Boy vs Girl Lacrosse

[Anonymous]

Can someone explain the differences to me?

Also, if your kid plays one version on a team, and the other version in the backyard with family, will that interfere, or teach them bad habits, or will the skills transfer from one to the other?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain the differences to me?

Also, if your kid plays one version on a team, and the other version in the backyard with family, will that interfere, or teach them bad habits, or will the skills transfer from one to the other?

Obviously the stick. Girls stick is much harder to use, imo. That being said, boys have a ton more contact and physical, so the deeper pocket is needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain the differences to me?

Also, if your kid plays one version on a team, and the other version in the backyard with family, will that interfere, or teach them bad habits, or will the skills transfer from one to the other?

The games are very, very different - the rules, the equipment, so much is different. To your question about skills, I'd say if you are playing in the backyard with your daughter, then I would get her a girls' stick. As PP noted, the pocket is much shallower on a girls stick and requires a different finesse than with a boys stick. I'd also suggest watching some high school or college games on YouTube to see how different the actual games are.

[Anonymous]

The kids can pass together, but literally there is absolutely very little that overlaps between the two games

[Anonymous]

OP here,

My kid is a boy, who has never played lacrosse formally, but has been having a lot of fun playing lacrosse in the back yard with his same age cousin/bff who plays travel girls' lacrosse. Both kids have been using girls' sticks and following girls' rules, because that's what they have.

He's asking for lacrosse goalie gear for an upcoming birthday, and has talked about wanting to try a lacrosse clinic or camp. I'm just trying to figure out do I need to buy boys' goalie gear, or girls'? Also, does it make sense to get them a pair of regular boys sticks so they can try those too? Or would that mess her up? My guess is this will just be a fun thing for him, but her she and her parents are pretty serious about lacrosse, so if practicing with a boys stick caused problems with her game, then we won't do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here,

My kid is a boy, who has never played lacrosse formally, but has been having a lot of fun playing lacrosse in the back yard with his same age cousin/bff who plays travel girls' lacrosse. Both kids have been using girls' sticks and following girls' rules, because that's what they have.

He's asking for lacrosse goalie gear for an upcoming birthday, and has talked about wanting to try a lacrosse clinic or camp. I'm just trying to figure out do I need to buy boys' goalie gear, or girls'? Also, does it make sense to get them a pair of regular boys sticks so they can try those too? Or would that mess her up? My guess is this will just be a fun thing for him, but her she and her parents are pretty serious about lacrosse, so if practicing with a boys stick caused problems with her game, then we won't do it.

Got it, thanks for clarifying. You could just get him a boys' stick and he can pass/catch with her still using her girls' stick. You could always get a goal for her to practice shooting and for him to practice goalie skills. A goalie stick is also totally different from the regular stick used in the field - it's much larger. Goalies also have all kinds of pads and protective grear -- more so than field players. I wouldn't have his cousin use a boys' stick. My DD plays club lacrosse and I'd be concerned that would cause issues with her game.

Before investing a lot in equipment, I would sign him up for a camp. MadLax offers some options and there are likely some others out there. Area colleges might be, too, but there have been some issues with them offering camps during COVID.

Lacrosse is such a great game. I hope he enjoys it and that you get to enjoy watching him play. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Wouldn’t he need gear to take a clinic?

Also, is the goal and goalie gear the same for both games?

— OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wouldn’t he need gear to take a clinic?

Also, is the goal and goalie gear the same for both games?

— OP

Ha, good point. I'm not sure -- some camps might have goalie gear. Also, if goalie is really what he wants maybe see if you can find a goalie-specific camp? I'm not sure if they have them for beginners.

I believe the goals are the same size but I don't know about the rest of the equipment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here,

My kid is a boy, who has never played lacrosse formally, but has been having a lot of fun playing lacrosse in the back yard with his same age cousin/bff who plays travel girls' lacrosse. Both kids have been using girls' sticks and following girls' rules, because that's what they have.

He's asking for lacrosse goalie gear for an upcoming birthday, and has talked about wanting to try a lacrosse clinic or camp. I'm just trying to figure out do I need to buy boys' goalie gear, or girls'? Also, does it make sense to get them a pair of regular boys sticks so they can try those too? Or would that mess her up? My guess is this will just be a fun thing for him, but her she and her parents are pretty serious about lacrosse, so if practicing with a boys stick caused problems with her game, then we won't do it.

Very little difference in the goalie equipment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wouldn’t he need gear to take a clinic?

Also, is the goal and goalie gear the same for both games?

— OP

Ha, good point. I'm not sure -- some camps might have goalie gear. Also, if goalie is really what he wants maybe see if you can find a goalie-specific camp? I'm not sure if they have them for beginners.

I believe the goals are the same size but I don't know about the rest of the equipment.

OP,

Here, goalie is his preferred position in other sports, so it doesn’t surprise me he wants it for lacrosse. I think he would need to learn the whole game though. At least that’s how it is for other sports he plays

I am not sure we can do camp this summer. He is signed up for soccer camp from the end of summer swim till school starting.

Any suggestions for low key clinics or rec leagues? He’s already pretty committed so something not intense would be best.

[Anonymous]

Wanted to add that we are in MoCo but DC would work OK too.

[Anonymous]

FWIW- For basic catching skills, its not a bad idea to teach a boy with a girls stick. Its much harder and will teach nuance. If he can catch with a girl’s stick, a boys pocket should be a cakewalk.

[Anonymous]

In Montgomery County, Next Level and Bethesda Lacrosse have developmental rec leagues. I know that Next Level also hosts a number of clinics as well. When a new player is starting out, he will probably play a number of positions. If I recall most of the leagues have goalie gear for the players as they typically encourage each player to play in the cage at least once. It has been awhile for us though and procedures might have changed.

[Anonymous]

Goalie gear for boys and girls is identical except girls wear shin guards, boys wear cups.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FWIW- For basic catching skills, its not a bad idea to teach a boy with a girls stick. Its much harder and will teach nuance. If he can catch with a girl’s stick, a boys pocket should be a cakewalk.

OP here, I think for backyard play between the two of them, we'll keep them with girls' sticks. At this point, there's no indication that he's serious about this, and since he's serious about other sports that are eating up all my disposable income, that's fine. So, keeping things consistent for her, seems like the higher priority.

They've also been pretty evenly matched athletically, but are now getting to the point where he's got some physical advantage due to being male. So, having one sport where she's definitely better, due to experience, isn't a bad thing at all.