Lacrosse glossary, A to Z.

Definitions here say what a term means and who uses it; they are not instructions. Checking, shooting, cradling, defending, facing off and goalkeeping, stringing or shaping a stick, choosing or fitting protective equipment, and anything to do with an injured player are matters for a qualified coach or a doctor. A suspected injury, a blow to the chest or head, or a suspected concussion needs medical care.

Men's and women's lacrosse are different games, so their terms are kept apart, and every rule names its body, its book and the rule number. The World Lacrosse books cited are the Men's Field Rules 2025-2027 (version 1.0), the Women's Field Rules 2025-2026 (version 1.0), and the Box and Sixes Rules 2026-2028 (version 2.0, May 2026); later men's (1.1, January 2026) and women's (1.1, March 2025) versions exist but were not read. The current NCAA and NFHS rule books were not read either, so their entries rest on the bodies' published change summaries and releases, named as such, and USA Lacrosse youth rules that could only be seen in search summaries are labelled unconfirmed. Standards entries say what a standard tests; whether a product meets it, and whether it is legal, is for the standard, the body's rule and the officials who check the marks. Where sources disagree, each version is given with who says it. Events and results are as of 23 October 2026.

Jump to: 0-9 A B C D E F G H I L M N O P R S T U V W

0-9

30-second suspension (men's field and sixes)

The penalty for a minor foul when the other team had the ball. Under Rule 50.1 of the World Lacrosse Men's Field Rules 2025-2027 (v1.0), a minor foul gives the ball to the opponents if the offending team had it or it was loose, and brings a 30-second suspension if the non-offending team had it. Rule 7.1.2 of the World Lacrosse Sixes Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026) likewise gives possession to the opponents, or a 30-second suspension if the non-offending team had the ball. (Men's field lacrosse)

4th official (women's field)

The off-field game official in World Lacrosse women's field play. Rule 23.A.4 of the World Lacrosse Women's Field Rules 2025-2026 (v1.0) lets the 4th official card team staff for misconduct, and says the role does not include the scorer or the timekeeper. (Officials)

8-metre free position (NCAA women's)

A free position in NCAA women's lacrosse named in the NCAA's published rule changes; the NCAA rule book itself was not read, so its full wording is not given here. For 2025-26 the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel kept the game clock running during 8-metre free positions except in the last minute of a period (as reported by USA Lacrosse Magazine, 14 August 2025). (College and high school rules)

A

Adaptive lacrosse

USA Lacrosse's term for the game modified for players with disabilities. Its adaptive lacrosse page (read 23 October 2026) lists five formats: inclusive, unified, wheelchair, impairment-specific and mainstream. (Wheelchair and adaptive lacrosse)

Adaptive Lacrosse Games

An event first held in Pittsburgh in August 2025, hosted by Wheelchair Lacrosse USA, which USA Lacrosse says replaced the Wheelchair Lacrosse National Championship held each year since 2015. At the 2025 Games wheelchair lacrosse was played on a box lacrosse or hockey rink by 10 teams, and a limb-different division for standing players was added, with adult games in the sixes format (USA Lacrosse, 21 August 2025). (Wheelchair and adaptive lacrosse)

Africa Association of Lacrosse

World Lacrosse's continental federation for Africa, named by World Lacrosse in February 2022 as newly formed and pending approval. In April 2026 World Lacrosse gave it 16 members. The African Sixes Championships are a first step on the LA28 qualification pathway. (World Lacrosse)

African Sixes Lacrosse Championships

The African continental sixes championship and a first step on the LA28 qualification pathway. World Lacrosse's release of 20 May 2026 sets it for 3 to 5 December 2026 at St Stithians College, Johannesburg, hosted by South Africa Lacrosse, with the top men's and the top women's team each advancing; a search summary of another World Lacrosse page gave 1 to 4 December. It is upcoming on 23 October 2026. (Sixes and The World Games)

Age and Stage Contact Standards (Lacrosse Canada, box)

Lacrosse Canada's Box Lacrosse Safety Standards for Players, Coaches and Officials: Contact On and Off Ball (file dated February 2026), one national standard for contact, cross-checking and equal pressure across all age groups from the 2026 season. Lacrosse Canada says the aim is not to remove contact from box lacrosse but to make sure it is taught properly, introduced at appropriate stages and executed safely. Its stages run from no cross-checking at U7, guided contact introduced at U9, controlled cross-checking introduced at U11 (no checks to the back), progressive contact within World Lacrosse standards at U13 and full cross-checking at U15, to the full World Lacrosse ruleset at U17 and high-performance contact within World Lacrosse rules at Junior (U22). Checks to the back or head, and driving or launching into players, are illegal at every age. (Youth contact and checking rules)

Asia Pacific Lacrosse Union

World Lacrosse's continental federation for Asia and the Pacific, with 16 members in February 2022 and 23 in April 2026 by World Lacrosse's counts. Wikipedia says it was founded in 2004 by the national associations of Australia, Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan. World Lacrosse headlines say Australia's men and Japan's women won the 2026 Asia-Pacific Sixes Championships (5 to 10 October 2026, Sunshine Coast, Queensland); the final scores were not collected. (World Lacrosse)

ASTM F3077

ASTM's Standard Specification for Eye Protectors for Women's Lacrosse. A German standards distributor lists the current edition as F3077-25, for eye protectors meant to reduce the risk of eye injury from lacrosse-ball impact and penetration; ASTM's own F3077 page was not read, so that edition is unconfirmed, and the earlier editions F3077-14, F3077-17 and F3077-21 appear only in distributor listings. World Lacrosse's FAQ on its May 2026 equipment standards names F3077-21 alongside the headgear standard. Whether eyewear is legal is for the governing body's rule and the officials who check the marks. (Protective eyewear)

ASTM F3137

ASTM's Standard Specification for Headgear Used in Women's Lacrosse (excluding Goalkeepers), for women's field players only; it is not the men's helmet standard. ASTM's store lists the active edition as F3137-15(2022), shown as F3137-15R22, with F3137-15 before it, and says it sets shock-absorption, ball-impact and deformation tests for adult and youth headgear against incidental stick and ball impacts and does not allow partial compliance. USA Lacrosse Magazine says ASTM approved it in May 2015 after a task group formed in May 2012 at USA Lacrosse's request, and a 2020 study describes it as calling for a flexible shell rather than a hard-shell helmet. World Lacrosse's FAQ calls it "F3137-15A", a designation ASTM's store does not list. (Women's headgear)

ASTM F803

An ASTM eye protector specification that, according to a search summary of an ANSI webstore listing, covers several sports including women's lacrosse, for wearers with and without prescription lenses. The listing was not opened, so this is unconfirmed; the women's lacrosse eyewear standard named by the bodies read is ASTM F3077. (Protective eyewear)

Athletes Unlimited Pro Lacrosse

A women's professional lacrosse competition that named individual champions: Taylor Cummings in 2021, Taylor Moreno in 2022 and 2023, and Sam Apuzzo in 2024 (Athletes Unlimited). On 18 December 2024 Athletes Unlimited suspended the league indefinitely, effective immediately, citing the international competition calendar and the limited summer availability of top players. (Professional leagues)

Attackers, midfielders and defenders (men's field)

The positions of a full men's field team. Rule 19.1 of the World Lacrosse Men's Field Rules 2025-2027 (v1.0) sets a team on the field at ten: one goalkeeper, three defenders, three midfielders and three attackers, with a properly equipped goalkeeper on the field at all times. (Men's field lacrosse)

B

Baggataway

A name for the game recorded by outsiders. The Canadian Encyclopedia gives baggataway as an Algonquian name; the Michigan Department of Natural Resources calls the Ojibwa game played outside Fort Michilimackinac in 1763 "baggatiway", a game similar to lacrosse; and the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame timeline says Brébeuf recorded the game as baggataway in 1636. Where a nation publishes its own name for its game, this site uses that name. (Indigenous origins)

Ball (men's field)

Under Rule 14.1 of the World Lacrosse Men's Field Rules 2025-2027 (v1.0) the ball is white or orange rubber, 7.75 to 8 in (19.69 to 20.32 cm) in circumference and 5 to 5.25 oz (141.75 to 148.83 g), and bounces 45 to 49 in (114.3 to 124.46 cm) when dropped from 72 in (1.83 m) onto a hard wooden floor. The home team supplies the game balls (Rules 14.2 and 14.3). The rule book does not name the NOCSAE ball standard; US men's college and boys' high school ball colours are changing (see fluorescent ball). (The ball)

Ball persons (men's field)

The people who return balls during a men's field game. Under Rules 14.2 and 14.3 of the World Lacrosse Men's Field Rules 2025-2027 (v1.0), ball persons must be at least 10 years old and wear helmets, gloves and, where appropriate, boxes or cups. (Men's field lacrosse)

Ball (sixes)

Under Rule 2.1 of the World Lacrosse Sixes Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026) the ball is solid, predominantly smooth elastomer, 19.7 to 20.3 cm in circumference and 141.75 to 148.83 g, with the same bounce test as the field games. It may be any solid colour World Lacrosse provides, with no coloured markings, though moulded logos are allowed. (The ball)

Ball (women's field)

Under Rule 4.A of the World Lacrosse Women's Field Rules 2025-2026 (v1.0) the ball is solid, smooth elastomer of any solid colour, with the same circumference, weight and bounce ranges as the men's field ball; the World Lacrosse tournament rules in Appendix C make it solid yellow, or as World Lacrosse provides, at World Lacrosse events. USA Lacrosse Magazine says the women's game has used yellow balls since the modern college game began. (The ball)

Beers, William George

The Montreal dentist credited with the rules adopted by the National Lacrosse Association in 1867. The Dictionary of Canadian Biography gives his birth as 5 May 1841 and The Canadian Encyclopedia as 5 May 1843; both give his death as 26 December 1900 in Montreal. Both describe an 1860 pamphlet of his setting out basic rules, field size and players per side, and he published Lacrosse: The National Game of Canada in 1869 and organised tours of the British Isles in 1876 and 1883. The Dictionary of Canadian Biography records his wish to "rationalise" a style he found wild, and author S. L. Price told PBS NewsHour in 2025 that Beers appropriated the game from Mohawk players. (Montreal and the first rules)

Bench minor (box)

A two-minute penalty charged to a team in box lacrosse. The World Lacrosse Box Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026) use it, for example, when a requested stick measurement finds the stick legal (Rule 2.4.5), and when a substitute goalkeeper is not ready within 20 seconds after a goalkeeper has had to leave because lost equipment could not be repaired within 30 seconds (Rule 2.6.2). (Box lacrosse)

Block (women's field)

A major foul in Rule 20.A.2 of the World Lacrosse Women's Field Rules 2025-2026 (v1.0). The changes in force from 1 January 2025 merged the former foul of illegal pick into block. (Women's field lacrosse)

Body-check (men's field and sixes)

Contact rules differ by game. Under Rule 41.1 of the World Lacrosse Men's Field Rules 2025-2027 (v1.0), a body-check is allowed only on an opponent who has the ball or is within 2.74 m (3 yd) of a loose ball or a ball in flight, and only from the front or side, above the hip and below the neck; an illegal body-check is a major foul (Rule 70). Rule 8.3.1 of the World Lacrosse Sixes Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026) prohibits body-checking in any form and penalises it as an illegal body check. Youth contact rules are set by each body and age group: see transitional checking and Age and Stage Contact Standards. (Men's field lacrosse)

Box lacrosse

The indoor game, played on a floor enclosed by boards. The World Lacrosse Box Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026) set two teams of six (Rule 3.1.1), no more than 20 players in a game (Rule 3.2), four 15-minute quarters with a 12-minute half-time (Rules 5.1.1 and 5.2.2), a 30-second shot clock (Rule 6.6.1) and a goal crease 9 ft 3 in in radius (Rule 1.1.7). Lacrosse Canada names box among its disciplines, and its memo of 28 January 2026 applies the World Lacrosse box book with Lacrosse Canada's Age and Stage Modifications except where the memo says otherwise. (Box lacrosse)

Box lacrosse, origins

The indoor game began in Canada in the early 1930s, but sources credit different people. The Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame gives one account of Ontario players using empty summer hockey rinks around 1929 or 1930 and another, from Cleve Dheensaw's 1990 book, crediting British Columbian Jim McConaghy in 1931; the Manitoba Lacrosse Hall of Fame credits Montreal arena owners led by Joe Cattarinich and Leo Dandurand, who wanted to fill hockey arenas in summer; and Wikipedia credits earlier indoor experiments by Paddy Brennan in Montreal in the early 1920s. The Hall of Fame timeline dates a first box league to 1930, while its 1931 page and Wikipedia point to 1931; the timeline says the Canadian Amateur Lacrosse Association adopted box as its official game in 1931. (Box lacrosse history)

Brébeuf's Relation of 1636

The Jesuit Jean de Brébeuf's report from the Huron-Wendat country, among the earliest written European accounts of the game. Andrew McFarland Davis cites the Relation of 1636 as naming three popular Huron games, crosse, platter and straw, the first two thought very good for health. The Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame says Brébeuf recorded the game at Georgian Bay in 1636, while a search summary of The Canadian Encyclopedia gives 1637, possibly the publication year. American Indian magazine says Jesuits condemned the game in the 1630s as violent. (Early accounts)

British Lacrosse

The body owned equally by England Lacrosse, Lacrosse Scotland and Wales Lacrosse. By its own account it selects and manages the Great Britain men's and women's squads for certain international events and aims to be a leading sixes nation. (National bodies)

Bryn Mawr School programme

USA Lacrosse says Rosabelle Sinclair, from St Leonards School in Scotland, started the first enduring American women's lacrosse programme at the Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore, a school rather than a college, in 1926; the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame gives the same year. (The women's game)

Butt end

The end of the shaft, with a rule in each code. Men's field Rule 15.4 of the World Lacrosse Men's Field Rules 2025-2027 (v1.0) requires a hollow butt end to be covered with plastic, rubber or tape and prohibits metal caps. Women's field Appendix H B.1.c of the World Lacrosse Women's Field Rules 2025-2026 (v1.0) requires an end cap, tape, a sanded-smooth wooden end or a solid composite end. Box Rule 2.4.2 of the World Lacrosse Box Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026) requires a plastic or rubber plug or adequate tape, and the men's sixes stick follows the men's field wording (Rule 2.2.1M of the World Lacrosse Sixes Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026)). (Stick materials)

