Helmets in girls lacrosse long overdue

If the absence of mandatory helmets in girls lacrosse seems baffling, consider the history of protective equipment in baseball. The most popular commentary among visitors to the Baseball Hall of Fame is surely, “Can you believe ...?” As in “Can you believe they caught balls with so little protection on their hands?”

The first ballplayers of the 1800s played barehanded, before trying out gloves that look more like fingerless mittens. Still, the gear was scoffed at by many players. Many broken fingers later, it finally sunk in that it was OK to wear gloves.

More decades passed before someone got the notion early in the 20th century that there might be wisdom in covering heads as well. Still, it took Major League Baseball until 1971 to make them mandatory. Helmets with ear flaps were not required until 1983.

Dave Stewart’s article for Hearst Connecticut Media gets right to the point in its headline: “Is it time to mandate helmets in girls lacrosse?”

Yes.

Stewart documents how Stonington became the only high school in Connecticut to mandate helmets in girls lacrosse after one of its players — Kate Reagan — suffered her second concussion in 2018. It was an inspiring rally of support for Reagan, though no other schools followed suit, and she wound up quitting the sport.

Sports conferences tend to look to one another for guidance, yet the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, USA Lacrosse and the National Federation of State High School Associations have all resisted a helmet mandate. They are required for goalies — who are documented to suffer fewer concussions — and all players must wear safety glasses.

One of the leagues needs to take a leadership position on this issue, and it might as well be the CIAC. It’s ridiculous that headgear is a mandate for boys lacrosse teams. Even more surreal is that only one state requires them for girls. That would be Florida, which is typically a punchline for careless behavior.

Players can always opt to wear helmets. But that means that when heads butt on the field — and they do — a helmet can collide with a bare head.

There is also the matter of the balls, which travel around the speed limit on Interstate-95.

“Unless you take checking out of the game, there are going to be checks around the head,” said Regan’s coach, Jeff Medeiros. “And the ball is a hard rubber ball moving at 60 to 70 mph. It’s almost stupidity not to wear the helmets in this game.”

Helmets won’t prevent all concussions, as anyone knows who watches the NFL or college football. But try to imagine all the sports that require helmets suddenly banning them. A three-year study suggests concussion rates among girls not wearing headgear was 59 percent higher than for those who used helmets.

Other concerns are raised over the possibility of more equipment making players more aggressive. That’s where the officials, the coaches and the parents come in. The helmets will evolve more rapidly too, if they become commonplace.

But continuing to put athletes at risk like this is the kind of thinking that belongs in a museum.

One of the leagues needs to take a leadership position on this issue, and it might as well be the CIAC. It’s ridiculous that headgear is a mandate for boys lacrosse teams.