The NCAA lacrosse champs are from ... Denver

Let the men try to play without a pocket.

Each sport is great in it's own way.

 

What are the rule differences between the men's and women's game?

 

How do you play lacrosse without a pocket?

 

I know the men's game has penalty flags, and penalty boxes, but that's all I got.

 

The women's game has no hitting, no face offs (weird standing "draw controls" instead) and a bunch of other differences. If you ask just about any female player they will tell you they'd rather play a game more like the men's.

 

Practically no contact allowed in women's lacrosse, so they don't wear much padding or helmets. Women also aren't allowed a "pocket" in their stick's netting, which means it's harder to control the ball and cradle it. Also cuts down on shot speed, cause you really can't wing it.

I'm sure there are plenty more differences.

 

You can't shoot if a girl is front of you.

 

Kinda roughly comparable to the old Iowa-style 6-on-6 halfcourt girls basketball: it's kinda like the real thing, except it isn't.

 

Had no idea.

Doesn't sound like the same game, and doesn't sound like there are good reasons for the rule differences.

 

It's not the same game. I actually think it's insulting to these girls that they are forced to play by these rules

 

I totally agree. The people who make the rules for their sport at the NCAA level can change them if they wish to.

But they never do. That's why college softball is played on a diamond with the exact same dimensions as Little League baseball, with shorter fences; why women's (ice) hockey doesn't allow checking or slap shots, and why field hockey, which could be a blast (hockey on grass) is instead a completely god-awful sport to watch.

There's an old-girls network too that is very resistant to change.

 

My experience of being the parent of girls who played lacrosse at highly competitive levels is that the game is somewhat rough enough without pads. My daughter and many of her teammates, especially scorers, is that their upper arms are black and blue throughout lacrosse season from being guarded by having the defensive player push her stick into the upper arms of the offensive player. You can check the stick of the player with the ball, but you can't come across the body to do it. You can't body check, but what the girls do instead of pushing the stick into the opponent with their arms,is hold the stick steady and push the stick with their body. THe men's game hits like ice hockey, but with less padding. The men;'s game is tough, lots of hitting and speed. How a goalie stops anything, on purpose besides just being a pylon in front of the net, is beyond me.

I have asked the girls over the years, from ages 13 through college players if they'd rather play boys lacrosse, but against girls. The overwhelming majority likes their game. WIthout a pocket, stick control is a premium. If you watch men they carry their stick parrel to the ground, women keep the stick almost perpendicular. Some of the rules suck, especially that goals get denied because of a defnsive penalty in the act of shooting. THe women's draw is a standing version of the mens/ Instead of crawling on the ground to get the ball, the center middie either tries to self draw or direct the ball to a teammates on the circle. The only equipment any of the girls use is gloves, and they are like batting gloves. The Long Island girls play a more physical version of the game. The Maryland girls play a more speed and skill game.

Like I said, Im biased, I've learned to really like the game, mostly because my daughter excelled.