C

Canadian Lacrosse Association

The former name of Lacrosse Canada. Its founding is told two ways: Lacrosse Canada traces its roots to the National Association of La Crosse formed at Kingston in 1867, while the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame and the Cornwall Sports Hall of Fame date the Canadian Lacrosse Association in its modern form to 1925 (the Hall of Fame also records an earlier body of that name in 1887). The rename to Lacrosse Canada is dated 29 March 2021 only by a search summary of a page that now returns 404, so the day is unconfirmed. (Lacrosse in Canada)

Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame

The hall of fame that, by its own timeline, opened in New Westminster, British Columbia, on 17 May 1967 after its first inductions in 1966. Its online timeline and year-in-review pages are a main source for Canadian lacrosse history; several of its dates rest on that single source. (Lacrosse in Canada)

Catastrophic events (Moseley et al., 2024)

A study of catastrophic injuries and exertional medical events in US youth, high school and college lacrosse from 1 July 1982 to 30 June 2020, using National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research surveillance. It counted 69 events, 25 of them fatal and 44 non-fatal, 49 traumatic and 20 exertional or medical, with 15 commotio cordis events; males accounted for 58 events and females for 11. The authors say surveillance was passive and partly media-based, so youth events may be under-reported, and other studies count differently, so totals cannot be added together. A suspected injury needs medical care. (Deaths as published)

Center-Circle (women's field)

The 9 m radius circle around the centre of a women's field pitch (Rule 1.A.11 of the World Lacrosse Women's Field Rules 2025-2026 (v1.0)), where the draw takes place at the start of each quarter and overtime period and after each goal (Rule 13.A.1). (Women's field lacrosse)

Chief Bench Official (men's field)

An off-field official in men's field lacrosse. The World Lacrosse Men's Field Rules 2025-2027 (v1.0) name a Chief Bench Official alongside the three on-field officials (Rule 23.1) and list a Bench Manager, Timekeeper, Penalty Timekeepers and Scorers (Rules 24 to 27), with a shot clock operator from 2026 (Rule 43.3). World Lacrosse's 2014 heat policy also has the chief bench official administer hydration breaks. (Officials)

Clearing count (US boys' and men's)

A limit on how long a team has to move the ball out of its defensive half. NFHS 2027 boys' rules (Rules 4-14 and 4-15) give a team that gains possession in its defensive half 20 seconds to get the ball over the centre line, replacing the separate 10-second count. In NCAA men's lacrosse, the 80-second shot clock approved in September 2018 came with a 20-second count to clear the ball over midfield, according to search summaries of NCAA pages that returned no content; USA Lacrosse reported in 2021 that the committee had preferred a 20-second clear followed by a reset to 60 seconds, which was not financially or technically feasible. (College and high school rules)

Coach certification (USA Lacrosse)

USA Lacrosse's four-level coach certification: Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum. Bronze is required of all active coach members, comes with membership and covers a background check, abuse prevention training, cardiac care, concussion awareness, cultural competency and an annual rules test; the other three levels are optional. A separate path serves junior coaches aged 14 to 18. The scheme replaced an earlier Level 1 programme; the date of the changeover is unconfirmed. (How people learn)

Commotio cordis

A disruption of the heart's rhythm caused by a blow to the chest. NOCSAE describes it as a life-threatening sports injury that can follow a strike to the chest, for example by a lacrosse ball or stick, and says it can affect athletes of any age; USA Lacrosse calls it rare but one of the leading causes of sudden cardiac death in athletes, and says the impact need not be hard or fast. NOCSAE estimates 15 to 25 deaths a year across all sports, its own figure with no cited source, on an undated page (read 23 October 2026). NOCSAE says its ND200 chest-protector standard is intended to significantly reduce the likelihood of commotio cordis, not to prevent every case. A blow to the chest needs medical care. (Commotio cordis)

Concussion

A brain injury caused by biomechanical forces, as World Lacrosse's August 2020 concussion policy defines it. Lacrosse Canada's concussion policy calls it a clinical diagnosis that only a physician can make, while a search summary of Lacrosse Canada's separate management guidelines says a medical doctor or nurse practitioner. Removal and return rules differ by body and level; each body's rules have their own entry here. USA Lacrosse is reported, in a search summary of its guidance, to say that no current helmet or headgear can prevent concussion. A suspected concussion needs medical care. (Concussion by body)

Concussion Management Plan Guidelines (USA Lacrosse)

USA Lacrosse's concussion guidance for US teams, clubs and leagues. Its health and safety page lists the guidelines dated June 2023 and recommends a written concussion management plan as a first step for local programmes. The guideline PDFs (November 2022 and June 2023) returned 404 on 23 October 2026, so their wording is known only from search summaries and is unconfirmed: they are reported to call themselves guidance rather than a standard of care, to keep an athlete with a suspected or diagnosed concussion out for the rest of that day, and to leave clearance to a physician or qualified healthcare professional, as state law allows. A suspected concussion needs medical care. (Concussion by body)

Concussion Policy (Lacrosse Canada)

Lacrosse Canada's concussion policy (file posted March 2025; its text says the next review would follow the 6th International Consensus Conference in spring 2021, so it appears to predate 2021). It says a participant with a suspected concussion, even without loss of consciousness, may not return to play until they have consulted a physician; every possible concussion must be reported to Lacrosse Canada with a copy of the physician's clearance letter; and failure to follow the policy may lead to discipline. Whether a newer edition exists is unconfirmed. A suspected concussion needs medical care. (Concussion by body)

Concussion Policy (World Lacrosse)

World Lacrosse's Concussion Policy: Identification, Treatment, and Management, marked approved in August 2020, which applies at all World Lacrosse events. Its stated aims are to recognise concussive injuries, remove any player suspected of one for evaluation, and provide rest and a graduated return to play; any official who may stop play for an injury may stop it for a suspected concussion, and a player declared concussed needs medical clearance to return, with the World Lacrosse or event medical officer deciding if doctors disagree. Its history records the SCAT3 tool from June 2016 and SCAT5 from May 2019; World Lacrosse's health page now links SCAT6, and no newer policy edition was found. A suspected concussion needs medical care. (Concussion by body)

Concussion rules (NCAA)

College rules that apply to all NCAA sports, men's and women's lacrosse included. In January 2020 all three divisions adopted legislation requiring schools to report diagnosed sport-related concussions each year; the Board of Governors endorsed the concussion Interassociation Recommendations as association-wide policy in summer 2019; every member school must have a concussion management plan; and changes to the Concussion Safety Protocol Checklist approved in June 2026 took effect on 1 July 2026 (NCAA). The NCAA page does not itself list lacrosse among the contact and collision sports it names for medical-staff requirements. A suspected concussion needs medical care. (Concussion by body)

Concussion rules (NFHS)

US high school guidance and rules, separate for boys' and girls' lacrosse. NFHS Sports Medicine Advisory Committee concussion guidance was first published in February 2010; a Vanderbilt adaptation dated February 2011 says an athlete removed for a concussion should have clearance from an appropriate health care professional before returning, and that the old option of returning an athlete who is clear after 15 minutes was dropped. State association material quoting the NFHS rule (a New Hampshire document seen only in a search summary) says an athlete with signs of concussion must be removed at once and may not return until cleared; the current 2026 rule numbers were not confirmed because NFHS rule books are sold, not posted. A suspected concussion needs medical care. (Concussion by body)

Continental federation

One of World Lacrosse's regional bodies. In February 2022 World Lacrosse named four: the Asia Pacific Lacrosse Union (16 members then), the European Lacrosse Federation (34), the Pan-American Lacrosse Association (19) and the newly formed Africa Association of Lacrosse (pending approval). Their 2026 continental sixes championships are the first step of the LA28 qualification pathway. (World Lacrosse)

Crease (men's field, box and sixes)

The circle around each goal. In men's field it is 3 m in radius, centred on the middle of the goal line (Rule 3.1 of the World Lacrosse Men's Field Rules 2025-2027 (v1.0)); in box it is 9 ft 3 in to its outside edge (Rule 1.1.7 of the World Lacrosse Box Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026)); in sixes it is 3 m (Rule 1.3.1 of the World Lacrosse Sixes Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026)), and a player in possession in their own crease may hold the ball there for no more than five seconds (Rule 6.16.3). The women's field game calls its circle the Goal-Circle, not a crease. Under NFHS 2026 boys' rules, a player other than a properly equipped goalkeeper who enters the crease intending to block a shot commits a personal foul for illegal equipment (Rules 4-18-4 and 5-6-2). (The disciplines)

Creator's Game

A name for lacrosse in Haudenosaunee accounts, attributed here to those who give it. The Onondaga Nation describes the game as a gift from the Creator, played for the Creator, and also calls it the Medicine Game because it is known to have healing power; the Haudenosaunee Nationals call it one of the Haudenosaunee's most revered traditions and, spiritually, a medicine game; and the Smithsonian Folklife Festival says the Haudenosaunee, the game's first players in north-eastern North America, know it as a gift from the Creator. One nation's account is not a statement about every nation, and many nations played their own stick-and-ball games. (Indigenous origins)

Cross-check

A term in both men's field and box rules. Rule 72 of the World Lacrosse Men's Field Rules 2025-2027 (v1.0) lists cross check among the major fouls. Lacrosse Canada's 2026 Age and Stage Contact Standards for box lacrosse allow no cross-checking at U7, introduce controlled cross-checking at U11 with no checks to the back, and permit full cross-checking at U15; checks to the back or head are illegal at every age. (Youth contact and checking rules)

Crosse

The name the women's field rule book gives the stick (Rule 3 of the World Lacrosse Women's Field Rules 2025-2026 (v1.0)), also used in NFHS boys' rule summaries such as the 2024 goalkeeper crosse rule. The Canadian Encyclopedia says the French used jouer à la crosse for any game played with a curved stick; the competing stories of how the game got its name are under lacrosse (the name). (What lacrosse is)

CSA approval (box)

A Canadian certification accepted for box lacrosse helmets. Rule 2.5 of the World Lacrosse Box Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026) requires the helmet and facemask combination to be approved by NOCSAE or the CSA and to pass a ball and stick test, in which neither may pass through the mask and touch the face; Rule 2.7.5 requires box goalkeepers' helmets and masks to carry the CSA or NOCSAE mark. Lacrosse Canada allows three set-ups: a NOCSAE-approved field lacrosse helmet, a CSA-approved hockey helmet with a CSA-approved hockey facemask, or a CSA-approved hockey helmet with a CSA-approved lacrosse facemask. The CSA standard numbers are known only from search summaries. (Helmets and NOCSAE)

D

Dasher boards (box)

The boards that enclose a box lacrosse floor. Rule 1.1.1 of the World Lacrosse Box Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026) sets them at 3 ft 6 in to 4 ft high, topped by safety glass or similar at least 3 ft high along the sides and 6 ft at the ends. (Box lacrosse)

Ddehoñtjihgwa'és

The Onondaga Nation's name for the game, also written Dehoñtjihgwa'és or Deyhontsigwa'ehs, which the nation roughly translates as "They bump hips". The Onondaga Nation says the traditional game was played between two groups, often divided by clan or as young men against old men, was not timed and ran to a score agreed in advance, with hand-made hickory sticks, a leather ball and two poles as the goal at each end. (Indigenous origins)

Decertification (helmets)

NOCSAE's voiding of a maker's certification. On 24 November 2014 NOCSAE voided the certifications of the Warrior Regulator and Cascade Model R lacrosse helmets, finding that neither model met ND041 for any manufacturing date. On 12 December 2014 it approved a process for Cascade to recertify a modified Model R as a new model, the R-M, while unmodified Model R helmets stayed decertified; trade press in January 2015 reported Cascade's licence fully reinstated and Warrior's partly reinstated. The final outcome for the original Regulator was not found. (Recalls and decertification)

Demonstration events (Olympics 1928, 1932, 1948)

Lacrosse was a demonstration sport at Amsterdam 1928, Los Angeles 1932 and London 1948 (Olympedia; Canadian Olympic Committee), and demonstration events awarded no official Olympic medals. The Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame says that in 1928 Canada, the United States and England each won one game and lost one, and that the organisers declared all three joint gold medallists, which is its own wording. USA Lacrosse says the United States beat Canada 2 to 1 in a three-game series at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 1932, and that the United States and Great Britain drew 5 to 5 in one match at Wembley in 1948; crowd figures for 1932 differ between sources. (The Olympic years)

Draw (women's field and sixes)

The restart used instead of a face-off. Under Rule 13.A.1 of the World Lacrosse Women's Field Rules 2025-2026 (v1.0), a draw in the Center-Circle starts each quarter and overtime period and follows each goal, with no more than three players per team in the Midfield Area during the centre draw (Rule 13.A.3). Sixes uses a centre draw for men and women alike (Rule 6.4 of the World Lacrosse Sixes Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026)). NCAA women's rule changes for 2025-26 limited draws to the start of the game and of the second half, overtime and after goals (as reported by USA Lacrosse Magazine, 14 August 2025). USA Lacrosse's history timeline says the standing draw replaced the ground start in 1928. (Women's field lacrosse)

E

England Lacrosse

The national body for lacrosse in England, formerly the English Lacrosse Association. Wikipedia says the English Lacrosse Union was founded in 1892 and in 1996 merged with the All England Women's Lacrosse Association into the English Lacrosse Association, whose constitution took effect in 1997, based in Manchester; the rename to England Lacrosse is dated 2019 only by a Wikipedia summary and is unconfirmed. England Lacrosse's own website was not found in the research, so none of its own statements are given here. (National bodies)

European Lacrosse Federation

World Lacrosse's continental federation for Europe, with 34 members in February 2022 by World Lacrosse's count. With Espana Lacrosse it hosts the 2026 European Sixes Championships at the Mediterranean Sports Hub, Salou, Spain: women from 2 to 9 November and men from 10 to 18 November 2026, upcoming on 23 October 2026. (World Lacrosse)

