Girls’ Lacrosse in Florida is the latest organized sport to adopt protective headgear for players. According to a recent New York Times article, Florida became the first state to require protective headgear for high school girls’ lacrosse players. If you’re not familiar with girls’ lacrosse, it’s slightly different than boys’ lacrosse, which is full contact. As with most historical safety improvements for group sports, the new rule has been met with some friction. There are some who think that girls’ lacrosse will become more dangerous with the new safety gear, and that some type of ‘gladiator effect’ will encourage the players to become more aggressive.
What About Boys’ Lacrosse?
If girls’ lacrosse teams in one state are just now getting protective headgear, what about boys’ lacrosse players? Boys’ lacrosse players wear full hard-shell helmets with facemasks. It’s important to note that the new safety regulations don’t actually require real helmets for girls. The female players in Florida are now required to wear a sort of glorified headband, which appears to protect eyes and the bones around the eye socket from being hit by a ball or lacrosse stick.
Are Female Lacrosse Players Protected Well Enough?
There are many critics of the new rule that simply think the new headgear isn’t going far enough to protect female lacrosse players from potential concussions and other traumatic brain injuries. The protective headgear required for girls’ lacrosse players is only about 10 millimeters thick, and may not offer enough protection for a variety of different head injuries. The New York Times article also mentioned that girls’ lacrosse has the fifth-highest rate of concussions in high school sports. For many, the question remains; why don’t the girls wear helmets too?
Head Injuries and Youth Sports
It’s no secret that youth sports, football in particular, are fairly risky for young athletes. The Centers For Disease Control (CDC) has a plethora of resources for coaches, parents and young athletes who are concerned about concussion injuries and other types of traumatic brain injuries for the upcoming seasons.
If your child has suffered from a traumatic brain injury or some other type of injury due to inadequate safety gear while playing organized sports, contact the skilled legal team at Alexander Law Group, LLP at 888.777.1776 for a free case consultation today.
