Defensive Measures: A Need for Helmets in Girls' Lacrosse?

Protecting your head is not something taken for granted - the rise in bike helmets, ski helmets and new football helmets are proof of that.

But what about girls' lacrosse? In the sport, helmets may not be right around the corner.

It's the kind of day when you know summer is not just on the doorstep, but has moved across the welcome mat to come in.

And it's another day in which playing lacrosse with her teammates is accomplishment alone for 16-year-old Mary Kate Gallagher - even if she stands out on the field.

“At first, it was kind awkward being out there, I was a little bit self-conscious. I was wearing this helmet, what's everyone thinking of me,” she said.

"Mary Kate has had four in the past four years," said her mother Kathy Gallagher.

Four - meaning four concussions.

The sophomore on the JV team at perennial national lacrosse powerhouse Notre Dame Academy in Hingham, Massachusetts, had her first one on the basketball court as a sixth grader, followed by two in lacrosse and one while sailing.

Yes, it was the boom.

"[It's] always a concern. Especially from what you understand that kids that have had concussions are more susceptible to getting another concussion,” Kathy Gallagher said.

So, at doctor's orders, Mary Kate Gallagher's been wearing a rugby helmet for three years, with cushioned padding around the temples and the ears.

Unlike boys' lacrosse, a hard helmet is not allowed by state athletic officials.

"A hard helmet protects you from blows from a stick extremely well, and, therefore, would protect you from virtually almost all the concussions," said Gallagher's doctor, Robert Cantu, one of the world's leading specialists on sports-related head trauma.

Cantu is the medical director at the Cantu Concussion Center and a neurosurgeon with BU's Center for Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, the same group at the center of the discussion about brain damage in professional football players.

To be clear, that differs from concussions in girls' lacrosse.

"That bobblehead doll effect - when you hit a youngster's head, it moves very rapidly, even if the youngster sees the hit coming, because the neck is so weak," Dr. Cantu said.

With girls' lacrosse, there's much more nuance than football.

It's not designated as a contact sport, yet the girls use sticks and play with a ball that doesn't have much give.

Florida is the only state which currently requires helmets. That started this year, but the state has been criticized for mandating them.

Donna Brickley has been athletic director at NDA for 30 years and is on the Massachusetts State Girls' Lacrosse Committee.

One argument against?

"They don't want to spoil the game or change the game effectively by using the helmets because it may encourage more contact amongst the players which is clearly outside the purview of the rules," Brickley said.

"My argument would be that the rules are still the same. So, if somebody is playing more aggressively, they would be called on that," Kathy Gallagher said.

"And if a penalty's not enough, maybe suspensions are what have to follow if we're seeing a problem develop," Dr. Cantu said.

The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, the MIAA, approved the use of helmets back in 1984 as a need to protect the eyes, but in 1995, settled for requiring goggles instead.

"There is nothing on the agenda currently that would reflect the need for going back to helmets for girls," said Executive Director Bill Gaine, who said if the national lacrosse committee persuaded the state that helmets were needed, it would be considered again.

But for someone who's living with the aftermath of four concussions, and still getting a chance to play the sport she loves, Mary Kate Gallagher says, unlike lacrosse balls and sticks, helmets can't hurt.

"I know I'm not cool wearing this and I really don't care. So, whatever's going to be safe and have fun and do what you like," she said.

Surprisingly, the MIAA does not keep statistics on injuries, citing a lack of manpower to keep track of them.

Nationally, the boys lacrosse concussion numbers are slightly above girls' lacrosse.

Dr. Cantu would also like to see hard helmets worn in another stick sport, girls field hockey.