Exclusion of Indigenous players

The barring of Indigenous players from Canadian championship lacrosse in the 19th century. Historian Allan Downey (2012) and the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame say Indigenous players were barred from championship competition by 1880, the Hall of Fame describing the national association turning amateur and barring professional Indigenous players; American Indian magazine (2021) says the National Lacrosse Association of Canada barred Indigenous players from joining in 1867 and from championship games in 1880. Downey says the Haudenosaunee were absent from official field championships for more than a century, with 1904 an exception. (Montreal and the first rules)

Exertional heat illness

A term used in heat policies. The NFHS Sports Medicine Advisory Committee's position statement of October 2025 says exertional heatstroke is the leading cause of preventable death in high school athletics, with the greatest risk in long, intense or repeated same-day practices in summer or hot weather, and strongly encourages state associations to adopt all of its heat acclimatization fundamentals. World Lacrosse's 2014 heat policy says its measures reduce the risk of exertional heat illness but do not remove it. Heat illness is a medical emergency and needs medical care. (Heat and lightning)

Expulsion foul (men's field and sixes)

The most serious class of foul. Under Rule 77 of the World Lacrosse Men's Field Rules 2025-2027 (v1.0), an expelled player is removed for the rest of the game and the team's in-home serves 3 minutes plus any other penalty time the expelled player had. In sixes an expulsion foul fouls a player out of the game (Rule 8.2.1 of the World Lacrosse Sixes Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026)). (Men's field lacrosse)

Eyewear (women's and girls')

Protective eye guards for women's and girls' field players; men's helmets carry a full facemask, and no rule book read requires separate eyewear for men. In the United States, the US Lacrosse Women's Division Board of Governors voted in May 2003 to strongly recommend eyewear meeting ASTM lacrosse standards for 2004 and to require it from 1 January 2005 (ISHN), while a 2012 study summary puts the start of the US Lacrosse mandate in the 2004-2005 season; Fairfax County, Virginia schools required it from spring 2004, and NFHS (2004) and NCAA (2004 to 2005) dates appear only in a secondary source and are unconfirmed. Eye guards are optional under Rules 6.A.2 to 6.A.4 of the World Lacrosse Women's Field Rules 2025-2026 (v1.0), but World Lacrosse's decision of 12 May 2026 requires them at its owned and sanctioned events in women's sixes from the 2027 Sixes World Championships (Rule 2.4.1W of the World Lacrosse Sixes Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026) applies this to women's sixes field players) and, in women's field, from the 2029 Women's U20 Championship or an earlier continental qualifier for the 2030 Women's Championship. World Lacrosse says eyewear can cut the likelihood of a catastrophic eye injury by up to 84 percent when an impact occurs, citing studies it does not name. A suspected injury needs medical care. (Protective eyewear)

F

Face-off (men's field and box)

The restart in men's field and box lacrosse. Under Rule 34.1 of the World Lacrosse Men's Field Rules 2025-2027 (v1.0), a face-off at the centre starts each period and restarts play after each goal, with exceptions such as an extra-man situation at the end of a period; Section 6 of the World Lacrosse Box Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026) governs box face-offs, with an 11 ft radius face-off circle (Rule 1.1.9). NCAA men's rules changed the officials' face-off procedure for the 2025 season, barred a player who commits a face-off violation from the next face-off, and dropped the 30-second penalty for three violations in a half (NCAA release; approved 17 July 2024). Women's field and sixes use a draw instead. (Men's field lacrosse)

Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL)

The world body formed when the men's International Lacrosse Federation and the women's IFWLA merged in 2008 after separate member votes, about three years after both decided in 2005 to pursue a return to the Olympics (World Lacrosse). The federation's own 2015 release and Olympedia give August 2008 for the merger; Wikipedia gives 30 September 2008. World Lacrosse says it had 45 members at the end of 2008, and USA Lacrosse names Feffie Barnhill as its president when it was established in 2008. Olympedia says it was renamed World Lacrosse in May 2019; World Lacrosse says the new name was in place by the 2019 SportAccord conference, and USA Lacrosse that the rebrand came after the 2018 championship. (The international federations)

Field crosse (women's field)

The field player's stick in women's field lacrosse, set by Rule 3 and Appendix H of the World Lacrosse Women's Field Rules 2025-2026 (v1.0). It is 90 to 110 cm long including end caps (players under 15 may use a shorter one so it fits along the arm) and weighs no more than 567 g complete; the head is 25.4 to 30.5 cm long and 18 to 23 cm wide outside at its widest point, and triangular in concept. Appendix H says the primary intent of the specification is that the ball moves freely in all parts of the head and pocket, so that it can be dislodged without an excessively forceful check. Women's sixes field sticks are 90 to 110 cm with a head at least 25.4 cm long (Rule 2.2.1W of the World Lacrosse Sixes Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026)). (Women's sticks)

Field size (men's field)

Under Rules 1.1 and 1.2 of the World Lacrosse Men's Field Rules 2025-2027 (v1.0), a rectangle 91.4 to 100 m (100 to 109 yd) long and 50 to 60 m (55 to 66 yd) wide, with white boundary lines; the goals stand 12 m from each end line (Rules 2.1 to 2.3). The Premier Lacrosse League said in 2019 that its field put 70 yards between the goals instead of the usual 80. (Men's field lacrosse)

Field size (women's field)

Under Rules 1.A.2 and 1.A.3 of the World Lacrosse Women's Field Rules 2025-2026 (v1.0), a rectangle 91.4 to 100 m long and 50 to 60 m wide; World Lacrosse events use 100 m by 50 to 60 m. The goal line is 12 m from each end line and 1.83 m long (Rule 1.A.5), and restraining lines run across the field 22 m from each goal line (Rule 1.A.9). (Women's field lacrosse)

Flex6 (USA Lacrosse youth)

A youth format named in USA Lacrosse's 2026 boys' and girls' youth rule books, alongside full-field and small-sided play. The rule books returned 404 on 23 October 2026 and are known only from listings and search summaries, so Flex6's rules are unconfirmed and not given here. (How people learn)

Florida headgear mandate

The Florida High School Athletic Association's requirement for headgear in high school girls' lacrosse, which Sports Litigation Alert (2018) calls the first state mandate in the United States. Its dates differ by source: a search summary of USA Lacrosse's headgear timeline says June 2014, before any women's headgear standard existed; Sports Litigation Alert describes protective headbands with goggles from 2015 and headgear it calls hard helmets from 2018; and a search summary of a 2022 British Journal of Sports Medicine study describes an F3137 mandate from 2018. No FHSAA document was found. That study, seen only in a search summary, reported lower concussion rates in Florida than in 31 states without a mandate, in line with a USA Lacrosse report of October 2021. A suspected concussion needs medical care. (The headgear debate)

Fluorescent ball (US men's and boys')

The change of game-ball colour in US college and high school men's and boys' lacrosse. The NCAA said on 28 July 2026 that fluorescent green or yellow game balls are recommended for 2026-27 and required for 2027-28 in all three divisions, for visibility. A rules-change summary hosted on the NAIA's website, whose issuer is not clear from its text, puts it (Rule 1-16) as allowable in the 2027 season and required by 2028, allows white, yellow, orange, lime green or pink if both coaches agree, and says the ball must meet the current NOCSAE lacrosse ball standard. NFHS 2027 boys' Rule 1-5 makes fluorescent green or yellow compulsory from 1 January 2029, ending white and orange balls. (The ball)

Fort Michilimackinac, 1763

A British fort, its site now part of Mackinac State Historic Parks, captured on 2 June 1763 during the conflict known as Pontiac's War: the Michigan Department of Natural Resources says Ojibwa men playing a lacrosse-like game, baggatiway, with visiting Sauk outside the fort used the game to enter it. Wikipedia's article is summarised as giving 4 June. Andrew McFarland Davis cites the fur trader Alexander Henry's 1809 book as the eyewitness account. (Early accounts)

Founders Cup

The Canadian junior B box lacrosse championship. Lacrosse Canada reported the 2026 tournament under way in Saint John, New Brunswick; Wikipedia, as summarised in a search result, lists the Akwesasne Thunder beating the Seneca WarChiefs 11-4 in the 2026 final (16 to 22 August), a result no Lacrosse Canada or press report confirmed. (Box lacrosse trophies)

Full Member (World Lacrosse)

One of World Lacrosse's two national membership tiers, with Associate Member. World Lacrosse said in September 2019 that Full Members have a voting delegate at the General Assembly and that their teams can play in the medal rounds of World Championships. World Lacrosse counted 97 member national governing bodies after adding the United Arab Emirates and Tanzania on 15 April 2026; no later addition was found. (World Lacrosse)

G

General Assembly (World Lacrosse)

World Lacrosse's members' meeting. World Lacrosse said 92 national federations and four continental federations took part in the 2024 General Assembly, which elected Bob DeMarco (USA) president for an initial four-year term through 2028, succeeding Sue Redfern, who had been elected in 2017 (release, 16 November 2024). (World Lacrosse)

Gladiator effect

The worry that protective headgear could encourage rougher play. Sports Litigation Alert (2018) reported some Florida coaches raising it about girls' lacrosse headgear, as reported opinion rather than a finding; in 2020 Dr Dawn Comstock of the Colorado School of Public Health told NBC New York that the concern is not supported by research. (The headgear debate)

Gloves (men's field and NFHS boys')

Rule 17.1 of the World Lacrosse Men's Field Rules 2025-2027 (v1.0) requires every player to wear protective gloves with every finger encased, though the palms may be cut out, and Rule 18.4 bars hockey goalkeeper gloves; men's sixes follows the same finger rule (Rule 2.4.1M of the World Lacrosse Sixes Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026)). NFHS boys' rules from 2024 require gloves designed for lacrosse that fully cover the fingers and palms and are not altered in a way that weakens their protection (Rules 1-9-1a and 5-6). The two codes differ on palms; each applies only to its own games. (Gloves and pads)

Gloves (women's field)

Under Rule 6.A.2 of the World Lacrosse Women's Field Rules 2025-2026 (v1.0), field players may wear close-fitting gloves, and other protective devices are allowed only on genuine medical need if officials agree they are not dangerous (Rule 6.A.6). Women's sixes field players may also wear close-fitting gloves (Rule 2.4.1W of the World Lacrosse Sixes Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026)). Goalkeepers must wear padded gloves (Rule 6.A.21). (Gloves and pads)

Goal (men's field)

Under Rules 2.1 to 2.3 of the World Lacrosse Men's Field Rules 2025-2027 (v1.0), posts 1.83 m (6 ft) apart with a crossbar 1.83 m (6 ft) high, measured inside, painted orange and set 12 m from each end line. World Lacrosse said in 2023 that sixes also uses field lacrosse goals. (Men's field lacrosse)

Goal-Circle (women's field)

The 3 m radius circle around each goal in women's field lacrosse, which the World Lacrosse Women's Field Rules 2025-2026 (v1.0) do not call a crease (Rule 1.A.6); Rule 17 sets the Goal-Circle rules. USA Lacrosse's history timeline says US women's rules changed from a square to a circular crease in 1951 and allowed defenders in the crease in 2014. (Women's field lacrosse)

Goalkeeper crosse (women's field)

Under Appendix H B.2 of the World Lacrosse Women's Field Rules 2025-2026 (v1.0), 90 to 140 cm long, with a head no more than 41.9 cm long and 15.24 to 38.10 cm wide inside at the widest point; Rule 3.A.2 adds a ball test in which more than half the ball must show above the ball stop with the crosse held vertically. The women's sixes goalkeeper stick is 90 to 140 cm with the same inside-width range (Rule 2.2.2 of the World Lacrosse Sixes Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026)). (Women's sticks)

Goalkeeper equipment (box)

Under Rule 2.7 of the World Lacrosse Box Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026), box goalkeepers wear arm and chest protection, goalkeeper pants, a throat guard, an athletic cup or pelvic protection and shin guards, all solely for protection, with a helmet and facemask carrying the CSA or NOCSAE mark and an attached throat protector (Rule 2.7.5). The rules set size limits that referees check, for example a glove at most 8.5 in wide and 14.5 in long (Rule 2.7.2) and shin pads no more than 1.5 in thick (Rule 2.7.4). Lacrosse Canada's 2026 memo bars cat-eye goalie masks. (Goalkeeper equipment)

Goalkeeper equipment (men's field)

Under Rule 17.1 of the World Lacrosse Men's Field Rules 2025-2027 (v1.0), the designated goalkeeper wears a helmet designed for field lacrosse, a throat guard, a chest protector and a box or cup, and may wear soccer-style shin guards and conforming compression shorts or football pants; all of it must be solely for protecting the head and body and must not help stop the ball. The rule names no standard for the chest protector. World Lacrosse's decision of 12 May 2026 requires goalkeeper chest protection meeting NOCSAE standards at its men's field events from the 2029 Men's U20 Championship or an earlier continental qualifier for the 2031 Men's Championship, and NFHS 2026 boys' points of emphasis require a NOCSAE goalkeeper chest protector and a throat protector. (Goalkeeper equipment)

Goalkeeper equipment (women's field)

Under Rules 6.A.20 to 6.A.24 of the World Lacrosse Women's Field Rules 2025-2026 (v1.0), the goalkeeper wears a chest or body pad, a field lacrosse helmet with fastened chin strap, a facemask, an attached throat protector hanging less than a ball's diameter from the helmet, and padded gloves tied at the cuff; shoulder or arm pads, soccer-style shin guards and conforming shorts or pants are optional, padding may be at most 3 cm thick, and a clear or tinted shatter-resistant visor may be attached. World Lacrosse's decision of 12 May 2026 requires goalkeeper chest protection meeting NOCSAE standards at its women's field events from the 2029 Women's U20 Championship or an earlier continental qualifier for the 2030 Women's Championship. (Goalkeeper equipment)

Goalkeeper stick (men's field and NFHS boys')

Rule 15.3 of the World Lacrosse Men's Field Rules 2025-2027 (v1.0) exempts the designated goalkeeper's stick from the field-player limits: its head may be 6 to 15 in (15.24 to 38.10 cm) inside at the widest point and its length 40 to 72 in (101.60 to 182.88 cm), and the deep-pocket rule does not apply to it (Rule 16.1). NFHS 2024 boys' Rule 1-6-1 Art. 2 sets a separate goalkeeper crosse 40 to 72 in long with a head 10 to 12 in wide and no more than 16.5 in long, keeping only a 2 in limit on hanging strings. The two codes differ; each applies only to its own games. (Men's sticks)

