Helmets & Women’s Lacrosse

If you were to turn on the TV four or five years ago, the only lacrosse you would see on TV (if any) was men’s division one lacrosse, usually around the time of the playoffs in May. However, not only is there much more lacrosse now on a weekly basis, but there is an impressive increase in the amount of media coverage for women’s games as well. Obviously, the number of women’s games that are shown on national television do not come close to the number of men’s games shown (or even the number of Hopkins games alone) but the fact that we have about a game every two weeks on ESPNU really points to the tremendous growth the women’s game has seen in the last decade.All that considered, I realized the other day that maybe I am not paying enough attention to the women’s side of the sport as I should be through one conversation with Kristie, who is one of two FLG Directors.

Helmets and Women’s Lacrosse: two words I thought I would never hear in the same sentence. They are so opposite that, up until earlier this week I would have told you that they could be an accurate representation of an antonym. To my surprise, however, these two words could be better friends than we, or I, thought. After talking to Kristie, I learned that there is a serious consideration by the governing board of Women’s Lacrosse to start making each player wear a helmet, in the midst of recent concussions in all contact sports across the board. For those of you who haven’t seen them, the proposed helmets would not be the same helmet as the men wear. Instead, each girl would wear a foam-like helmet that fits snuggly around the head (almost identical to the helmets coaches make soccer goalies wear when they are little).  Different teams across the country spanning all different age groups have been testing out the idea of the helmet in early scrimmages this year. To this date, there has been no final decision as to the final verdict on helmets in women’s lacrosse.

Before they embark on this whole helmet endeavor, the powers at be in women’s lacrosse should follow the example set by others who have already been dealing with the concussion issue. Case and point: Rodger Goodell aimed to tackle two key issues over the past three years in the NFL: High Hits and Concussions. So what does he do? He takes the requirements to clear a concussion test out of the hands of a team trainer and puts it in the hands of an independently contracted doctor to eliminate bias and makes them stricter. You want to clean a guy out high? That’s fine, as long as you are okay with writing a $50,000 check payable to the NFL ATTN: Finance Department and 15 yards each time you do it. The aim with both actions was to improve player safety in the best way he could think of and, for the most part, it has worked.

While fines have no place in women’s lacrosse, I think the harsher and stricter penalty guidelines would have a better effect on the game than helmets. If Goodell had invested in safer equipment (helmets, neck rolls, mouth pieces, etc.), he would have had the same problem on a scale almost ten times larger. Rather than having fewer concussions, you would still see hits that were high, blind side, or on a receiver that is completely venerable but instead of the players taking responsibility, they would just blame it on the faulty equipment. Goodell took the responsibility out of the league’s/ref’s hands and put it on the players and that is exactly what women’s lacrosse should do.

If you put girls in helmets, they are going to be less fearful of swinging at someone’s head or going for those impossible checks because in their mind, if they miss, who cares? I mean, she is wearing a helmet, right? But this mentality is what is going to lead to concussions and other head trauma that might even be worse than it is now. And if you introduce helmets into the girls game, who is to say that five or ten years down the road, someone does not want to fully outfit the girls in equipment head to toe just like the boys? Although it is tough to see now, helmets will invoke more contact in the girls’ game, not less, making it much more dangerous to play, not safer.

The more practical solution to their problem is to make the penalties harsher for checks to the head or aggressive swinging towards the head, just like football and men’s lacrosse did. The worse offenders could now get red cards, instead of yellow cards, forcing them to sit out the rest of the game and the next game as well. Just like football players don’t want to lose money and men’s lacrosse players don’t want to sit in the penalty box for more than a minute, women will start to alter the way they check and go for the ball for fear that, if they don’t, they will be penalized worse than before. The responsibility now lies directly on each girl. Yes, you are going to still have the overzealous refs calling the game tight and the loud-mouth parents having something to say about everything, but we have that now any way and I don’t think those two factors will ever be phased out of the game.

I know girl’s lacrosse gets knocked a lot for the pace of play and confusing calls but it is a great game to watch if you take the time. I’m spoiled because I get to watch some of the best lacrosse in the country coming out of Garden City. Certain sports will have issues with concussions till the end of time. Football has dealt with it, men’s lacrosse has instituted new rules, so I guess it is time for the women to find out how they are going to solve this issue. Do everyone a favor: keep the contact to a low level and get rid of this helmet idea.