The game of women’s lacrosse shares plenty of similarities with how men play the game, but due to some rule variations, women’s lacrosse equipment has a few striking differences from men’s gear. After reviewing how they differ, you can find all the lacrosse gear for girls and women you need in our vast inventory of women’s lacrosse equipment.

In this article, we’ll cover:

• Women’s Lacrosse Gear Checklist
• Choosing a Stick/Shaft/Head
• Differences in Women’s vs Men’s Lacrosse
• Women’s Lacrosse Gear FAQs

The first thing you need to know about lacrosse for girls is that due to rules limiting the type of contact that’s legal and common in the men’s game, women’s lacrosse equipment lists are actually much shorter. 

So what do girl lacrosse players wear for a low-contact game? Most of the gear is lighter-weight for easier movement. There’s also less protective women’s lacrosse gear required. 

But just because women need less equipment doesn’t mean there isn’t a wide variety of women’s lacrosse gear and accessories designed to elevate the gameplay experience.

• Women’s Lacrosse Complete Sticks
• Women’s Lacrosse Shafts
• Women’s Lacrosse Heads
• Women’s Lacrosse Goggles

• Women’s Lacrosse Shirts and Tanks
• Women’s Lacrosse Shorts
• Women’s Lacrosse Pants

• Lacrosse Balls
• Goals
• Rebounders
• Shooting Targets

• Field & Training Accessories
• Stick Accessories
• Helmet Accessories

When choosing girls’ lacrosse gear, selecting the right stick is vital to ensure you play your best game. If you’re just beginning to shop for a women’s lacrosse equipment set, you’ll notice that you can purchase a shaft and head combo or a complete women’s lacrosse stick. 

A complete stick is ready-to-play once purchased and offers a consistent feel but little in the way of customization. A shaft and head combo allows advanced women’s lacrosse players to piece together a stick tailored to their game. However, it can take more experimentation to get a stick you love, and certain shafts and heads may not offer a consistent feel over the course of extended use.

Once you’ve chosen your style of stick, you’ll need to select the proper size. Even if all the rest of your girl’s lacrosse gear fits properly, you can still have a subpar game experience if you end up trying to play with a stick that’s too long or too short. 

The length of a women’s lacrosse stick will depend on position – defenders use longer sticks than attackers. And girl lacrosse goalies are allowed to have sticks that are even longer than field players. In general, a women’s lacrosse stick will be between 35.5 - 43.25 inches (or 90 - 110 cm).

If you’ve watched both men’s and women’s lacrosse games, you’ve more than likely noticed there are some major differences in the rules and style of play.

One of the biggest primary differences between men’s vs women's lacrosse is that women aren’t allowed to check in their games. 

Checking is a common defensive tactic in men’s lacrosse, and it’s basically when a defender uses his body in an attempt to knock an attacker off balance and/or jar the ball loose. Because it's illegal in women’s lacrosse, girls’ lacrosse gear can be lighter, since there’s no need to protect against checks.

The mesh in the head of a women’s lacrosse stick is woven tighter to create a much shallower pocket than you see in the head of men’s lacrosse sticks. That tight pocket forces a quicker game with faster passing and ball movement, rather than carrying the ball up field in the loose pocket of men’s sticks.

The rules of women’s lacrosse mean they can have a shorter shaft than needed for the men’s game. With a faster game and the restrictions on checking, a shorter girl’s lacrosse stick is necessary.

Cradling in men’s lacrosse involves securing the ball in the mesh of the head of the stick in order to protect it from coming loose during contact or running down the field. Due to the tight pocket of women’s lacrosse sticks and limited contact during play, cradling occurs closer to the head rather than shoulder. This keeps the head in the ready position for quick, short passes.

Women’s lacrosse playing fields are larger than they are for men. The standard dimensions for a men’s lacrosse field is 110 by 60 yards, while the women’s playing area is 120 by 70 yards. In some cases, a women’s lacrosse playing field can be up to 140 yards long, 30 yards longer than the average men’s field.

Women’s lacrosse lineups involve 12 active players on the field, 2 more than men’s lacrosse rules allow. 

The lineups are broken down in similar fashion with attackers, defenders, and midfield, but the additional 2 players create a different strategy of gameplay.

• After goals: Before the start of games and after goals are scored, both women’s and men’s lacrosse games have an event to restart play in the center of the field.
  • The men’s game starts with a faceoff, where the ball is placed between two opposing players. The winner of the ball after the play restarts gains possession. 
  • In women’s lacrosse, play restarts with a draw in which a player from each side meets in the center of the field and the ball is placed between the heads of the opposing players’ sticks at just below shoulder level. The player who wins possession after the whistle begins play.
• Fouls: Many types of contact that are allowed in the men’s lacrosse rules result in penalties in the women’s game. Body contact penalties in women’s games likely won’t be called in a men’s game. Some minor penalties in the men’s game for contact can be yellow or red cards in a women’s lacrosse match.
• More attacking players: With a 12 player lineup, women’s lacrosse rules allow for more players in the offensive zone than men’s games allow. This results in women having higher-scoring games since they can create more goals than would be typical in men’s competitive gameplay.

Girls’ lacrosse equipment varies from men’s, which can be confusing if you’re new to the sport. Below are some of the most common questions people have when they’re looking for women's lacrosse equipment.

Basic required girl’s lacrosse gear sets include sticks, goggles, and gloves.

Women’s lacrosse sticks are designed with tight pockets to better-perform in the quick passing and shooting style of the game.

Sneakers are not recommended for lacrosse play. Most competitive lacrosse organizations require turf shoes for artificial surfaces or cleats for natural playing fields.

Women’s lacrosse sticks are shorter and have a shallow or no pocket to promote quick ball movement. There’s also no body checking in girls’ lacrosse, so the deep pocket is not necessary for ball protection during contact.

Most women’s lacrosse equipment rules do require gloves. However, these gloves are generally lighter weight and designed more for grip and control, rather than protection.