Graduated return to play (World Lacrosse)

A protocol named in World Lacrosse's August 2020 concussion policy, one of its three stated aims alongside recognising concussive injuries and removing any player suspected of one for evaluation. This site does not describe its steps; return decisions belong to the medical staff the policy names. A suspected concussion needs medical care. (Concussion by body)

Grand Council of the Haudenosaunee

The Haudenosaunee council which, according to the Haudenosaunee Nationals, sanctioned the Iroquois Nationals men's team in 1983 and has sanctioned women's, men's and youth teams in indoor, field and sixes lacrosse to represent the Six Nations Haudenosaunee Confederacy internationally. The Harvard Project's 2002 profile says the Grand Council of Chiefs issues the Haudenosaunee passports the team travels on. (The Haudenosaunee Nationals)

H

Haudenosaunee

The confederacy whose name, the Haudenosaunee Nationals say, means "People of the Longhouse"; they say "Iroquois" is a French form of a Huron term that they describe as derogatory. The Smithsonian Folklife Festival calls the Haudenosaunee the game's first players in north-eastern North America. (Indigenous origins)

Haudenosaunee Nationals

The national lacrosse teams of the Haudenosaunee, a full World Lacrosse member. The organisation says its men's team was formed and sanctioned by the Grand Council in 1983 as the Iroquois Nationals and took its present name in 2022. Three independent sources (the Harvard Project's 2002 profile, historian Allan Downey in 2012 and the Smithsonian's American Indian magazine in 2021) say the international federation refused the team a place at the 1986 world championship and admitted it as a full member in 1987; Wikipedia gives 1988, an older team brochure 1992 and a 2025 Syracuse.com article 1985. Recent World Lacrosse results include men's bronze in 2023, bronze in both the men's and the first women's box championships in 2024, and fourth at the 2026 Women's World Championship, their best finish there. (The Haudenosaunee Nationals)

Haudenosaunee Nationals and LA28

The unresolved question of whether a Haudenosaunee team may play at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. Olympic teams are entered through IOC-recognised National Olympic Committees, which the Haudenosaunee do not have (Canadian Heritage note, 22 August 2024). On 17 January 2025 the United States and Canada jointly asked the IOC for a narrowly scoped exception so the Haudenosaunee could compete under their own flag. A Syracuse.com article republished by the Onondaga Nation on 5 June 2025 reported the IOC's position that Haudenosaunee players could take part only through the US or Canadian committees, by passport. World Lacrosse said in November 2023 that no eligibility had been confirmed. No IOC decision dated 2026 was found by 23 October 2026. (Lacrosse at the Olympics)

Haudenosaunee passports

Travel documents issued by the Haudenosaunee Grand Council of Chiefs, on which the Nationals travel and for which they must arrange clearance with each host country (Harvard Project, 2002). The Onondaga Nation says the team debuted at the 1990 world championship in Perth on these passports. In July 2010 the team did not play at the world championship in Manchester because the United Kingdom would not accept them: Windspeaker says the team withdrew, a 2010 report seen in a search summary says it forfeited games but had not withdrawn, and the Onondaga Nation says it declined to play. The federation reported passport delays again before the 2018 men's championship in Israel. (The Haudenosaunee Nationals)

Head, face and eye injury rates (Lincoln et al., 2007)

A four-year study of the 2000 to 2003 seasons in 23 Fairfax County, Virginia high schools and the NCAA Injury Surveillance System (American Journal of Sports Medicine, 2007), as summarised by MedStar Health. It found head, face and eye injury rates of 0.54 per 1,000 athletic exposures for high school girls against 0.38 for boys, and 0.77 for college women against 0.44 for college men; concussion, mostly from body contact, was the main head and face injury for boys and men, and contusion, mostly from incidental stick or ball contact, for girls. The college rate ratio is 1.76 in MedStar's summary and was reported as 1.61 in a slide deck seen only in a search summary. A suspected injury needs medical care. (Eye injuries and the eyewear rule)

Head (men's field stick)

Under Rule 15.2 of the World Lacrosse Men's Field Rules 2025-2027 (v1.0), the head measures 6 to 10 in (15.24 to 25.40 cm) inside at its widest point; it may be wood, laminated wood, plastic or another approved material, set roughly perpendicular to the shaft (Rule 15.4), with wooden or plastic walls no more than 2 in high (Rule 15.6). A head coming off as a player shoots, passes or plays is itself the minor foul of an illegal stick (Rule 63). Men's sixes heads are at least 25.4 cm long and 15 cm wide inside (Rule 2.2.1M of the World Lacrosse Sixes Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026)); box heads are under stick (box). (Men's sticks)

Head Official

The official whose decision settles disputes. The World Lacrosse Men's Field Rules 2025-2027 (v1.0) provide three on-field officials, one designated Head Official, plus a Chief Bench Official (Rules 23.1 and 23.2), and the on-field officials' record of goals is the official score (Rule 23.4); sixes games also have three officials, one of them Head Official (Rule 4.1 of the World Lacrosse Sixes Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026)). In box the officials are called referees, and the league, tournament or governing body appoints the crew (Rule 4.1.1 of the World Lacrosse Box Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026)). The number of on-field officials in World Lacrosse women's field play was not found in the rule text read. (Officials)

Headgear (women's and girls')

Soft or flexible headgear for women's field players, made to ASTM F3137 and not the same product as the men's hard-shell helmet. USA Lacrosse made it optional but required any headgear worn from 1 January 2017 to meet F3137, and USA Lacrosse Magazine said in 2021 that it remained optional under NCAA, NFHS and USA Lacrosse rules; current 2026-27 wording was not read. Rule 6.A.2 of the World Lacrosse Women's Field Rules 2025-2026 (v1.0) bars headgear for field players, while World Lacrosse's decision of 12 May 2026 permits soft-shell headgear at its owned and sanctioned events in women's sixes from the 2027 Sixes World Championships and, in women's field, from the 2029 Women's U20 Championship; women's sixes already allows it if certified eyewear is worn too (Rule 2.4.1W of the World Lacrosse Sixes Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026)). In its release of 12 May 2026 World Lacrosse cites a 50 percent lower concussion rate among wearers from a 2024 study it does not name. A suspected concussion needs medical care. (Women's headgear)

Heat and hydration policy (World Lacrosse)

World Lacrosse's Heat / Hydration Policy for its championships, version 4 dated 11 July 2014, which uses Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) readings. Below 80 F (26.7 C) it asks only that hydration and shade be encouraged; from 80 to 90 F quarter breaks extend to 7 minutes and half-time to 15; above 90 F (32.2 C) organisers should strongly consider delaying the game, and if play goes on half-time is 20 minutes with a 3-minute break added in the middle of each quarter. World Lacrosse's health page now links the IOC consensus statement on sport events in the heat, and whether the 2014 policy is still in force is unconfirmed. (Heat and lightning)

Helmet loss (NFHS boys')

A series of NFHS boys' rules aimed at properly worn chin straps. From 2024, play is suspended at once if a helmet comes off and the player must leave until the next dead ball after play resumes (Rule 4-24-11); from 2026 losing a helmet is an illegal procedure, a technical foul (Rule 6-5-2y); and from 2027 a helmet counts as lost once the chin strap is no longer on the chin, with no foul if an opponent's illegal contact caused the loss (Rules 4-24-8 and 6-5-2y). USA Lacrosse's 2026 boys' youth rules are reported, in a search summary only, to apply the same illegal procedure at 12U and 14U. (College and high school rules)

Helmet (men's and boys')

The hard-shell helmet with a full facemask worn in men's field, men's sixes and box. Rule 17.1 of the World Lacrosse Men's Field Rules 2025-2027 (v1.0) requires a protective helmet designed for lacrosse with a facemask and a chinstrap fastened on both sides, without naming a standard; Rule 2.4.1M of the World Lacrosse Sixes Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026) adds that from the 2027 Sixes World Championships helmets at World Lacrosse events must carry NOCSAE certification or a comparable standard of the country of origin; and Rule 2.5 of the World Lacrosse Box Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026) accepts NOCSAE or CSA approval. NFHS boys' rules from 2024 require a lacrosse helmet meeting the NOCSAE standard with a visible warning label (Rule 1-9-1). NOCSAE's ND041 says the standard does not address every safety problem, and USA Lacrosse is reported to say no helmet can prevent concussion. Women's field headgear is a separate product under a separate standard. A suspected concussion needs medical care. (Helmets and NOCSAE)

High school participation (NFHS survey)

The NFHS's count of US high school athletes. Its 2024-25 survey gives 113,696 boys' lacrosse participants at 3,346 schools (28 states reporting) and 99,292 girls' participants (29 states reporting), girls' lacrosse ranking tenth among girls' sports. For girls' schools the survey table gives 3,324, while an NFHS release of 10 July 2026 gives 1,682, which the research found to be the boys' ice hockey school count in the same table, an apparent transcription error that is unconfirmed; this site uses the survey table. USA Lacrosse's chief executive said in March 2026 that 24 states give high school lacrosse full state championship status and two more give partial recognition. (How many people play)

High School RIO

A US high school sports injury surveillance system that collects reports from certified athletic trainers nationwide (Nationwide Children's Hospital, 2014). A study of 2008-09 to 2011-12 by Xiang and colleagues (American Journal of Sports Medicine, published online July 2014) recorded 1,406 lacrosse injuries, with concussion the second most common diagnosis after sprains and strains; in boys' lacrosse person-to-person contact caused 74 percent of concussions, and in girls' lacrosse 63 percent of concussions came from being struck by a stick or ball. Data for 2008-09 to 2018-19 gave concussion rates of 4.66 per 10,000 exposures in boys' lacrosse and 3.91 in girls' lacrosse (Comstock et al., 2020). Rates from different surveillance systems cannot be compared directly. A suspected injury needs medical care. (Injuries named)

I

If in doubt, sit them out (UK guidelines)

The headline of the UK-wide Concussion Guidelines for Grassroots Sport, published by the UK Government on 28 April 2023, which say no one should return to sport within 24 hours of a suspected concussion. The release does not name lacrosse. An update in November 2024 is reported only in a search summary and is unconfirmed. A suspected concussion needs medical care. (Concussion by body)

IFWLA

The International Federation of Women's Lacrosse Associations, the women's world body from 1972 until it merged into the FIL in 2008. USA Lacrosse says its first formal meeting was in London with seven countries attending; Wikipedia says Margaret Boyd founded it in Williamsburg, Virginia, in April 1972 and was its first president. The two may describe different events. USA Lacrosse says the first IFWLA World Cup was played in 1982 in Nottinghamshire, England, where the United States beat Australia in overtime. (The international federations)

ILF

The International Lacrosse Federation, the men's world body, founded in 1974 according to USA Lacrosse, the federation itself (2019) and Olympedia, with Rutgers coach Tom Hayes instrumental in its founding. USA Lacrosse says it sanctioned the men's world championships from 1974 to 2006; Wikipedia links its creation to a four-team men's invitational in Australia in 1974. It admitted the Iroquois Nationals as a full member in 1987 and merged with the IFWLA in 2008. (The international federations)

Illegal check and illegal contact (women's)

Foul names in women's rules. NCAA women's changes for 2026-27 consolidated the stick and body contact fouls into illegal check and illegal contact (NCAA, 12 August 2026). In World Lacrosse women's field, the changes in force from 1 January 2025 merged pushing into illegal contact (Rule 20 notes of the World Lacrosse Women's Field Rules 2025-2026 (v1.0)). (Women's field lacrosse)

Indian Ball (Cherokee)

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians' ball game, which players Mike Crowe and Steven Michael Smith explained to the University of Kent's Beyond the Spectacle project (blog, 25 February 2019). The post gives its Cherokee name as Dilasgalidi and concludes that Indian Ball is not lacrosse but a different and much rougher game, also called the little brother of war. No Eastern Band page was read. (Indigenous origins)

Interassociation Recommendations (NCAA)

Two sets of medical recommendations the NCAA has endorsed. The NCAA Board of Governors endorsed the concussion Interassociation Recommendations as association-wide policy in summer 2019, and schools in all three divisions must comply. A separate document, Preventing Catastrophic Injury and Death in Collegiate Athletes, published in the Journal of Athletic Training and endorsed by 13 medical and sports medicine organisations including the NCAA, NATA and NOCSAE, covers sportsmanship, protective equipment, acclimatization and conditioning, emergency action plans, athletics staff responsibilities, and education and training. A suspected injury needs medical care. (Concussion by body)

Intercollegiate lacrosse, first game (1877)

The first US intercollegiate game is dated 22 November 1877. The Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame says New York University played Manhattan College; Wikipedia articles are summarised as naming Manhattan College in one place and Columbia in another. The USILA says the first intercollegiate tournament was held in 1881, won by Harvard over Princeton 3 to 0. (College lacrosse)

IOC recognition

The IOC's formal acceptance of World Lacrosse as an international federation. The IOC Executive Board granted Provisional Recognition on 30 November 2018 and on 10 June 2021 approved a recommendation for Full Recognition, which the IOC membership voted on 20 July 2021 at the 138th IOC Session in Tokyo (World Lacrosse release, 20 July 2021); a World Lacrosse feature dates Full Recognition to June 2021, the Executive Board step. USA Lacrosse noted that recognition does not by itself put a sport on the Olympic programme. (The Olympic path)

Iroquois Nationals

The name of the Haudenosaunee men's national lacrosse team from its formation in 1983 until 2022, when it became the Haudenosaunee Nationals (Haudenosaunee Nationals). NPR reported in 2023 that current members considered the former name derogatory, a report seen only as a search summary. (The Haudenosaunee Nationals)

Ishtaboli

The Choctaw name for stickball, per the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma's newspaper Biskinik (2024), which also calls it the little brother of war because communities and tribes used it to settle disputes instead of fighting. Biskinik says it is played with two sticks, the ball (the towa) may not be touched with the hands, each team defends a goalpost called a fabvssa, and teams now have 30 players where there was once no limit. It says Choctaws have played for centuries, gives no origin date, and says the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma formed its first official team in 2009 and a women's team in 2017. The Canadian Encyclopedia gives a different Choctaw name, kabocha-toli; this site uses the nation's own term. (Indigenous origins)

