Comments on: Youth Lacrosse: Should We Let Kids Hit?

By: Cody Camerata

Cody Camerata — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 05:11:00 +0000

im 15 5′ 8″ 135 i play high school with seniors i get hit u guys need to quit being pussys if u dont wanna get hit do cross country or be a nerd its part of the game dont like it dont play it

By: fanolax

fanolax — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 15:29:00 +0000

I support the USL initiative. It must be remembered lacrosse is a finesse sport emphasizing running, dodging and stick skills. A skilled and physically fit lacrosse player will use those skills to take advantage when an opponent plants to try to throw a heavy check. The exception is ground balls where you expect some contact in the battle for possession. The true intent of checking should be no more than to frustrate the play or assist in your team gaining possession of the ball. Don’t forget the mental aspect of the game. Checks which frustrate an opponent’s objective mess with his head and take him off his game, overly physical checks are more likely to pump him up. Finally, too many players think “I have a helmet like football and shoulder pads like football, plus padded gloves and elbows so why can’t I hit hard?”. Lacrosse helmets and padding, truly, are meant to protect from stick contact, only. Stay in shape for football by playing lacrosse, but learn the differences between both sports.

By: Butch

Butch — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 21:50:00 +0000

Right on! Concussions are good for the game! What’s the big deal? Hits are fun for us adults to watch. Nothing better than watching kids knocking heads.

By: Kenny

Kenny — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 17:19:00 +0000

so if this is the case, why not also go after youth football too? Practically the same amount of contact correct? This will end up ruining the interest of the youth in lacrosse. Truly not Growing The Game. LEAVE THE CONTACT

By: Brain Pain

Brain Pain — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 13:11:00 +0000

CHANGE IS UNCOMFORTABLE, BUT CHANGE IS NECESSARY. Thank you US lacrosse.

By: Fred

Fred — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 20:44:00 +0000

Yep, reading your reply leads me to believe that you have definitely had your share of concussions! A very thoughtful, level “headed” reply, I might add.

By: Rford8894

Rford8894 — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 19:43:00 +0000

agreed with this over aggressiveness and aggressiveness are two completely different things coaches sometimes are the worst proprietors of this and refs should pay attention to it

By: Rford8894

Rford8894 — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 19:41:00 +0000

If your that worried about concussions wear a helmet everywhere and dont play sports the worst concussion of my life came from running into a wall swimming so seriously dont play if your that gun shy about them people have had concussions for years and not died, everyone is over exaggerating them these days a minor concussion is a headache a MAJOR concussion yeah thats a problem but a u11/13 player is not getting that risk playing lacrosse they have a better chance of being hit by a car on their bicycle when their out in town and getting one, so seriously stop playing it up that far its ridiculous i have had 3 minors and 1 serious i am fine to this day cat scans and all

By: Rford8894

Rford8894 — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 19:33:00 +0000

hitting is necessary to learn early i swam most of my life and am gun shy about getting hit it limits my abilities to a great extent, my nephew on the other hand learned contact early and even though at a young age we limited it to 3 steps instead of 5 to lead into a hit they learned out to take a hit, give a hit (because you can hurt yourself FAR more hitting with bad technique then getting hit with bad technique) and how to avoid it to make a play. Parents have to stop rolling their kids in bubble wrap seriously little kids get hurt all the time a bump on the knee or arm wont kill you seriously it makes you a better person if they take contact out of the game the sport will lose its essence and lose the quality of players, its a contact sport if you dont like contact go play soccer, swim, run track, anything but lacrosse seriously

By: Gearoiddunbar

Gearoiddunbar — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 05:17:00 +0000

Hitting is part of the sport if to take that away we might as well play girls lacrosse

By: Dan

Dan — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 04:43:00 +0000

Yes, it is very like the issues that hockey are facing with the fighting, I know there are no all out brawls in lacrosse, but it is a physical game, and that is something that doesn’t need to be changed. I am in agreement with the hitting developing with age, and that the younger players need to be protected more. However when they get to an age to hit they won’t know how to hit legally and safely so we need to educate youngsters on how to hit. I play long pole defense for my High school, and have suffered a concussion, that concussion was a freak accident where 2 players went for the ball in the air and i landed on my head causing the concussion. This was bad but in all the hits that i have given and received by the youth i began playing with who where trained to hit at an early age. I think it’s better to train youth about hitting, so they don’t get hurt the first time they can legally hit.

By: KEshleman IU

KEshleman IU — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 04:34:00 +0000

I agree with some restrictions but lets remember this is lacrosse, created as training for war for the Indians. Keep the hitting it would be a disgrace to the game in general

By: Alias-live

Alias-live — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 04:10:00 +0000

Ok we wear heavily padded gloves, chest/shoulder pads, helmet, elbow pads, cups, and sometimes rib protectors. I’m pretty sure we wear this for other reasons than just slashing, if you want to be completely safe you shouldn’t be playing lacrosse in the first place, not making the game change to conform to a minorities personal preference when it comes to limited physicality in the game. If you want to play lacrosse without contact go to womens lacrosse, seriously. If we are going to limit hitting in youth games for safety we might as well put a speed limit when it comes to running on the field. People need to grow up, this shouldnt even be a discussion in lacrosse.

By: Jonah325

Jonah325 — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 04:06:00 +0000

When I played U13 a few years ago I was one of the biggest fastest and strongest kids on the field. In Long Island there were a lot of rules in tournaments against hitting. It wasn’t illegal, but there was no man-ball and I was even called for a few hits from the side. I found in the Long Island tournaments, where one of my greatest assets, strength, was taken away, I scored less goals and had a harder time in transition because I was often called for hitting a kid from the side and laying him out, even if that wasn’t my intention, I was just much larger than most of the other kids. Hitting rules change what is valued in a player, making athleticism much less valuable on these teams.

By: Owen

Owen — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 03:53:00 +0000

As a 15 year old i can say that the ref’s are definetly calling hits/checks a lot more strictly then they would in older leagues. It’s safer i guess, but it takes some fun out of the game. If they take the hitting out of the game, we might as well be playing girls lax