You might think that lacrosse is all about how hard you can hit, or you might have even thought it was a fancy sparkling beverage (no, it’s not “La Croix”). However, it is a high intensity sport played with a stick, a net, and a hard rubber ball, that was derived from the Native American sport called Stickball.

So far this season, the Bingham Boys’ Lacrosse team has done amazingly well. Even though they didn’t get much of a season last year, they have come out of the pandemic strong and determined. 

The varsity team has won 10 out of their 12 games so far this season. They have also had 3 shutouts, which means the other team wasn’t able to even get one goal in. On May 11, they won the region championship on their senior night.

Watching them play is mesmerizing: how quickly they pass, how they roll off their defenders from the other team, how fast their shots go off, and, the best part, how they get up strong after taking a beating from the other team.

You may wonder what the difference is between girls’ and boys’ lacrosse. In girl’s lacrosse, you cannot whack your stick at another player. It is not a contact sport like boys’ lacrosse is. In boys’, you can’t hit anywhere above the shoulders. 

Even though most people just think that all it takes to play boys’ lacrosse is to be able to hit hard, they are sorely wrong. You do need to know how to hit hard; however, there are some basic skills you need to know. You need to know how to pass, how to shoot, how to run, how to dodge people, and much more.

Boys’ sticks have a deep pocket that makes it easier to keep the ball in their stick. They also have very short sticks that are used by offensive players and then very long sticks that are usually 6 feet used by defensive players.

Girls’ lacrosse takes a lot of different skills than boys’. Girls’ sticks don’t have a pocket which makes it harder to keep the ball in the stick, so they have to cradle the ball in the stick using their wrist to move the stick in an arc. 

They also have a lot more rules and regulations. Girls cannot hit or have any body contact or stick-to-body contact with another player. Also, girls have bigger fields and a lot more lines on their field. This is because they have more regulations and rules based on the shooting area, called the 8 meter arc, that is in front of the goal.

Girls’ lacrosse this year has been off to a rough start. This year they’ve gained a new coaching staff and didn’t get a season at all last year. They also lost a lot of their very talented players to the class of 2020. 

However, that does not diminish the fact that they have been working hard to build their team this year. Even though the varsity team has only won three out their nine games this season, they have pulled together. At the beginning of the season, the team didn’t quite mesh well, but now you can see all their dynamics together and their trust in their fellow teammates.

This year has been a rebuilding year for the girls’ lacrosse team with getting new coaching staff and a ton of new players. The head varsity coach, Sydney Christensen, said she wants to continue to build the team “By focusing on the skill building of JV [Junior Varsity] level with a large number of freshman and developing leaders on the Varsity team.”

Coach Christensen also wants to continue to build the program in the coming years and to share her love for the sport with new girls coming in. She wants to help the players build up their confidence, leadership skills, and learn good life lessons.

Games for both teams are usually held on Tuesday and Thursday nights. The location is on their Instagram or on the Bingham website calendar. Senior night for the girls is on May 10 and for the boys it’s on May 11. Playoffs for both teams will be starting in the middle of May. For updates watch on their Instagram pages: @bingham_lacrosse2021 and @binghamgirlslax.