L

LA28 lacrosse

Lacrosse at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, in the sixes format. The 141st IOC Session in Mumbai approved lacrosse (sixes) on 16 October 2023 as an additional sport for LA28 only, proposed by the LA28 organisers. World Lacrosse's schedule of 12 November 2025 sets the tournament for 24 to 29 July 2028 at Exposition Park Stadium, Los Angeles, with six men's and six women's teams, round-robin play and medal games, subject to change; USA Lacrosse and NLL coverage was summarised as naming the venue The Stadium in Exposition Park and BMO Stadium, which appear to be the same ground. Roster size is unconfirmed: World Lacrosse spoke of 12 players in 2023, and a USA Lacrosse notice seen only in a search summary gave 11. USA Lacrosse says it will be women's lacrosse's Olympic debut. It is upcoming on 23 October 2026. (Lacrosse at the Olympics)

LA28 qualification pathway

The route to the six men's and six women's Olympic places, approved by the IOC Executive Board on 1 February 2026 and in progress on 23 October 2026. Step 1 is the 2026 continental sixes championships (Pan-American, Asia-Pacific, European and African). Step 2 is the 2027 World Lacrosse Sixes Championships, where four teams per gender qualify from those finishing in the top 12, with one to three per continental federation, plus the United States, which qualifies as host provided its teams take part. Step 3 is a final qualifying tournament expected in March or April 2028 for the last place in each gender. (The Olympic path)

Lacrosse, age of the game

No verified date of origin exists. Popular sources give estimates: about 1100 CE for the Haudenosaunee (History.com, seen only as a search summary) and about 1,000 years (author S. L. Price on PBS NewsHour, 2025); the US-Canada joint statement of January 2025 says the Haudenosaunee invented the game nearly a thousand years ago. The Choctaw Nation says its people have played stickball for centuries without giving a date, and no museum, nation or encyclopedia page read gives a dated origin. (Indigenous origins)

Lacrosse Australia

The national body for Australia. The Australian Sports Commission's Clearinghouse traces it from the Australasian Lacrosse Union (1904), the Australian Lacrosse Council (1931) and the Australian Women's Lacrosse Council (1962), which merged in 2008 as the Australian Lacrosse Association, publicly rebranded as Lacrosse Australia in 2021 after using that trading name since 1986. The Commission reports that in 2025 about 7,000 Australians aged 15 and over and about 2,500 children aged 0 to 14 played lacrosse at least once. (National bodies)

Lacrosse Canada

Canada's national governing body, naming box, men's field and women's field as its disciplines, with sixes also listed on its site; formerly the Canadian Lacrosse Association, it traces its roots to the 1867 National Association of La Crosse. Its memo of 28 January 2026 applies World Lacrosse's box rule book with Lacrosse Canada's Age and Stage Modifications for the 2026 season and, unlike Rule 2.4.1 of the World Lacrosse Box Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026), permits wooden sticks for players and goalies that season. Its coaching runs through the National Coaching Certification Program. (National bodies)

Lacrosse (the name)

How the game got its French name is told several ways. A popular story says the Jesuit Brébeuf named it after a bishop's crozier, though a search summary of The Canadian Encyclopedia says his writings do not mention that resemblance; The Canadian Encyclopedia's Creator's Game article says the French used jouer à la crosse for any game played with a curved stick; the Onondaga Nation says early European observers named it for sticks that resembled bishops' staffs; and a University of Kent project blog (2019) says the name probably comes from French games such as la choule à la crosse rather than from one Jesuit. (Early accounts)

Lightning policies

Rules for stopping play in thunderstorms, which differ by body. Rules 30.1 and 30.2 of the World Lacrosse Men's Field Rules 2025-2027 (v1.0) require play to be halted, and everyone to go indoors, when the Head Official or tournament Official-in-Chief judges that lightning makes continuing unadvisable. The NFHS Sports Medicine Advisory Committee's default policy (revised October 2024) suspends play for at least 30 minutes when thunder is heard or lightning seen, restarting the count with any new thunder or lightning, and also when detection data show lightning within 10 miles. USA Lacrosse's 2022 and 2023 guidelines are reported, in search summaries only, to use 5 nautical miles, and an older USA Lacrosse policy 6 miles. (Heat and lightning)

Little brother of war

A name used for the Choctaw and Cherokee stickball games. The Choctaw Nation's Biskinik uses it for ishtaboli, because communities and tribes used the game to settle disputes instead of fighting, and a University of Kent project blog (2019) reports Eastern Band Cherokee players using it for Indian Ball. It is also the subtitle of Thomas Vennum Jr.'s book American Indian Lacrosse, which was not read for this site. (Indigenous origins)

Long stick (men's field)

A stick 52 to 72 in (132.08 to 182.88 cm) long under Rule 15.1 of the World Lacrosse Men's Field Rules 2025-2027 (v1.0), against 40 to 42 in for a short stick. No team may have more than four long sticks on the field while the ball is live, not counting the designated goalkeeper's stick or players in the penalty box or bench area; a head coach may request a count of opposing long sticks at any time, and a goal does not count if the scoring team had more than four on (Rules 45.6 to 45.8). (Men's sticks)

Lystedt Law

Washington State's youth concussion law, signed on 14 May 2009, which the University of Washington calls the first comprehensive US mandate of its kind: an athlete suspected of concussion may not return without a licensed healthcare provider's approval. The University of Washington says similar laws have since been adopted in all 50 states; a 2014 date for that is unconfirmed, and an Associated Press analysis, seen only in a search summary, reported that state laws are not uniform. A suspected concussion needs medical care. (Concussion by body)

M

Major foul (men's field)

The more serious of the two foul classes in the World Lacrosse Men's Field Rules 2025-2027 (v1.0), renamed from personal fouls in the 2025 edition. Section 10 lists illegal body-check (Rule 70), slashing (71), cross check (72), tripping (73), unnecessary roughness (74) and unsportsmanlike conduct (75), and Rule 76 covers a player with five major fouls. The penalty is a suspension of 1, 2 or 3 minutes, depending on the officials' judgement of severity and intent, with the ball normally going to the fouled team (Rule 68.1). (Men's field lacrosse)

Major foul (sixes)

Under Rules 8.1.2 and 8.2.1 of the World Lacrosse Sixes Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026), a major foul brings a one-minute suspension, with the ball normally going to the non-offending team, and three major fouls, or one expulsion foul, foul a player out. Any body-check in sixes is penalised as an illegal body check (Rule 8.3.1). (Sixes)

Major foul (women's field)

The more serious foul class in women's field lacrosse, set out in Rule 20 of the World Lacrosse Women's Field Rules 2025-2026 (v1.0), which names across the body (20.A.1) and block (20.A.2) among others. A check to the head, a swipe, a dangerous follow-through and a dangerous propel are major fouls that require a mandatory warning card (Rule 23.A.2); the timed penalties are under warning card. (Women's field lacrosse)

Major League Lacrosse (MLL)

A men's professional field league that merged with the Premier Lacrosse League. Boston.com (14 April 2021) says the PLL merged with Major League Lacrosse the previous December and that the Boston Cannons joined as an eighth team for 2021; a press summary dates the merger announcement to 16 December 2020, unconfirmed. Its founding year is also unconfirmed: a Bloomberg summary gives 1999, and Wikipedia says it was organised in 2001. (Professional leagues history)

Major penalty (box)

Under Rule 7.3.1 of the World Lacrosse Box Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026), five minutes off the floor; if the penalised team concedes two power-play goals it may restore a player, but the offender still serves the full five minutes. A minor penalty is two minutes (Rule 7.2.1). (Box lacrosse)

Mann Cup

The Canadian senior A men's box lacrosse championship. The Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame says Sir Donald Mann donated it in 1910 and that it became a regular national amateur competition in 1925; Wikipedia describes a best-of-seven series between the champions of Major Series Lacrosse (Ontario) and the Western Lacrosse Association (British Columbia). The Lax Mag says the Six Nations Chiefs won their third straight Mann Cup in 2025, and Turtle Island News said the 2026 series would open on 11 September 2026 at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena. Wikipedia lists the Chiefs beating the Coquitlam Adanacs 4-0 in 2026 for their 10th title; no Lacrosse Canada, league or press report of that result was found, so it is unconfirmed. (Box lacrosse trophies)

Marking Area (women's field)

Two areas marked in front of each goal in women's field lacrosse: a 15 m Marking Area semicircle and an 11 m Marking Area (Rules 1.A.7 and 1.A.8 of the World Lacrosse Women's Field Rules 2025-2026 (v1.0)). (Women's field lacrosse)

Medicine Game

A name the Onondaga Nation gives lacrosse, because it is known to have healing power. The Haudenosaunee Nationals call the game, spiritually, a medicine game, and the Harvard Project's 2002 profile of the Iroquois Nationals describes it, as the Haudenosaunee see it, as a gift from the Creator played as a medicine game. The Canadian Encyclopedia says it was used to heal and to settle disputes such as hunting-ground rights. See also Creator's Game. (Indigenous origins)

Men's World Championship injury study (2018)

A study of injuries at the 2018 men's world championship (Cheney et al., Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine, 2021), covering 1,019 athletes in 170 games over 11 days. It recorded 140 injuries, 19.6 per 1,000 athlete exposures; 70.7 percent were contact injuries, contusions were the most common type (29.3 percent), and four injuries needed a hospital visit. World Lacrosse's health page also links injury reports from its 2010 and 2018 world championships and a 2024 surveillance study. A suspected injury needs medical care. (Injuries named)

Men's World Championship (World Lacrosse)

World Lacrosse's senior men's field championship. USA Lacrosse says the first was a four-team invitational in Toronto in 1967, won by the Mt. Washington club representing the United States. The 2023 edition in San Diego, the 14th, ended on 1 July 2023 with the United States beating Canada 10-7 at Snapdragon Stadium and the Haudenosaunee taking bronze over Australia (World Lacrosse). The 2027 edition is set for Tokyo from 18 to 27 June 2027 with 16 teams, upcoming on 23 October 2026; Canada won the 2026 Pan-American qualifier 9-8 over the United States on 23 August 2026. (World championships)

Mercy rule (NFHS boys')

A running-clock rule in the NFHS Boys Lacrosse Official Timer Guidelines (an undated NFHS document): once the goal difference in the second half reaches 12, time runs without stopping from the next face-off to the end of the game. The same guidelines describe a regulation game as four 12-minute stop-time quarters. (College and high school rules)

Minor foul (men's field)

The less serious foul class in the World Lacrosse Men's Field Rules 2025-2027 (v1.0), renamed from technical fouls in the 2025 edition. Section 9 (Rules 50 to 67) lists fouls including interference, pushing, illegal pick, holding, withholding the ball, illegal procedure, offside, warding and conduct fouls. The penalty is possession to the other team if the offenders had the ball or it was loose, or a 30-second suspension if the other team had it (Rule 50.1). (Men's field lacrosse)

Minor foul (women's field)

The less serious foul class in women's field lacrosse, set out in Rule 19 of the World Lacrosse Women's Field Rules 2025-2026 (v1.0). The changes in force from 1 January 2025 deleted the minor fouls goalkeeper goal score and body ball and replaced covering with withholding the ball. A ball lodging in a field player's crosse during play is treated as a minor foul, with a free position to the nearest opponent (Rule 3.B.3). (Women's field lacrosse)

Minor penalty (box)

Under Rule 7.2.1 of the World Lacrosse Box Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026), any player except the goalkeeper goes off the floor for two minutes. An illegal stick is a two-minute penalty (Rules 2.4.6 to 2.4.9), and two minutes charged to a team is a bench minor. (Box lacrosse)

Minto Cup

The Canadian junior A men's box lacrosse championship. The Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame and Wikipedia say Governor General Lord Minto donated it in 1901 and that it has been a junior trophy since 1937. Lacrosse Canada reported that the host Calgary Raiders won the 2026 Minto Cup, beating the Victoria Shamrocks 9-6 in Game 3 of the final at Max Bell Centre, Calgary, the first Alberta team to win the Canadian junior A title (24 August 2026). (Box lacrosse trophies)

Montreal Lacrosse Club

The club the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame says was founded in 1856, wrote the first formal rules and merged with the Hochelaga club in 1860. Wikipedia also gives 1856, but the Dictionary of Canadian Biography and The Canadian Encyclopedia give no founding year, so the date rests on the Hall of Fame. Lacrosse Canada's history page links the formation of the 1867 national association to the club. (Montreal and the first rules)

Mouthguard

An intra-oral tooth and mouth protector, required in every World Lacrosse code with different detail. Rule 17.1 of the World Lacrosse Men's Field Rules 2025-2027 (v1.0) requires one covering all upper teeth, commercial mouldable or custom-made by a dental professional, and recommends a highly visible colour, neither white nor clear; Rule 6.A.5 of the World Lacrosse Women's Field Rules 2025-2026 (v1.0) requires a professionally manufactured one covering all upper teeth in any colour, white or clear included, with protruding tabs removed for field players; Rule 2.4.2 of the World Lacrosse Sixes Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026) requires one moulded to the teeth and jaw; and Rule 2.5.5 of the World Lacrosse Box Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026) requires it at all times during a live ball. NFHS boys' rules removed colour restrictions in 2026 (Rule 1-9-1b), and NCAA men's rules permitted clear mouthguards from 2025 (NCAA release; approved 17 July 2024). (Mouthguards)

N

National game of Canada (1859 claim)

The claim that lacrosse was declared Canada's national game in 1859, made by Lacrosse Canada's history page and by the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame, which says Parliament proclaimed it. The Dictionary of Canadian Biography calls Beers's claim of a parliamentary declaration a long-held myth, while saying lacrosse became the national game in practice by the end of the century, and The Canadian Encyclopedia says it was not made the national game by law. No law found names lacrosse a national sport before the National Sports of Canada Act of 1994. (Lacrosse in Canada)

National Lacrosse Association (1867)

The first national lacrosse body in Canada, formed on 26 September 1867 at Kingston City Hall. Lacrosse Canada says 52 delegates from 27 clubs in Ontario and Quebec formed the National Association of La Crosse, led by Dr William George Beers, and calls it the first national sport governing body in North America; the Dictionary of Canadian Biography gives representatives of 29 clubs and says the convention adopted Beers's rules. The Canadian Encyclopedia notes it was formed two months after Confederation. The Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame says it was renamed the National Amateur Lacrosse Association in 1882. (Montreal and the first rules)

