights between 5-5.25 ounces, which can travel at very high velocities, especially on shots.


Goggles

In 2003, the US Lacrosse Women's Division Board of Governers voted to change the mandatory equiptment for the women's game to include eyewear. For the 2004-2005 season they were only suggested as a transition period, with complete enforcement nationwide beginning with the 2005-2006 season. These goggles are used to protect the eyes and nose from any possible contact with the ball or another players stick. The most current standard is that these goggle should be able to withstand forces up to that generated by a ball going 60 mph. US Lacrosse has compiled a list of acceptable eyewear that will legal for official play.



Mouthguard


One other piece of mandatory protection is a mouthguard. While women's lacrosse is not a contact sport, there is still the possibility of being hit by a ball, stick, or accidental run-ins with the other team. In order to be able to play on the field, a girl must be wearing a properly fitting mouthguard. The mouthguard cannot be clear, it must be able to be seen readily by the referree to ensure that everyone is wearing one. It also must extend to the back molars to ensure full protection for the player. This mouthguard must be kept in proper place the entire time the player is on the field. The referree may award the ball to the other team for not wearing proper equiptment if the mouthguard is hanging out of the mouth or not in it at all.

There are many different companies that provide equiptment women's lacrosse gear. A few include Brine, Stx, Warrior, and Harrow.