Boys Lacrosse Differences

A Key Difference Between Girls and Boys Lacrosse

The referee’s whistle blows fiercely. “You have been given a red card due to holding of the stick, covering of the ball, and stick checking above the shoulders in a dangerous manner.” Many boys and girls play an exciting sport called lacrosse, but play with different equipment and rules for each gender. These differences impact an essential part of the game, stick checking. Stick checking in lacrosse occurs when you lightly whack your opponent's stick and try to get them to lose control of the ball. Girls lacrosse differs from boys lacrosse on many levels, with stick checking being one of the major differences.

The way girls compete tends to be less rough than how boys compete. Girls stick check in a specific way. A legal check happens when a girl snaps her wrist as she makes contact with her opponent's stick. Legal stick contact occurs below the shoulders and on the opponent's crosse (where a player cradles the ball). Checking in the skull area results in increased concussion risk making it illegal to check in that area. The referee will call a foul for another illegal check called “slashing” that also increases injuries. Another call a referee will make takes place if your stick compresses on top of another player's stick for more than a second. That motion explains the term holding. Once girls reach the 12U age group, they begin to start doing stick checks without being penalized.

The National Rule Book for boys allows stick checking at 8U. Unlike girls, body checking and dozens of other ways to check emphasizes the physicality of boys lacrosse. Among the dozens of ways to stick check, useful ones include poke checks, lift checks and downward stick checks below the shoulders. Boys legally cover the ball, while girls when they cover results in a