After much discussion and inquiry by the NCAA, U.S. Lacrosse, and the NFHS, the face of women's lacrosse at colleges and high schools nationwide is about to change. This spring, for the first time, protective eyewear will be required for all high school participants in states that follow NFHS rules, and for all competitors at the NCAA championships. In 2005, the requirement will extend to the entire season for all NCAA teams.

The new rules were put in place to prevent injuries to the face and eyes, but some coaches, players, and officials feel that a marginal safety issue has been addressed at the significant expense of gameplay. "Players and coaches don't want this," says Jane Hansen, a longtime NCAA lacrosse umpire and former rules interpreter for lacrosse and field hockey for the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. "I'm very aware of the injury possibilities, but whenever you play a sport, there is some risk. I certainly think we need to do everything we can to minimize risk, but we need to be prudent about what we are mandating."

One problem, Hansen says, is that a mask or protective shield impairs the athletes' ability to follow the play. "It takes away a lot of vision from the sides and it gets in the way when a player looks down at the ball," she says. "It distorts what they're seeing."

Hansen feels this will lead to an increase in aggressive, dangerous physical play. "You have people being blind-sided, running into others, not being aware of what's happening around them," she says. "In the past, when we have tried to add any kind of face or head protection, it has made the game rougher."

Nancy Burke, Athletic Trainer at South Lakes High School in Reston, Va., and chair of the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Protective Eyewear Project Team, says that teams will need to accept the new equipment and realize that the decision was made with the players' best interests in mind. "It's an adjustment for folks who aren't used to playing with them on," she says, "but the reality is that this is the way to prevent certain injuries from occurring, and so it was the right thing to do. Protective eyewear should make no difference in the calling of the game or the playing of the game, and everyone has to accept responsibility for their level of aggression on the field."

State high school associations in New York and Massachusetts have required eye protection for lacrosse players for several years, and while there were some complaints about it affecting vision and encouraging physical play, the requirement did lead to a decrease in the number of eye injuries, and the players learned to adapt. "It's like anything else that's new," Burke says, "you get used to it after a while."

For colleges and high schools whose lacrosse players will be donning the protective gear for the first time, there are two options to consider: a wire cage extending from the forehead to the middle of the cheeks, attached by a strap worn around the player's head; and a shatterproof polycarbonate shield similar to a ski mask.

The shields are roughly one-third the cost of the cages, but are less durable and tend to fog up, particularly at night or when it is humid or raining. They also offer slightly less protection than the cage, which covers the entire bridge of the nose. However, players using the cage will need to adjust to looking out through its bars, much like college ice hockey players had to do when face masks were first required for their sport by the NCAA in 1980. For players who wear eyeglasses, the shield is currently the only option, though improved models of the cage are still being developed.

As the emphasis on eye safety spreads, a similar mandate may be in the works for field hockey as well. It is already required at the high school level in Massachusetts, and the NFHS amended its rules for 2003-04 to allow face shields or masks for players seeking extra protection. The NFHS Field Hockey Rules Committee will consider making the eyegear a national requirement for high schools at its annual meeting this February.