Lacrosse is now the fastest growing sport in the United States. Boys' and Girls' lacrosse share a common concept, which is to use a stick to get a hard rubber ball in the goal more times than your opponent. Beyond that main goal, the sport of lacrosse looks completely different between the boys' and girls' games. The equipment, field, number of players, and types of fouls, all differ between boy's and girl's lacrosse.

Boy's lacrosse is a physical game, where players are allowed limited bodychecking in order to dislodge the ball, or slow other players down. Because of this physicality, boys are required to wear the following gear; helmet, chest protector, elbow pads, gloves, cup, mouth guard, and cleats. The helmet, gloves, elbow pads and chest protector must be lacrosse specific. Cleats may be either lacrosse, soccer, or football type. NO BASEBALL CLEATS are permitted in lacrosse.

Girl's lacrosse has much less contact than boys lacrosse. Because of this difference, the only equipment required for girls lacrosse is a set of lacrosse goggles, a mouth guard, and cleats. Recently, girl's helmets have been developed, which have built in goggles. Your player must wear one or the other(goggles or a helmet).

Sticks are also different between the boy's and girl's game. Girl's sticks have a much shallower pocket, so they tend not to shoot as hard as a boy's stick. All girl's field players use the same length stick, while boys may use a "shorty"(for attack and midfielders) or a "pole"(for defenders). If you are just starting out in the boy's game, ALWAYS pick a short stick to begin. Your coach will advise if your son needs to eventually move to a long pole.

Locally, equipment can be purchased at Dick's Sporting Goods or Velocity Lacrosse(West Chester, OH). Both will be similarly priced for beginner's equipment, but the employees at Velocity are current and former players and coaches, so they can explain the nuances between each piece of equipment better than an employee of a chain store. There are several online stores that sell gear, as well, www.sportstop.com, www.lacrosseunlimited.com, and www.lacrossemonkey.com are a few of the more popular sites.

More reading on the basics for boys and girls lacrosse can be found here: https://laxfarmer.com/guides/lacrosse-rules/