Girls’ lacrosse has changed a lot since I learned to play (at age 11 in England). Even learning to play in England and then playing here in the U.S., the style of play was significantly different. I played for 3 years at Denison University, before deciding to relax a little my senior year. After college I don’t think I threw a lacrosse ball for more than 20 years!
My reentry to the game occurred when my daughter was 10. One of her good friends encouraged her to come to an informal clinic being held weeknights in the summer. The coach was a neighbor and had an extra stick. I picked it up, started throwing and catching, charging after ground balls, and she quickly suggested that I help coach the youth league the next spring.
Today things are pretty different. The positions on the field have changed, the style of play has changed, the equipment has changed, and the rules have changed. Pretty much everything—except that you still have to work to keep a ball in your stick and the objective is to shoot more goals than your opponent!
Positions on the field
Back in my day we had a Center and 4 girls around the circle—the midfielders. That aspect remains unchanged. On attack and defense, the girls were lined up in a vertical row from the goal to the midfield—1st Home closest to the goal, 2nd Home and 3rd Home on attack with corresponding defenders: Point, Coverpoint, and Third Man. In today’s game, these 3 attack and defender positions all line-up at the “restraining line,” six girls in a horizontal row. Each player defends another, playing one-on-one during the game—unless the defense moves into a “zone D” around the goal, in which case they abandon the girl they’re marking and get into the zone position (no zone D back in my day!).
Stickwork
When I learned to play in England almost 40 years ago, we had to practice and pass certain levels or milestones of stickwork before progressing onto the next level or being able to play in a game or scrimmage. Frankly, it did not come easily to me! The coach (mean Miss McNamara—we all hated her!) would fling the ball away from us and we’d have to sprint after it and scoop it up, gracefully (this was a girls boarding school, after all) while it was still moving. If we did not retrieve it before the ball had stopped moving, we did not pass that level. Not being fleet of foot, I distinctly remember being the very last girl to learn how to pick up a ground ball rolling away! While everyone else quickly progressed to playing real games, I had to keep practicing and practicing until I was deemed competent. It took a while!
Today, our youth league gets girls playing in scrimmages as soon as possible. The style of stickwork is less important than the drive to get the feel and understanding of the game. Sticks skills will come in time—and that’s one of our goals as coaches, obviously—but it’s important to get out there and just play, too. And besides, which, scrimmages are just much more fun!
Style of play
The style of play has also changed dramatically. Back in the day, the stick remained in both hands, left hand at the bottom, right hand at the top and did not move from those positions unless you had to reach to snag the ball.
Today, players are expected to be as adroit with their left hand as their right. Using one hand to pick up balls and charge down the field is commonplace (though hopefully only if it’s to one’s advantage!).
On defense, you can now touch the girl you’re defending, keeping your arms in a locked position—you can’t actively shove, but you can literally be “on” her.
All of this is to say that the game has evolved and changed and will continue to do so!
Monday is our first practice of the season - we'll be launching a new batch of girls to the great sport of lacrosse!
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