What is a Unified Lacrosse Stick?
A unified stick is an informal term used to describe a stick that “out of the box” (that is manufactured to be) is legal for both girls’ and boys’ competitive play at ages 10U and below based on the allowable stick and pocket traits for this age group as defined in the USA Lacrosse boys’ and girls’ 2022 youth rulebooks.
The 2022 Rule Modifications for 10U Sticks
In fall 2021 the USA Lacrosse boys and girls rule committees approved language modifications allowing the use of legal sticks, molded heads specifically, for either the boys’ or girls’ game for 10U and below. Pocket and stringing requirements for the girl’s game and the boy’s game remain in effect.
For the Girls’ Youth Rules the language of Rule 2.2 which allows use of legal sticks for either the boys’ or girls’ game was expanded to the 10U rule set. Pocket and stringing requirements for the girl’s game remain in force.
For the Boys' Youth Rules the modification of Rule 1.6 to allow the use of either a boy’s field crosse or a girl’s field crosse as being legal for play at 8U and 10U. Whichever stick specification is used must still adhere to the stringing and pocket depth testing requirements outlined in the boys’ youth rulebook.
Information about the rule modifications and unified sticks will also be presented at the youth rules interpretation sessions at the USA Lacrosse National Convention
Why the modification?
“This change will open up access and ease for emerging areas and for beginning players,” said Caitlin Kelley, USA Lacrosse staff liaison to the rules committee. “While maintaining the safety standards of girls’ lacrosse, we can ensure that grant recipients and clinic opportunities will have sticks available for all players, regardless of gender. Once a player starts at 12U and above, they can only use a crosse that meets the manufacturer’s specifications for the game they are playing.”
“This change was made to allow program leaders and players additional flexibility with their equipment and should help reduce some barriers to entry for kids that just want to try lacrosse,” said Rick Lake, USA Lacrosse staff liaison to the rules committee.
*USA Lacrosse in partnership with members of the industry ran a test study to ensure there was no performance advantage by allowing a boys’ molded head with a legal 10U girls modified pocket. The results of this assessment showed this did not create any significant advantage.
Traits of a unified stick:
The stick can be a legal boys field crosse or a legal girls field crosse based on the 2022 Youth Rules for 10U boys’ and girls’ sticks.
The sticks must be manufactured to adhere or adjust to the shooting string and pocket depth specifications in both rulebooks.
This means that the molded heads for either boys or girls lacrosse can be used at 10U and below as long as the pocket requirements listed below are followed for the appropriate game.
1) Pocket Depth: The pocket depth requirement for boys’ 10U states that the whole ball may not be visible below the bottom edge of the sidewall. The girls’ 10U requirement is that no more than half of the ball may be visible below the bottom of the sidewall.
- The stick should be initially strung to meet the 10U girls requirement which is the stricter requirement. Players may adjust this pocket after-market to meet the specifications of the game which they are playing.
2) Shooting Strings:
- For boys, any laces or strings must be within 4 inches of the top of the crosse head. For girls the bottom shooting strings need to be within 6.5 inches of the top of the crosse head. Therefore, to meet unified stick criteria, the shooting strings must adhere to the stricter standard --in this case the boys’ distance for shooting strings within 4 inches of the top of the crosse.
- Boys’ rules allow for flat laces or round strings for shooting strings, girls rules do not allow for flat laces. Therefore, shooting strings may not be flat in a unified stick.
Creation of a unified stick:
This language modification in both books paved the way for possibility to create a stick that could be legal for both boys’ and girls’ lacrosse at ages 10 and below. USA Lacrosse envisioned such a stick as an ideal way to give both boys and girls a successful first experience in the sport through its TryLax clinics and its grant programs focused on beginner players. It would also be the ideal stick to use for flexible play formats like Flex6 which can be mixed gender and is a free-flowing, non-contact version of the sport.
To this end, in mid-2021 USA Lacrosse issued an RFP to the lacrosse industry seeking interested manufactures to partner with the organization to produce a co-branded high quality, affordable starter stick that out of the box would be legal for boys’ or girls 10U competitive play.
USA Lacrosse selected two equipment manufacturers to create these sticks for distribution through USA Lacrosse introductory clinics and select grants, and in fall 2021 the design phase commenced. The sticks are approved by USA Lacrosse as legal for both boys’ and girls’ 10U play and the heads will be marked with 10U Approved to minimize confusion in the first year of the new stick allowances.
The sticks will debut at National Celebrate Lacrosse Week and will begin initial roll out via USA Lacrosse programs and grants starting in November.