My guide to lacrosse gear: make sure it works, but if it ain’t fly, it can die.
I don’t care when it is – if I put something on my body, it will be fresh.
I try to keep it clean with my style when I’m not playing lacrosse, but the same idea applies when I’m putting on my pads. If it doesn’t look good, I don’t want it. End of story.
Obviously, my lacrosse gear needs to work for me functionally, too. But if there isn’t some swag in there, I’ll find something else. It’s a statement point for myself.
When I was a kid, I was always in neon, like many others at the time. I’ve grown out of that phase, but I’m still all about shaping my look to the way I want it.
Customizations have become big for me. I have some shoes that I customized that I’ve worn, and I do it with my gloves plenty, too. I’ve had some funky designs and personalized nicknames on my gloves before. I like to change it up and not be so traditional with my appearance on the field and in the box.
For my lacrosse gear, I mostly use Epoch. I started with it my second year in the NLL, and I haven’t turned back since. At first, its gear wasn’t really ideal for transition players like myself, and I was going through shafts and heads like they didn’t exist. But over the years, Epoch has really improved on that front, and now its gear is great for mashing and bashing in box. And when it comes to protective gear, like kidney pads, shoulder pads, slash guards and all that, I’ve been Epoch since day one. The customizations are a big part of why.
I’ve been fortunate enough to use the same head for the last couple of years. I used it in the NLL, then used it again in the PLL, and I’m still using it now. But I was recently sent some more heads, so I’m in the process of stringing them up and getting them ready to go for the upcoming season, and ideally these will last a while, too. I don’t like changing up my heads, pockets or stringing strategy much – I prefer consistency there.
I’ve used the same style head almost the entire time I’ve played lacrosse. I’ve been loyal to East Coast 6-Diamond “Monster Mesh,” and you can go all over the place with it. My first stick had monster mesh, and while I know most players used shooting strings, I’ve stayed away from them since I began playing. It’s a bit of a funny look to the stick, but it’s comfortable for me, and it’s something I can say is kind of my unique style.
As the years have gone on, I’ve seen some kids in my area and while traveling around use monster mesh without shooting strings, and I get DMs and other messages from kids asking if I can send them pictures of my stick or my stick pattern so they can copy it. It’s pretty cool to see kids using monster mesh with no shooters. It makes me feel like I’ve made an impact on the sport that means everything to me, and that one of the greatest feelings I’ve ever experienced.
