Girls Lacrosse

Women’s and girl’s lacrosse is among the most dominant forms of female’s sport today, remarkably different from the men’s form of lacrosse since it disallows physical contact of any kind. Even then, the game is played on the same adrenaline pace, very climatic and highly spirited, and like men’s lacrosse and other variants of lacrosse, is Canada’s most played female sport.

A typical game of women’s or girl’s lacrosse occurs when two competing teams, with each team consisting of 12 players, meet on a playing field with a minimum dimensions of 120 yards by 70 yards. The number of players a team can field is already a difference from the traditional men’s field lacrosse, which has 10 players. These twelve players consist of a goalie, 5 attackers and 6 defenders.

The fundamental premise of the game is pretty straightforward. The players have to maneuver around for ball possession using the lacrosse sticks, called crosse, in order to score goals on the opponent’s side. In a set amount of time, usually 60 minutes after the whistle is blown, the team that has the most number of goals wins. Women’s and girl’s lacrosse plays very much like hockey and soccer, with game mechanics very similar to hurling. But as stated, unlike other variants of lacrosse, women’s and girl’s lacrosse disallow physical contact of any kind. Thus the game’s tactical plays revolve more on speed, finesse and ball handling skills, unlike men’s lacrosse where sometimes endurance and fortitude can be of bigger asset.

Women’s and girl’s lacrosse jumpstarts by a draw at the center of the playing field, with the ball placed between the two horizontally held lacrosse sticks. After the whistle is blown, the ball is tossed on the air where the players then maneuver for ball possession and the game commences with one having awarded the first possession. At half time, the game starts by the same sequence, regardless of who has the possession after the end whistle.

The rules of women’s lacrosse center around the non-physical aspect enforced in the game, and because physical contacts of any kind are not permitted in girl’s or women’s lacrosse, allowed protective gears are only the eye goggles and mouth guard. That makes female lacrosse players more mobile and fast, and under observation one can say that women’s lacrosse definitely is the fastest game on two legs. Allowed checks are controlled pokes and taps on the opposing player’s crosse using also the player’s crosse, to knock the balls off. Aggressive swatting on the crosse is disallowed. At one point, female players tried to capitalize on the ruling by holding their crosse close whenever they are in possession of the ball, thereby making it impossible to make legal stick checks, but the rule has long been fixed. Female lacrosse players can no longer hold their crosse close to their body to hinder checking. Defensive stick checking is also disallowed if the player is more than 5 yards from the ball in play.

Here’s a short definition of the lacrosse equipment in a women’s game.

Due to the mild checking conditions, female’s crosses have shallower pockets and the have shorter handles. This would allow a level of difficulty in ball cradling and would make small taps enough to dislodge a ball.

The same legalized ball used for major leagues is used in women’s and girl’s lacrosse; yellow or white solid rubber that has a diameter of 2.5 to 4 inches and weight of 5 to 6 ounces. The lacrosse balls are to bounce at the height of 45 to 49 inches when dropped at the height of 72 inches.