National Sports of Canada Act

A federal statute (S.C. 1994, c. 16), assented to on 12 May 1994, whose section 2 recognises and declares ice hockey the national winter sport of Canada and lacrosse the national summer sport. Its long title is An Act to recognize hockey and lacrosse as the national sports of Canada, and it has no preamble on lacrosse's history. (Lacrosse in Canada)

Nations '80

The first world box lacrosse championship, held in Vancouver in 1980, according to the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame. Historian Allan Downey says it was the Iroquois Nationals' first competition, a one-time entry in which they finished second, though the team as such was formed in 1983. The Hall of Fame says the first sanctioned World Indoor Lacrosse Championship followed in Ontario in 2003, where Canada beat the Iroquois Nationals 21-4 in the final. (Box lacrosse history)

NCAA Division I men's championship

The NCAA's top men's college championship. Cornell won the first on 5 June 1971, beating Maryland 12-6 (Cornell Athletics). In 2026 Princeton beat Notre Dame 16-9 on 25 May at Scott Stadium, Charlottesville, its first title since 2001, with goalkeeper Ryan Croddick named Most Outstanding Player (Ivy League; AP); Wikipedia counts it as Princeton's seventh title. (NCAA championships)

NCAA Division I women's championship

The NCAA's top women's college championship. The first National Collegiate Women's Lacrosse Championship was a single title game on 16 May 1982, which Massachusetts won 9-6 over Trenton State (NCAA). In 2026 Northwestern beat North Carolina 14-11 on 24 May on its home field in Evanston, Illinois, for its ninth title (AP). (NCAA championships)

NCAA Injury Surveillance Program

The NCAA's injury data system, which a methods paper seen only in a search summary describes as a convenience sample of teams in which athletic trainers record exposures and injuries. Separate studies of 2014-15 to 2018-19 (D'Alonzo and colleagues for men, Bretzin and colleagues for women, Journal of Athletic Training, 2021) found an injury rate of 4.90 per 1,000 athlete exposures in men's lacrosse and 4.99 in women's lacrosse, with concussion among the most common specific injuries in each (8.0 and 7.2 percent of injuries); the women's paper gives two different lower bounds for its confidence interval. A suspected injury needs medical care. (Injuries named)

NCAA (lacrosse rules)

The US college body, which keeps separate men's and women's lacrosse rule books, maintained by Division I oversight committees and, for Divisions II and III, a rules committee and the Playing Rules Oversight Panel. The current rule books were not read for this site, so NCAA entries rest on its published change releases. Its September 2026 projections count 394 men's programmes (77 in Division I, 81 in Division II, 236 in Division III) and 521 women's programmes (133, 114 and 274) for 2026-27. College women's lacrosse is 12 a side, going by the wording of the NCAA's 2026 experimental rules. (College and high school rules)

NCCP (Canada)

The National Coaching Certification Program, through which Lacrosse Canada coaching runs. For the 2025 Canada Summer Games, Lacrosse Canada required head coaches to be Competition Development Certified and assistants at least Competition Development Trained, and every coach to complete the Aboriginal Coaching Module on Indigenous sport traditions, holistic coaching and reconciliation in sport. (How people learn)

ND041

NOCSAE's Standard Performance Specification for Newly Manufactured Lacrosse Helmets with Faceguard, current in the edition ND041-15m24 (modified June 2024). It sets performance requirements for new lacrosse helmets tested with a compatible faceguard that complies with NOCSAE's face protector standard (ND045): a stability test, then drop impacts at set velocities and locations at ambient and high temperature, with no impact allowed to exceed a severity index of 1200. A June 2005 revision removed the ball impact test from this standard. A helmet its maker says is not to be recertified carries a certification life of no more than 5 years from manufacture. NOCSAE says the standard does not address every safety problem, and an October 2015 effective date seen in a search summary is unconfirmed. Whether a helmet is legal is for the body's rule and the officials who check the NOCSAE mark. (Helmets and NOCSAE)

ND049

NOCSAE's Standard Performance Specification for Newly Manufactured Lacrosse Balls, with ND149 as its laboratory guide; its scope covers the weight, compression deflection load, circumference and coefficient of restitution of new balls. NOCSAE's page gives ND049-19 as effective in March 2020 and names ND049-19m25 as current, but the page is inconsistent, so the m25 date is unconfirmed; a February 2026 committee agenda describes that modification as editorial. Its current test values were not read. NOCSAE said in 2019 that US Lacrosse, the NCAA and the NFHS require game balls to meet the NOCSAE standard, and warned, after balls sold with its marks were found not to meet it, that markings alone do not show compliance. (The ball)

ND200

NOCSAE's Standard Test Method and Performance Specification Used in Evaluating the Performance Characteristics of Protectors for Commotio Cordis, with ND201 as its laboratory guide. NOCSAE introduced it as a proposal at its January 2016 meeting, and its committee finalised it on 27 January 2017 as the first such standard, for baseball and lacrosse, to take effect in January 2018. Protectors are tested on a thoracic surrogate with a baseball or lacrosse ball at 30 mph and 50 mph, and in the current text (ND200-22m25, modified December 2025) peak force at the cardiac load cell may not exceed 90 lbf (400 N) and 180 lbf (800 N). NOCSAE calls it pass/fail with no ranking and says certification to an earlier version stays valid; its statement that pass/fail levels never changed sits beside the document's own history of a 2017 revision that raised values for load cells later removed. The ND200-21 effective date is 31 January 2023 in an NSGA report and 1 February 2023 on NOCSAE's page. NOCSAE says the standard is intended to significantly reduce the likelihood of commotio cordis, not to prevent every case. A blow to the chest needs medical care. (Chest protectors and ND200)

ND200 requirements (by body)

Who requires ND200 chest protection, as each body publishes it. USA Lacrosse Magazine said in March 2019 that USA Lacrosse approved a goalkeeper requirement in autumn 2018, written into the 2019 rule books with enforcement delayed to 2021 to give makers time. USA Lacrosse Magazine reported on 31 March 2021 that from 1 January 2021 all goalkeepers at youth (USA Lacrosse), high school (NFHS) and college (NCAA) level, men's and women's, must wear an ND200 chest protector, and that from 2022 so must all field players in USA Lacrosse boys' youth, NFHS boys' and NCAA men's lacrosse, and USA Lacrosse said on 9 November 2021 that products must carry the NOCSAE lacrosse logo and the SEI mark. No US source found requires it of girls' or women's field players, though current girls' and women's rule books were not read. World Lacrosse's decision of 12 May 2026 requires NOCSAE commotio cordis shoulder pads for men's field, men's sixes and men's and women's box, and NOCSAE goalkeeper chest protection in field and sixes, at its owned and sanctioned events, phased in from the 2027 Sixes World Championships, the 2028 Box Championships and, in field, the 2029 Women's and Men's U20 Championships or an earlier continental qualifier for the 2030 women's or 2031 men's championship, and encourages members to adopt them for domestic play. Its FAQ explains why women's field and sixes field players are not required to wear commotio cordis protection, citing 1982 to 2023 data from a source it does not name. A blow to the chest needs medical care. (Chest protectors and ND200)

NFHS

The National Federation of State High School Associations, which says it writes playing rules for 18 high school sports through 50 member state associations and the District of Columbia (release, 10 July 2026). It publishes separate boys' and girls' lacrosse rule books, and USA Lacrosse says it works with the NFHS on the girls' rules. The books are sold rather than posted, so NFHS entries here rest on its published change summaries, points of emphasis and releases. (College and high school rules)

NLL (National Lacrosse League)

The men's professional box league. The NLL says it was founded on 13 March 1986 as the Eagle Pro Box Lacrosse League, played its first season in 1987, became the Major Indoor Lacrosse League in 1988 and took its present name in 1997; the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame dates its start to 1987. The Toronto Rock won the 2026 Finals 2-0 over the Halifax Thunderbirds, clinching on 17 May 2026 in Halifax. The Toronto Rock says the 2026-27 season opens on 28 November 2026 with 12 teams and an 18-game schedule; the NLL says it is the league's 40th-anniversary season. (Professional leagues)

NOCSAE

The standards body that writes the lacrosse helmet standards (ND041, with ND042 to ND045 for testing, recertification and face protectors), the ball standard (ND049) and the commotio cordis protector standard (ND200). It distinguishes revisions, which change a critical test or performance value, from editorial modifications, and points readers to the National Athletic Equipment Reconditioners Association (NAERA) for helmet recertification and reconditioning. A search summary of NOCSAE pages says the Safety Equipment Institute is the only body that certifies equipment to its standards, which is unconfirmed. Its next Standards Committee meeting is listed for 5 February 2027. (Helmets and NOCSAE)

NOCSAE mark

The seal a product carries to show its maker's certification to a NOCSAE standard. ND041 requires a replica of the NOCSAE mark on a helmet's shell and says using it needs a licence from NOCSAE; ND200 requires a sport-specific seal on a protector's primary protective component. USA Lacrosse says ND200 products must carry the NOCSAE lacrosse logo and the SEI mark on product and packaging. NOCSAE warns that a mark alone does not prove compliance and advises checking the maker and model against SEI's certified-product list; at games, the officials and the governing body check the marks. (Helmets and NOCSAE)

O

Officials certification (World Lacrosse)

World Lacrosse's officials certification protocol (v1.0, May 2024) sets six steps: Domestic 1, 2 and 3, assessed nationally, and World Lacrosse 1, 2 and 3, assessed internationally, with entry to the international programme needing the equivalent of Domestic 3. Each step needs a rules test, a fitness test and competency evaluations, and international steps also need English at CEFR B1 or equivalent; domestic certifications last 2 years and international ones 4. WL2 and WL3 are awarded only at World Championships. (Officials)

Offside (men's field)

Under Rule 65.1 of the World Lacrosse Men's Field Rules 2025-2027 (v1.0), a team is offside when it has more than six players in its attack half or more than seven in its defensive half, counting players in the penalty box; offside is a minor foul. Under NCAA men's changes approved in July 2026 (NCAA, 28 July 2026), coaches may challenge a goal that may have followed an offside if it came within 15 seconds of the violation with no whistle in between. (Men's field lacrosse)

Olympic lacrosse, 1904

The first Olympic lacrosse tournament, a men's event at St. Louis from 2 to 7 July 1904 with 36 players from two countries (Olympedia). The Winnipeg Shamrocks (Canada) won gold, beating the St. Louis Amateur Athletic Association 8-2 in the final on 7 July, and a Mohawk Indians team took bronze; the Canadian Olympic Committee says that team, from near Brantford, Ontario, is now recognised as Haudenosaunee. Olympedia says the Brooklyn Crescents were entered but banned for using professional players; Wikipedia is summarised as saying they arrived too late and were disqualified. (The Olympic years)

Olympic lacrosse, 1908

The second Olympic lacrosse tournament: a single men's match at White City Stadium, London, on 24 October 1908, which Canada won 14-10 over Great Britain after South Africa withdrew (Olympedia). Olympedia says it used compromise rules between the Canadian and English games, including an enlarged goal crease and four quarters. The Canadian Olympic Committee says Canada holds three Olympic lacrosse medals, two gold and one bronze, the most of any country, and NBC Sports says LA28 will be lacrosse's first Olympic appearance as a full medal sport since 1908. (The Olympic years)

Overtime (box and sixes)

Under Rule 5.4.1 of the World Lacrosse Box Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026), box overtime follows a 2-minute interval and is played in 15-minute sudden-victory periods until a goal. Sixes differs: under Rule 5.1.4 of the World Lacrosse Sixes Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026), a full 3-minute stopped-time period follows a 2-minute break and the team leading at its end wins, with further 3-minute periods while the score stays tied. (The disciplines)

Overtime (men's and boys' codes)

Under Rules 31.1 and 31.2 of the World Lacrosse Men's Field Rules 2025-2027 (v1.0), overtime follows a 2-minute break and is played in 4-minute periods of sudden victory, each starting with a face-off, until the first goal. NCAA men's changes approved in July 2026 switch to 15-minute periods played until a goal from the 2027 season (NCAA, 28 July 2026; Rule 4-31 in the NAIA-hosted rules-change summary). The NFHS boys' timer guidelines describe 4-minute overtime periods. (Men's field lacrosse)

Overtime (women's field)

Under Rule 12.C.1 of the World Lacrosse Women's Field Rules 2025-2026 (v1.0), overtime follows a 2-minute break and is played in stop-clock periods of 4 minutes of sudden victory, each starting with a centre draw, until the first goal; no time-outs are allowed in overtime (Rule 12.B.1). (Women's field lacrosse)

P

Pan-American Lacrosse Association (PALA)

World Lacrosse's continental federation for the Americas, with 19 members in February 2022 by World Lacrosse's count. Its 2026 Pan-American Men's Championship in Kingston, Jamaica, ended on 23 August 2026 with Canada beating the United States 9-8 and the Haudenosaunee taking bronze over Jamaica, the top five qualifying for the 2027 Men's World Championship (World Lacrosse). World Lacrosse headlines say the United States won both titles at the 2026 Pan-American Sixes Championships in Oshawa (29 September to 4 October 2026); the scores rest on one local press report and are unconfirmed. (World Lacrosse)

Pocket (men's field)

The strung part of the head that holds the ball. Under Rule 16.1 of the World Lacrosse Men's Field Rules 2025-2027 (v1.0), a field player's pocket is illegal if the top of a ball placed in it sits below the bottom edge of the sidewalls with the stick held horizontal (Appendix D shows the official's check); this does not apply to the goalkeeper's stick. Strings may hang no more than 2 in (Rule 16.5), and sticks built or strung to withhold the ball or to mislead an opponent are prohibited (Rules 16.2 to 16.4 and 16.8). Men's sixes adds that the ball must not lodge and must fall out when the stick is turned over (Rule 2.2.1M of the World Lacrosse Sixes Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026)). NFHS boys' rules from 2023 bar holes or gaps in the pocket larger than 1.68 in across (Rule 1-7-1). (Men's sticks)

Pocket (women's field)

