Youth Lacrosse Gear & Sizing Guide
Lacrosse gear splits into two lists (the boys' game wears helmet and pads; the girls' game wears goggles and mouthguard), shares one crucial purchase (the stick, where setup matters more than price), and runs on a healthy used-and-loaner economy that new families rarely hear about. Ask any program about loaner pools before buying; most have them.
This guide covers stick sizing and setup, both protective lists, the goalie note, and the skip list. The theme: the stick decision deserves ten minutes of care, the protective gear obeys league rules, and the wall-ball habit outranks every purchase.
The stick: setup over price
A youth stick needs three things: legal for the kid's game (boys' and girls' sticks differ in pocket depth and head rules; buy the right game's stick), sized to the player (boys' youth shafts cut to roughly armpit-to-floor comfort for the young, with full attack/middie lengths arriving as kids grow; girls' sticks commonly sized so the head reaches near the hip when held at the side), and STRUNG properly (a legal, broken-in pocket that throws true).
The setup is the part big-box racks fail: a lacrosse shop or the program's coaches will set a beginner up correctly for modest cost. An entry-level stick strung well beats a premium head strung badly, every time, and last season's models are the sport's standing bargain.
The boys' list and the girls' list
Boys' field players: helmet (fitted snug, current standards), shoulder pads (current standards matter here; the sport updated chest-protection rules in recent years, so check the league's requirement), arm pads, gloves, mouthguard, cup, cleats. Loaner pools and used channels cover most of it; helmets follow the usual care rules (fit, certification, known history).
Girls' field players: goggles meeting the sport's standard (required in US play), mouthguard, cleats, and the stick: one of the shortest lists in team sports. Both games: soccer or football cleats serve fine at youth level.
Goalies and the small stuff
Goalies wear substantial protective sets in both games (helmet with throat guard, chest protector to current standards, padded gloves, and more), and programs typically provide or subsidize goalie gear at youth levels: volunteer keepers should never need to buy the set to try the position. Ask; the answer is nearly always the loaner closet.
Small stuff: balls for the wall (the sport's most important cheap purchase; tennis balls for the youngest), a stick bag eventually, and weather layers. That is the list.
What to skip
Skip: premium heads and shafts for beginners (setup and wall time are the performance variables), custom dyes and cosmetic stringing, gadget rebounders before a wall has been tried (walls are free), and duplicate gear ahead of commitment.
The development setup in full: a properly strung stick, a ball, and a wall. The sport's open secret is that its skill curve runs through that trio, and every dollar past it is convenience or cosmetics.
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What is different about boys' and girls' lacrosse sticks?
Pocket rules chiefly (girls' game pockets are shallower by rule, with different head specs), which makes sticks game-specific: buy for the game your kid plays. Both games share the setup truth: proper stringing and sizing from a knowledgeable source matters more than any price tier.
How much does it cost to start lacrosse?
Girls' field entry (stick, goggles, mouthguard, cleats) is among the cheapest in stick sports. Boys' entry looks bigger on paper and shrinks fast with loaner pools and the used market; ask the program what it provides before buying. In both games, the stick plus wall time is where the actual development budget lives.
Do beginners need their stick professionally strung?
Beginners need a LEGAL, functional pocket that throws true, which factory stringing sometimes provides and a shop tune-up cheaply guarantees. A badly strung stick fights every throw and quietly sabotages the crucial first months. The modest setup cost is the sport's best-value equipment spend.