A sport that barely made it on the radar screen in Fluvanna has become a huge sports sensation around the county. It’s lacrosse (often abbreviated to LAX) and it has become increasingly common to see lacrosse sticks being carried from class to class at FCHS. Lacrosse is a highly difficult, yet fun sport to play. But it can easily take its toll on a player’s body– particularly for one gender more than the other.

Lacrosse has been called a mixture of football, soccer, and basketball, where players try to score goals on opposite sides of the field using lacrosse sticks (formally called shafts). They come in different sizes and shapes for the different positions of players on the field, but are generally metal rods with a net held on by plastic at the end. Get smacked in the arm by one a couple times by an opposing player, and you won’t soon forget it. It is a rather painful feeling. “At the start of each season, I come home with welts on my arms, and sometimes a knot or two on my head, from getting whacked with those sticks,” said junior LAX player Austin Early. “As the season progresses, I kind of get used to it,” he said, “but it still certainly isn’t the most pleasant feeling in the world.”

One thing that may surprise lacrosse fans is that the girls don’t play by the same rules as the boys. For them, getting hit with an opposing player’s shaft results in an immediate foul, and the player gets sent to the penalty box. In contrast, guys can hit the other players as long as it is not above another player’s shoulders or in their back. As a result, guys have to wear far more padding than girls.

The major difference between lacrosse for boys and girls is the amount of contact allowed. A contact sport, boys’ lacrosse requires more safety equipment, fewer team players and longer game times than girls’ lacrosse. Boys have to wear helmets, elbow pads, shoulder pads, chest protectors (which only the goalies in girls’ lacrosse wear), and even rib pads. In contrast, girls only have to wear minimal padding, like knee pads, helmets, and elbow pads. Also, boys’ lacrosse games usually consist of four 15-minute quarters with a ten-minute break between the second and third quarters. Girls’ lacrosse teams generally play two 20-25 minute halves with a break in between.While some agree that girls’ lacrosse should be gentler than boys’ lacrosse, others feel it takes away a certain spark of the game. “I think we should be able to have the same rules as the guys,” said sophomore player Melissa Stone. “Honestly, even though they may be getting whacked a lot more often and sometimes on purpose, it seems like it comes off as more enjoyable to them,” she said.

Strangely enough, this “grass is always greener” mentality extends to some male players too. “Trying to run around on the field with like 10 different pads and guards on is rather difficult and quite annoying,” said Mooney. “It makes me wish I could play girls’ lacrosse.”