Under Rule 3.A.1 of the World Lacrosse Women's Field Rules 2025-2026 (v1.0), a field crosse is legal only if the top of a ball dropped into the pocket of the horizontally held crosse shows above the top of the whole wooden or plastic sidewall and the ball does not lodge anywhere in the pocket; the official also tilts the crosse so the ball runs out, and it must fall out when the crosse is turned upside down (Rule 3.A.1.c). Appendix H lists permitted pocket materials and limits, for example loose cord, shooting strings included, cut to 4 cm at most. Women's sixes uses the same above-the-sidewall test (Rule 2.2.1W of the World Lacrosse Sixes Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026)). NFHS 2027 girls' rules require pocket materials to meet the elasticity standards in the manufacturer's specification on USA Lacrosse's website (Rule 2-2-4). (Women's sticks)

Possession clock (NCAA women's and NFHS girls')

The shot clock in US women's and girls' lacrosse. USA Lacrosse's history timeline says the NCAA approved a 90-second possession clock in 2016 for 2017; a student newspaper, seen only in a search summary, says Division I used it from 2017 and Divisions II and III from 2018. From 2021-22 the NCAA clock resets to 60 seconds in set situations such as a save and offensive rebound (USA Lacrosse, July 2021), and the NCAA allowed a fall 2026 experiment with a 60-second clock after a draw (NCAA, 12 August 2026). From the 2027 season NFHS state associations may adopt a 90-second possession clock in girls' lacrosse, after a two-year New York State experiment (NFHS, 10 July 2026). The World Lacrosse women's field clock is under shot clock (women's field). (College and high school rules)

Premier Lacrosse League (PLL)

A men's professional field league. The league announced for its inaugural 2019 season a 52-second shot clock starting on possession, a two-point arc 15 yards from goal and a shorter field (PLL, 27 May 2019), and it merged with Major League Lacrosse in December 2020 (Boston.com). Wikipedia lists eight teams in the 2026 season, and it and an ESPN summary give the Philadelphia Waterdogs beating the Denver Outlaws 14-4 in the championship on 20 September 2026 at Harrison, New Jersey, a score not confirmed on a PLL page. A five-year ESPN agreement from the 2026 season covers PLL and Women's Lacrosse League games (PLL, 25 June 2025). (Professional leagues)

R

Recall (lacrosse equipment)

A government recall of a product, as distinct from the safety alerts that NOCSAE and SEI also call recalls. Justia's index lists four US CPSC lacrosse recalls: STX Titanium Plus handles (16 June 1997, up to 9,000 that might be too thin to withstand severe blows), Brine VIP gloves (26 July 2010, logo ink over the federal lead paint limit), Easton Raptor helmets (22 March 2012, chin bars that could break; Health Canada announced the same recall on 30 March 2012) and STX Shield goalie throat protectors (26 February 2014, which could crack or break when hit by a ball). Search found no later CPSC or Health Canada lacrosse recall, which does not prove there were none. (Recalls and decertification)

Recertification (helmets)

Re-testing of used helmets to a NOCSAE standard. NOCSAE publishes ND043 for recertified lacrosse helmets and ND044 as its laboratory guide, and points readers to the National Athletic Equipment Reconditioners Association (NAERA) for recertification and reconditioning. ND041 requires makers of helmets intended to be recertified to state a recertification interval, and a helmet its maker says is not to be recertified carries a certification life of no more than 5 years from manufacture. (Care, named)

Releasable and non-releasable penalties

Terms for whether a penalised player may return early. The NFHS boys' timer guidelines say a releasable penalty ends when the opponents score, while a non-releasable penalty runs its full time. In NCAA women's lacrosse, the 2025-26 changes made one-minute releasable penalties apply across the field except the critical scoring area and made dangerous contact a non-releasable yellow card (as reported by USA Lacrosse Magazine, 14 August 2025), and from 2026-27 every yellow card is a two-minute non-releasable penalty (NCAA, 12 August 2026). (College and high school rules)

Restraining line (women's field)

A line across the women's field 22 m from each goal line (Rule 1.A.9 of the World Lacrosse Women's Field Rules 2025-2026 (v1.0)); Rule 18 sets the restraining-line rules, and during the centre draw all players except three per team in the Midfield Area, goalkeepers included, stay behind the restraining lines (Rule 13.A.4). The NCAA's fall 2026 experiment with 10 players a side and six below the restraining line implies that the standard college game keeps seven there, which was not confirmed from the rule book itself. USA Lacrosse's timeline dates restraining lines in US women's rules to 1998. (Women's field lacrosse)

Rowan's Law (Ontario)

Ontario's Rowan's Law (Concussion Safety), 2018, which the Ontario government calls the first and only comprehensive concussion safety legislation in Canada. It received Royal Assent in March 2018; its awareness and prevention phase took effect on 1 July 2019 and its removal-from-sport and return-to-sport phase on 1 January 2022. It requires Ontario sport organisations to have a concussion code of conduct, yearly confirmation that participants have reviewed approved awareness resources, and removal and return protocols, with medical clearance from a physician or nurse practitioner before return. A suspected concussion needs medical care. (Concussion by body)

S

Safeguarding policies

Policies on protecting participants from abuse, named here with their dates only. World Lacrosse's Safeguarding Policy is dated 5 June 2024 in its header (its file is named for November 2025), cites the IOC consensus statements of 2006 and 2016, and requires background checks for coaches, officials, staff and relevant event volunteers. USA Lacrosse's athlete protection page names an Athlete Protection and Safety Policy, Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policies (MAAPP) and reporting to the U.S. Center for SafeSport. Lacrosse Canada is reported, in a search summary only, to say that the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport has been administered through the Canadian Safe Sport Program since 1 April 2025. (Safeguarding)

Safety Equipment Institute (SEI)

The body that certifies lacrosse equipment to NOCSAE standards and keeps the certified-product list that NOCSAE tells buyers to check; a search summary of NOCSAE pages says SEI is the only body that does so, which is unconfirmed. USA Lacrosse says ND200 chest protectors and shoulder pads must carry the SEI certification mark with the NOCSAE lacrosse logo. In November 2019 NOCSAE relayed SEI safety alerts that withdrew some lacrosse ball models from the certified list on 13 November 2019 and recalled chest protectors released before SEI certification was complete. SEI's own pages were not read. (Recalls and decertification)

SCAT (concussion tool)

The concussion assessment tool named in World Lacrosse's August 2020 concussion policy, which says its Chief Medical Officer chooses the tool for an event and tells members and hosts at least six months ahead. The policy's history records no specified tool before June 2016, SCAT3 from June 2016 and SCAT5 from May 2019, and World Lacrosse's health and safety page now links SCAT6, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. This site gives no assessment steps. A suspected concussion needs medical care. (Concussion by body)

Short stick (men's field)

A stick 40 to 42 in (101.60 to 106.68 cm) long under Rule 15.1 of the World Lacrosse Men's Field Rules 2025-2027 (v1.0), against 52 to 72 in for a long stick. The rule book's Appendix D diagram labels the length 100 to 110 cm; this site follows the rule text. The box stick is also 40 to 42 in long (Rule 2.2.1 of the World Lacrosse Box Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026)). (Men's sticks)

Shot clock (box and sixes)

A 30-second limit in both box and sixes. Under Rule 6.6.1 of the World Lacrosse Box Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026), the team in possession must shoot on goal within 30 seconds of gaining possession or lose the ball, and box minor officials include a 30-second shot clock operator (Rule 4.2.3). Rule 1.4.3 of the World Lacrosse Sixes Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026) requires two visible 30-second shot clocks, one at each end line, in all sixes games. (The disciplines)

Shot clock (men's field and US men's and boys')

Rule 43 of the World Lacrosse Men's Field Rules 2025-2027 (v1.0) requires two visible shot clocks counting down from 80 seconds, applying from 1 January 2026 and enforced in World Championship play from the 2027 Men's World Championship, replacing the old stalling rule. NCAA men's lacrosse introduced a visible 80-second shot clock on every possession for the 2019 season, and from 2021-22 it resets to 60 seconds when the offence keeps the ball after a valid shot and in some other offensive-half situations (USA Lacrosse, July 2021). NFHS 2027 boys' Rule 4-13 lets state associations adopt a 70-second shot clock. The Premier Lacrosse League began in 2019 with a 52-second clock starting on possession. (Men's field lacrosse)

Shot clock (women's field)

Rule 24 of the World Lacrosse Women's Field Rules 2025-2026 (v1.0), new in that edition, requires two visible shot clocks counting down from 80 seconds, with possession going to the opponents, not a foul, when it expires. World Lacrosse says it takes effect in its women's field events from 1 January 2027, to allow time to source the equipment. US college and high school women's and girls' clocks are under possession clock. (Women's field lacrosse)

Shoulder pads (men's and boys')

Upper-body pads for men's and boys' field players and box players, with different rules in each code. The World Lacrosse Men's Field Rules 2025-2027 (v1.0) do not require shoulder pads for field players, which is why Lacrosse Canada's Technical Bulletin 21-3 (2021) added a policy requiring men's field players to wear shoulder pads and a protective cup on adopting the World Lacrosse book. Rule 2.5.1 of the World Lacrosse Box Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026) requires shoulder or vest pads and rib pads, and from the 2028 Box World Championships shoulder pads with NOCSAE certification or a comparable standard and commotio cordis certification. USA Lacrosse says boys' field players at all levels have had to wear chest protection meeting ND200 since 2022, and that compliant chest protectors and shoulder pads carry the NOCSAE lacrosse logo and the SEI mark; NFHS 2026 boys' points of emphasis say shoulder pads must meet NOCSAE standards and be worn as the maker intended. A blow to the chest needs medical care. (Chest protectors and ND200)

Sixes

The six-a-side discipline that World Lacrosse formally introduced in May 2021 to lower barriers to entry, improve competitive balance and suit the IOC's Games framework, and the format for LA28. The World Lacrosse Sixes Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026) cover women and men in one book, with gender-specific rules marked W or M: five field players and a goalkeeper (Rule 3.1), a 70 m by 36 m field at World Lacrosse events (Rule 1.1.1), four 8-minute quarters (Rule 5.1), a 30-second shot clock (Rule 1.4.3), restarts by draw (Rule 6.4) and no body-checking (Rule 8.3.1). World Lacrosse's World Games page says sixes launched in 2020, while a 2025 Syracuse.com article says World Lacrosse created it in 2018. It made its global debut at The World Games 2022. (Sixes)

St Leonards School

The school in Scotland where USA Lacrosse says the first known women's lacrosse game was played, in 1890; the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame says St Leonards claimed to be the first girls' school to play, with house matches recorded in spring 1890, and that its teams moved to 12 a side in 1913. Who introduced the game there is disputed: Wikipedia credits Louisa Lumsden, the first headmistress, after she saw a men's game in Canada in 1884, while a club-hosted history paper argues the credit rests on her own much later autobiography and that the second headmistress, Frances Dove, may have made the decision; both are known only from search summaries. (The women's game)

Stick (box)

Under Rule 2.2 of the World Lacrosse Box Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026), the box stick is 40 to 42 in long, with a head 4.5 to 7 in wide inside at its widest point and a pocket no deeper than 5 in from the top outside edge of the sidewalls (Rules 2.2.1, 2.2.2 and 2.2.4); the goalkeeper's stick is 40 to 72 in long, no more than 13 in wide and no more than 16.5 in from the top of the head to the bottom of the throat (Rule 2.3). Rule 2.4.1 allows only hollow synthetic or metal-type sticks, while Lacrosse Canada's memo of 28 January 2026 permits wooden sticks for players and goalies in its 2026 box season unless a technical package or tournament contract says otherwise. An illegal stick is a two-minute penalty, and a goal scored with a stick found illegal before the next live ball is disallowed (Rules 2.4.6 to 2.4.9). (Box sticks)

Stick check (men's field, box and sixes)

A request to have an opponent's stick inspected. Under Rule 45 of the World Lacrosse Men's Field Rules 2025-2027 (v1.0), a head coach may request a check of any opposing stick on the field when the ball is dead; the first legal finding carries no penalty, each later legal finding requested by the same coach is a minor penalty, and a goal does not count if the scorer's stick is found illegal before the next live ball. In box only the captain, an assistant captain or the head coach may request one, during a time-out or normal stoppage, and a legal stick brings the requesting team a bench minor (Rule 2.4.5 of the World Lacrosse Box Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026)). In sixes a legal finding gives the requesting team a major foul (Rule 2.3 of the World Lacrosse Sixes Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026)), and officials may inspect sticks at random between quarters and in time-outs (Rule 2.3.3). (Men's sticks)

Stick check (women's field and US girls' and women's)

Under Rule 3.B of the World Lacrosse Women's Field Rules 2025-2026 (v1.0), an official may take a time-out at any time to inspect a pocket, and a player may ask for an opponent's pocket to be inspected when their team has possession of a dead ball or straight after a goal. NFHS 2026 girls' Rule 2-4-5 limits requests to quarter breaks, half-time, team time-outs, before overtime, before a draw and straight after goals. NCAA women's rules ended pregame stick checks in 2021-22 (USA Lacrosse, July 2021), and from 2026-27 officials must check the sticks of players taking the draw at least once per quarter and before each overtime (NCAA, 12 August 2026). (Women's sticks)

Stick exchange (US girls' and women's)

Swapping sticks during play, which two US codes treat differently. NFHS 2027 girls' Rule 9-1h bars switching sticks with other players on the field during play, with changes still allowed through the substitution area, after goals and in time-outs, while NCAA women's changes for 2026-27 let players exchange sticks with a teammate or opponent on the field when they do not have the ball. Each applies only to its own level. (College and high school rules)

Sudden death in lacrosse (Maron et al., 2009)

A study in Pediatrics (2009) of the US Sudden Death in Young Athletes Registry for 1980 to 2008, which found 23 sudden deaths or cardiac arrests among high school and college lacrosse players, all male: 10 followed a blunt blow to the chest (commotio cordis), four of those 10 being goalkeepers wearing commercially available chest protectors, and 12 were attributed to cardiovascular disease, the abstract not accounting for the remaining case. It gave a commotio cordis death rate of 0.63 per 100,000 person-years and concluded that sudden death in lacrosse is rare but that commotio cordis causes a disproportionate share. A HealthDay report, seen only in a search summary, gave 19 deaths among the 23 cases. USA Lacrosse's 2017 count of seven commotio cordis deaths since 1983, which names no source, covers a different period and population, and counts from different registries cannot be added together. A blow to the chest needs medical care. (Deaths as published)

