6 replies to this topic

[Todrick]

After watching the NCAA final, My daughter wants to play Lacrosse...

We know next to nothing about who to contact, what equipment to buy, what it costs etc.

google searches weren't much help.

so anyone here, know anything about Lacrosse for 9 year olds?

[Still MIGHTY]

I played lacrosse for 4 years in high school here in OC, and coached my high school's JV team for two years. My favorite sport to play, just an amazing game. If you love hockey, you should love lacrosse. It's very similar, and the differences are easily picked up. Girls and Boys lacrosse have slightly different rules, and of course, Girls is less physical and more finesse. Either way, you and your daughter should love it.

As far as people to contact, youth lacrosse is run through the US Lacrosse organization. Here is the website for the girls teams in the OC Chapter - LINK. They have the contact information and team listings if you click on Girls Youth. They also have some helpful links for parents there and on the national US Lacrosse website.

For girls lacrosse, equipment is much more simple than boys lacrosse. Girls just have a wire eye goggle cage and a stick. Gloves are optional, and then of course cleats. If she wanted to be a goalie then there is a full helmet, chest protector, shin guards. For 9-year olds, the padding might not be as large because well they're nine theyre not shooting bullets out there

As far as getting the gear, Sports Chalet and Dick's aren't the places to go. The foremost lacrosse store in SoCal is South Swell Sports. I got all my gear there, my teammates got all their gear there, and all the kids I coached got their gear there. It is the best store. Here is the Online Store where you can check out the gear and prices and there are two store locations in OC.

South Swell Sports Laguna Woods
24310 Moulton Pky, Suite N
Laguna Woods, CA 92637
Phone: 949-770-5774

South Swell Sports Fountain Valley
18952 Brookhurst Street
Fountain Valley, CA 92780
Phone: 714-965-0154


Hope those are helpful to you, and good luck!
Your daughter has made a great choice in lacrosse

[Todrick]

thanks, it's a start...

[Todrick]

I assume the best first step is to get her a stick, a few balls and park her in front of the handball courts at the local elementary school...

also get her carrying her stick whenever possible (at her cousins baseball games, outside of her brother's hockey games, etc), just tossing the ball around and getting familiar with the feel of the stick

sound right?

since I've never played, is it worth picking up a stick myself? to give her someone to pass with? or is passing way more difficult than it looks (thus making my participation next to useless)?

[Still MIGHTY]

Oh yeah, Most definitely. that'd be the ultimate goal.

The best way for lacrosse players to first pick it up is to do that. Pass to yourself against the wall to get the mechanics down. Then start aiming for spots and trying to hit them and catch the ball.

Take it everywhere. Not only is there the actual passing of the ball, there is the "cradling." Kinda twisting your stick back and forth to keep the ball in the stick as you walk or run. Cradling is the most essential skill to have, even more than passing. They need to know how to keep the ball with them, not be dropping it.

It's definitely important to be as familiar with the stick as possible. You have to know how it feels to have the ball in there, how the ball is being held, is it rattling around when cradling, is the pass/shot smooth coming off the stick. You have to treat the stick as an extension of your body and be able to feel it. That just comes with a lot of time with the stick.

I'd say it's worth picking up your own stick yeah. Passing isn't extremely difficult, if you have any hand-eye coordination, it doesn't take that long to pick up the motion of it all.

Now there is a difference between the boys stick and the girls stick. The guys stick has a deeper pocket which is used to hold the ball and it can be crafted in different ways, either for better control, better accuracy or power. Girls sticks have very shallow pockets, almost little to none in some cases. So control is much more important for girls, especially at a younger age. If you do go to South Swell for the sticks, the guys that work there know all about the different sticks and styles, and they're always willing to help. As you might tell most lacrosse people are eager to help people interested in getting into the sport. And as far as which stick to get for yourself, it's more what you want. You can get the girls stick to understand that more and to help your daughter out. Or you can get the guys stick because you are a guy haha

Also, the best way to learn the sport is to go out and do it, and of course its best with instruction. I highly recommend getting her into an instructional camp of some kind, because some team coaches are great at teaching the game and others not so much. So I definitely recommend a day camp or something like that.

[MrsBevo]

My oldest was encouraged to play lacrosse but he never did - it was described to him as a cross between soccer, hockey and needing the hand/eye coordination he used in basketball. We both watched the lacrosse demo they had at the Honda Center years ago and were equally intrigued and confused. As he said, it would help to know the rules. I just remember thinking that hockey goalies had nothing on the padding of lacrosse goalies!

Still Mighty has given excellent advice, so I would start there.

[Todrick]

yeah, Haili loves hockey (stating the obvious) and has played (and enjoyed soccer) so Lacrosse actually make a lot of sense...

she was talking about playing hockey, but i think directly competing with her brother skill-wise may be putting her off... plus with Aiden moving up to a travel team this coming season, the hit to our Pocket book is going up dramatically, so we're not complaining about something that requires less gear/cost... no ice required to practice lacrosse