‘You Can’t Disagree With Safety’

David Vick — April 30, 2023

It is no secret that women’s lacrosse has evolved drastically in recent years. Some changes have been superb, others not so much.

Opinions vary regarding the sport’s nature at this moment in time. Is women’s lacrosse the best it has ever been? Popularity-wise? Yes. Player safety? Many would say no.

One of those would be Daione “Dai” Mitchell. She played midfield at American University from 1997 to 2001 and is now a high school girls lacrosse coach at the Latin School of Chicago.

From her time as a player to a coach, Dai has witnessed a lot of change in the sport. To put it in perspective, she started lacrosse in eighth grade with a wooden stick and was playing before restraining lines were introduced.

She has seen women’s lacrosse go from a sport containing almost no cross checking to cross checks running rampant.

“The physicality of it [the sport] right now is the main difference,” Dai said.

Compared to her time as a player, much greater force is now used to get the ball out of one’s stick through both checks and body contact. Reasons for this include the evolution of sticks, officials letting more contact occur and players today being generally bigger, faster and stronger.

In Dai’s opinion, the sport is a far cry from what it used to be and should be.

“Women’s lacrosse has lost its soul,” she said.

From Dai’s perspective, women’s lacrosse has allowed men’s lacrosse to greatly influence it. As a result, we see much more physical play today compared to years past, including cross checks which are essentially legal on the men’s side.

Unlike other sports such as basketball and tennis, where both the female and male games are substantially the same, women’s and men’s lacrosse are significantly different from one another when it comes to rules and style of play.

Or at least they were.

“We are straddling this line of like, ‘What are we? Are we more like the men’s game, or are we more like the women’s game?’” Dai said.

That lends itself to a single question of utmost importance.

Where does women’s lacrosse go from here?

With all the conversations that have taken place during the 2023 season, especially following Taylor Everson’s life-threatening injury after a cross check split her kidney, it seems as if whatever those in power decide this offseason for the sport will determine its identity for the foreseeable future.

When deciding the future of women’s lacrosse, Dai believes the sport needs to identify what it is and what it is not. Then, education needs to take place for players, coaches, officials and fans.

“Women’s lacrosse needs to do a huge campaign on what exactly women’s lacrosse is,” she said.

Dai is of the opinion this needs to come from USA Lacrosse, the governing body of lacrosse in the United States. This would make sense considering their mission statement and status in the lacrosse community.

If USA Lacrosse were to differentiate the two sports, women’s and men’s lacrosse, in a definite manner publicly, clear-cut answers on how the sport should be played and officiated would be provided.

As the sport nears the end of the 2023 collegiate season, Dai is hopeful changes will be made this offseason, which may be the most important in the history of the sport.

The adjustments made or not made at the college level in the coming months will influence the game at all stages, including high school and youth lacrosse.

Dai is hopeful this time of dialogue and disagreements on the sport’s nature will be seen as positive, not negative. She believes this is an opportunity to reinforce what women’s lacrosse is.

“We should consider this as growing pains,” she said.

To be clear, Dai is not opposed to change and does not think the sport should revert to 1997; she thinks change is good. She recognizes that modifications have been made over the years for the betterment of the sport, including the shot clock and free movement.

When it comes to evolving, Dai simply thinks the sport should tether itself to the premise of safety when considering new rules and making decisions.

“You can’t disagree with safety,” Dai said.