T

Targeting (NCAA women's)

A flagrant foul added to NCAA women's lacrosse for 2026-27, carrying a red card. The same changes removed the automatic next-game suspension after a red card, though the player is still ejected, and merged flopping and embellishment into one flagrant flopping foul carrying a yellow card (NCAA, 12 August 2026). The foul's full definition is in the NCAA rule book, which was not read. (College and high school rules)

Technical and personal fouls (NFHS boys')

The two foul classes in NFHS boys' lacrosse. NFHS changes describe, for example, losing a helmet as a technical foul for illegal procedure (2026, Rule 6-5-2y), a ball stuck in a player's crosse or equipment as a technical foul for withholding the ball from play (2027, Rules 4-7, 6-12-2 and 6-12-3), and a non-goalkeeper entering the crease to block a shot as a personal foul for illegal equipment (2026). World Lacrosse's men's field book used the same two names until its 2025 edition renamed them minor and major fouls (Summary of Changes, World Lacrosse Men's Field Rules 2025-2027 (v1.0)). (College and high school rules)

Tewaaraton

The Mohawk word for lacrosse given in the Smithsonian's American Indian magazine (Spring 2021); The Canadian Encyclopedia writes tewaarathon. Spellings of Haudenosaunee names for the game differ between sources, and this site uses each source's own spelling; the Harvard Project's 2002 profile of the Iroquois Nationals gives a Haudenosaunee name as ga-chee-qua-is. (Indigenous origins)

The World Games

The multi-sport event where lacrosse has appeared since 2017. World Lacrosse lists women's field lacrosse (10 a side) at Wroclaw, Poland, in 2017; men's and women's sixes at Birmingham, Alabama, in 2022, the global debut of sixes, where Canada won both golds (men 23-9 and women 14-12 over the United States); and women's sixes only at Chengdu, China, in 2025, won by the United States 16-8 over Canada on 11 August 2025. World Lacrosse says men's and women's sixes are confirmed for Karlsruhe in 2029. For 2022, World Lacrosse, the International World Games Association and the Birmingham organisers said on 14 August 2020 that Haudenosaunee teams would be eligible if they qualified, and The World Games says Ireland gave up its place so the Haudenosaunee Nationals could compete. (Sixes and The World Games)

Throat guard

Neck protection worn by goalkeepers. Rule 17.1 of the World Lacrosse Men's Field Rules 2025-2027 (v1.0) lists a throat guard among the men's field goalkeeper's standard items; Rule 6.A.20 of the World Lacrosse Women's Field Rules 2025-2026 (v1.0) requires a throat protector attached to the women's goalkeeper's helmet, hanging less than a ball's diameter from it; box goalkeepers wear one attached to the helmet (Rule 2.7.5 of the World Lacrosse Box Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026)); and NFHS 2026 boys' points of emphasis name it for goalkeepers. The US CPSC announced a recall of about 4,000 STX Shield goalie throat protectors on 26 February 2014 because they could crack or break when hit by a ball. (Goalkeeper equipment)

Transitional and modified checking (USA Lacrosse girls')

Stages in USA Lacrosse's girls' youth rules. USA Lacrosse says modified checking applies at 11U and 12U and transitional checking at 13U and 14U, an incremental step toward full high school checking that began with the 2019 season, and gives its safety reason as protecting players' heads from stick contact, with a 12-inch sphere around the ball carrier's head inside which checks are not allowed (4 April 2025). A 2025 comparison chart seen only in a search summary lists no checking at 6U, 8U and 10U. (Youth contact and checking rules)

U

U20 championships (World Lacrosse)

World Lacrosse's junior world championships. The men's junior event was titled U21 in 2022, when the United States beat Canada 12-10 at Limerick, Ireland, on 20 August 2022, and U20 in 2025, when Canada beat the United States 6-5 on Jeju Island, Korea, on 24 August 2025 for its first gold in the event, ending a run of nine United States titles. At the 2024 Women's U20 Championship in Hong Kong the United States beat Canada 23-6 on 24 August 2024, and Japan's bronze was its first medal at any World Lacrosse championship. The next hosts were not researched. (World championships)

US National Commotio Cordis Registry

A US registry of commotio cordis cases. A 2023 review (Peng et al., Sports Medicine) says it was set up in 1995 and held 216 cases as of July 2012, with later counts not public; about 95 percent of cases are male, with a mean age of 15, and baseball is the most common sport (51 percent), with no lacrosse count given. The review reports recorded survival rising from about 15 percent in the registry's 2002 report to 58 percent in its 2013 update, and says registry studies and animal models have not shown chest barriers to prevent the arrhythmia. A blow to the chest needs medical care. (Commotio cordis)

USA Lacrosse

The national governing body for lacrosse in the United States, certified in that role by the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee. It says it was founded in 1998, as US Lacrosse, through the merger of eight national lacrosse organisations, and it rebranded as USA Lacrosse in 2021 (May 2021 per a search summary of its rebrand page); it says it serves almost 420,000 members, an undated figure on its about page. It writes the youth rule books for 14U and below, works with the NFHS on high school girls' rules, and modifies NCAA rules for club college and post-collegiate women's play. (National bodies)

USA Lacrosse youth rules

USA Lacrosse's stand-alone boys' and girls' youth rule books for 14U and below; its rules committee meets each year in late spring to consider changes for the next season. Its rules pages list the 2026 Boys' Youth Rules and the 2026 Girls' Youth Rules with comparison charts, but every USA Lacrosse rules PDF returned 404 on 23 October 2026, so their contents, including age formats, stick lengths and contact stages, are known only from search summaries and are unconfirmed. For the 2024 season USA Lacrosse allowed one-handed stick checks at boys' 12U and 14U and kept a two-minute penalty for incidental head or neck contact in youth play (USA Lacrosse, 19 July 2023). (Youth contact and checking rules)

USILA

The United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association. The USILA says it replaced the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse League as the governing body of US college lacrosse in 1929; Wikipedia is summarised as giving 1926 for the present name and a creation date of 22 December 1905. The USILA says college associations picked champions on season records until 1934, that it chose the Wingate Memorial Trophy champion from 1934 to 1970, and that the NCAA held its first men's tournament in 1971. (College lacrosse)

USWLA

The United States Women's Lacrosse Association, which USA Lacrosse says formed in 1931 as the rule-making body for the US women's game, with Joyce Cran Barry as first president, and held its first national tournament in 1933 in Greenwich, Connecticut. Wikipedia names it among the bodies that merged into US Lacrosse, founded on 1 January 1998. (The women's game)

UWLX

The United Women's Lacrosse League, which USA Lacrosse's timeline calls the first women's professional league, founded in 2016; Wikipedia says it was founded in 2015 and began play in 2016. (Professional leagues history)

V

Video review (NCAA men's)

Replay review in NCAA men's lacrosse. Changes approved on 17 July 2024 for the 2025 season let coaches use their challenges at any point in the game and limited officials' own reviews to the last four minutes of regulation and overtime. Changes approved in July 2026 let coaches challenge a goal that may have followed offside, too many players or a player in possession stepping on a boundary line, if it came within 15 seconds of the violation with no whistle in between, and let officials review possible contact to the head or neck without first making a call, rescinding the call if video shows no illegal contact (NCAA releases, 17 July 2024 and 28 July 2026). (College and high school rules)

W

Warning card (women's field)

The card system for misconduct and dangerous play in women's field lacrosse. Under Rule 23 of the World Lacrosse Women's Field Rules 2025-2026 (v1.0), carded players serve timed penalties in the team bench area: 2 minutes for a yellow card, 5 minutes for a second yellow (yellow and red together) and 10 minutes for a straight red; a check to the head, a swipe, a dangerous follow-through and a dangerous propel require a mandatory card (Rule 23.A.2). NCAA women's rules for 2026-27 differ: every yellow card is a two-minute non-releasable penalty, targeting is a red-card foul, and a red card no longer brings an automatic next-game suspension (NCAA, 12 August 2026). (Women's field lacrosse)

WBGT

Wet Bulb Globe Temperature, an index of heat stress. World Lacrosse's 2014 heat policy calls it the most widely used index of heat stress and sets its break levels by it, and the NFHS's October 2025 heat position statement refers to WBGT readings for hot and humid weather. (Heat and lightning)

Wheelchair lacrosse

Lacrosse played from wheelchairs, one of USA Lacrosse's five adaptive formats. USA Lacrosse describes Wheelchair Lacrosse USA as founded in 2010 and as the world's first wheelchair lacrosse league, in its own words; a wheelchair maker's blog, seen only in a search summary, traces the game to two San Diego athletes in 2008, which is unconfirmed. World Lacrosse publishes suggested wheelchair rules dated 3 May 2016. At the 2025 Adaptive Lacrosse Games it was played on a box lacrosse or hockey rink. (Wheelchair and adaptive lacrosse)

Wingate Memorial Trophy

The US college men's championship trophy whose champion the USILA chose from 1934 to 1970, with Maryland the first listed winner, in 1936. The USILA says the trophy went to the first two NCAA champions and was then retired. (College lacrosse)

Withholding the ball

A foul in several codes. It is a minor foul in Section 9 of the World Lacrosse Men's Field Rules 2025-2027 (v1.0); in women's field it replaced the former foul of covering in the changes in force from 1 January 2025 (Rule 19 notes of the World Lacrosse Women's Field Rules 2025-2026 (v1.0)); and under NFHS 2027 boys' rules a ball stuck in a player's crosse, uniform or equipment, other than a goalkeeper's in the crease, is a technical foul for withholding the ball from play (Rules 4-7, 6-12-2 and 6-12-3). (Rule changes)

Women's Lacrosse League (WLL)

A women's professional league run alongside the Premier Lacrosse League, which the PLL says launched in November 2024 with four teams. USA Lacrosse says it played a condensed sixes season in 2025 and an 11-week full-field, 10-a-side season in 2026; Wikipedia is summarised as saying the Boston Guard won the first title at the 2025 Championship Series. The Maryland Charm won the inaugural 2026 summer championship, beating the California Palms 16-13 at Subaru Park, Chester, Pennsylvania (USA Lacrosse, 16 August 2026); reports differ on the exact day of the final. Its games are part of the ESPN agreement that began with the 2026 season. (Professional leagues)

Women's World Championship (World Lacrosse)

World Lacrosse's senior women's field championship, first played as the IFWLA World Cup in 1982 in Nottinghamshire, England, where the United States beat Australia in overtime (USA Lacrosse). The 2022 edition at Towson, Maryland, ended on 9 July 2022 with the United States beating Canada 11-8 (World Lacrosse; score from Guinness World Records). The United States beat Canada again, 16-4, in Tokyo on 2 August 2026, which World Lacrosse called its fifth straight title; Israel took bronze over the Haudenosaunee, Israel's first medal at the championship and the Haudenosaunee's best finish. World Lacrosse says more than 30,000 attended in Tokyo. (World championships)

Wooden stick

Wooden sticks are treated differently by each code. Rule 15.4 of the World Lacrosse Men's Field Rules 2025-2027 (v1.0) allows heads of wood or laminated wood and shafts of wood; Appendix H of the World Lacrosse Women's Field Rules 2025-2026 (v1.0) allows wooden heads, defined in four parts, and wooden shafts; Rule 2.4.1 of the World Lacrosse Box Rules 2026-2028 (v2.0, May 2026) allows only hollow synthetic or metal-type sticks, while Lacrosse Canada's 2026 memo permits wooden sticks in its 2026 box season. The Smithsonian Folklife Festival holds a hand-shaved wooden stick made at Akwesasne and notes that wooden sticks are still made and used, and American Indian magazine (2021) says a hand-made hickory stick can take up to ten months to make. (Stick materials)

World Lacrosse

The international federation for men's and women's lacrosse, formerly the Federation of International Lacrosse, whose releases are datelined Colorado Springs. It governs four disciplines, each with its own rule book: men's field, women's field, box and sixes. The IOC granted it Full Recognition on 20 July 2021. By its own counts it had 97 member national governing bodies after 15 April 2026 and more than 1.2 million participants worldwide at the start of 2021. Bob DeMarco (USA) was elected president in November 2024 for a term through 2028, and Jim Scherr was hired in 2017 as its first employee and chief executive. (World Lacrosse)

World Lacrosse Box Championships

World Lacrosse's indoor world championships for men and women. The 2024 edition in Utica, New York (20 to 29 September 2024) had 28 men's and 10 women's teams: Canada won the men's title 13-7 over the United States, its sixth men's box gold, and the United States won the first women's box world championship 10-7 over Canada, with the Haudenosaunee taking both bronzes. World Lacrosse's May 2026 equipment standards apply to box from the 2028 Box Championships, whose host and dates were not researched. (World championships)

World Lacrosse equipment standards (May 2026)

Safety and equipment standards World Lacrosse adopted on 12 May 2026 for its own owned and sanctioned events, phased in from the 2027 Sixes World Championships (sixes), the 2028 Box Championships (box) and the 2029 Women's and Men's U20 Championships or an earlier continental qualifier for the 2030 women's or 2031 men's championship (field). They require NOCSAE commotio cordis shoulder pads for men's field, men's sixes and men's and women's box, NOCSAE goalkeeper chest protection in field and sixes, and protective eyewear for women's field and women's sixes, and they permit soft-shell headgear for women's field and women's sixes players, in women's field from the 2029 Women's U20 Championship. World Lacrosse strongly encourages members to adopt them for domestic play, so they do not bind national competitions automatically. Its percentage claims for eyewear (up to 84 percent) and headgear (50 percent) name no study and are World Lacrosse's own. (Chest protectors and ND200)

World Lacrosse Sixes Championships

The first World Lacrosse Sixes Championships, set for 4 to 10 October 2027 at Weidner Field, Colorado Springs, with 16 men's and 16 women's teams from the four continental regions, and the primary qualifier for LA28 (World Lacrosse, 27 August 2026). World Lacrosse said in November 2023 that it expected a 2026 sixes world championship, which explains the 2026 date that Wikipedia was summarised as giving. It is upcoming on 23 October 2026. (Sixes and The World Games)