Lacrosse

The NOCSAE, the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment, who set standards for athletic equipment have updated the standards on both Boys’ and Girls’ Lacrosse balls that are used for play. More information can be found on this on the USLacrosse website.

Women’s lacrosse is a sport played with twelve players on each team. The object of the game is to use a long-handled lacrosse stick to catch, carry, and pass a solid rubber ball in an effort to score by ultimately hurling the ball into an opponent’s goal. Defensively the object is to keep the opposing team from scoring and to dispossess them of the ball through the use of stick checking and body positioning. Equipment required to play is different from the men’s. Women are only required to wear eyewear/lacrosse goggles, and a mouth guard. Their stick has restrictions too, it has to be a certain length and the pocket cannot be too deep but the lacrosse ball sizes are the same. Colors appear to be tightly controlled in NCAA Women’s Lacrosse.  Starting in 2008, gray was added to the list of colors approved for the goalie’s uniform bottom.  Previously, the bottom portion of the uniform had to be either the team’s predominant color or black.  While it is not new in 2008, the color of the ball must be solid yellow.

Major League Lacrosse was founded in 1991 as a professional outdoor lacrosse league.  The current rules include the use of a shot clock and allow for a 2-point goal to be scored.  While the website does not contain specifications for the ball, the history section of the site does offer this interesting information regarding the lacrosse ball.

The National Lacrosse League consists of men’s professional indoor lacrosse or Box Lacrosse teams. While they have a 95 page Official Rule Book, the rule regarding the ball remains a mystery.

Lacrosse is a sport played when people run around hitting each other with sticks and throwing “rocks”, but not just any rocks these are specifically defined by the NCAA! SECTION 16. The ball shall be white, yellow, orange or lime green smooth or slightly textured solid rubber — between 7-3/4 and 8 inches in circumference, between 5 and 5-1/4 ounces in weight and, when dropped from a height of 72 inches upon a concrete floor, shall bounce 43 to 51 inches at a temperature of 65 degrees to 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

Lacrosse is a team sport that is often played as a contact sport. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh designed to catch and hold the lacrosse ball. Offensively, the objective of the game is to score by shooting the ball into an opponent’s goal, using the lacrosse stick to catch, carry, and pass the ball to do so. Defensively, the objective is to keep the opposing team from scoring and to gain the ball through the use of stick checking and body contact or positioning. The sport consists of four positions: midfield, attack, defense, and goalie.