In girls’ lacrosse, most players now agree: Mesh is best

The material matters beyond aesthetics.

Mesh nets were long banned by the national governing bodies at each level of the girls’ game — youth, high school and college — merely for the sake of tradition. They were legalized ahead of the 2018 season and have since become far more popular than the rail pocket. Players and coaches say the mesh nets improve passing, shooting and cradling skills.

Many players use hybrid sticks that have elements of the rail pockets but use the mesh to augment their abilities. Transitioning between pocket materials can require reshaping mechanics, but for many players the switch is worth it.

“There’s something different about the mesh runner that creates accuracy that the regular runner just can’t,” Patriots attacker Libby LaPierre said. “It really holds the ball in what they like to refer to as the sweet spot, which is the perfect spot in the head for shooting.”

She recalled a game against Langley this year when the mesh paid off. Defenders crashed down on LaPierre as she drove to the goal. Harassed, the attacker saw a corner of the net and fired a “Hail Mary” shot to the bottom right corner. It was perfectly placed to beat the goalkeeper.

“The accuracy was crazy,” she said. “I don’t think it would have been the same if I had been using a regular stick. … [The shot] definitely would have been in the same area, but I don’t think the placement would’ve been as acute as it was.”

A teammate, sophomore midfielder Helene Lydon, said the mesh gives her greater control when shooting and passing. She also noted that the deeper pocket allows her to sprint downfield with more freedom without having to worry about the ball falling out.

Mesh has long been a part of boys’ lacrosse sticks. But it was introduced in the girls’ game as part of a larger simplification in stick stringing specifications enacted by representatives from the NCAA, the National Federation of State High School Associations and USA Lacrosse.

Caitlin Kelley, senior director of sports administration at USA Lacrosse, said there was no competitive or safety-based reason for the ban on mesh.

“It was just a tradition,” she said. “So we felt like, ‘All right, let’s … see what traditions are important to the integrity of the game and which traditions may be limiting development … as well as growth of the game.’ ”

The dip in popularity of rail pockets, named as such because the leather strips running vertically down the head look like railroad tracks, can be seen on the field and on store shelves.

St. Stephen’s/St. Agnes senior midfielder/defender CC Jacobs works part-time at Lacrosse Unlimited, an equipment store in Vienna. She said she doesn’t believe the store even carries the leather and string models anymore.

That scarcity has led the few players who still use the rail pockets to stock up, in case of a future shortage. Mila Perez, a sophomore attacker for Yorktown, acknowledged her stick doesn’t have the sweet spot the mesh ones do, but she prefers the rail pocket.

She tried to move to mesh a few years ago but struggled to acclimate with the new material; her passes flew straight into the ground. Those around her said she just had to get used to it. But overhauling her technique, particularly at a position reliant on precision, was a sacrifice she was unable to make.

“I probably won’t ever switch because I’ve just grown up using [rail pockets],” Perez said. “… You’re just used to the stick that you have. … Everything is specific about your stick — even the way I tape it. So having it strung the way I string it now, I just could never see myself going to mesh.”

As new generations grow up with mesh as an established material, its prevalence is likely to continue to grow — and the girls’ game will continue to evolve. LaPierre said she felt the faster shots and passes would speed up games.

Kelley pointed to how the ease of playing with mesh pockets could increase youth participation in the United States and internationally. To continue growing the game, USA Lacrosse created a unified criteria for stick heads in 2021 that allowed them to be used interchangeably between the boys’ and girls’ game for players 10 and under.

Doing so could reduce the barrier to entry into the sport, Kelley said. For example, a youth organization trying to get sticks for young players would have to buy just one set for all members, rather than splitting them based on gender.

“If you live in a nontraditional area and there’s no lacrosse-specific store … the ability to pick up either a girls’ or a boys’ stick at a young level [that] has mesh in it is going to help adoption,” Kelley said. “It’s easier to break in a mesh pocket for a 10-year-old than it would be a traditionally strung stick.”