Cup Check!

Whatever your euphemism for the family jewels, getting hit "below the belt" with a lacrosse ball or stick is a real bummer. Although I could only find info from 2000-2010, data shows hundreds of kids (98% boys) every year seek medical treatment for lacrosse injuries to the groin. While most are treated and released, Ryan Powell relates a story about a boy, not wearing a cup in practice, whose testicle swelled to grapefruit size and had to be surgically removed. Gulp! And while this is obviously a "worst case" incident, even a hit that doesn't require a trip to the ER or doctor is going to hurt.

Which is why I am surprised to overhear kids say that they aren't wearing one, or parents say "He doesn't like it" or "He feels like is slows him down." 

Yeah, too bad. Wear one. At practice and games. All the time.

Attack, middies, D-poles... everyone should wear one. With shots and passes literally flying around from all angles, it can happen at anytime to anyone... its not just a goalie thing. Also, its not unheard of for defenders to slash you there (accidentally of course!). And if avoiding that kind of pain and lying on the sideline with an ice pack in your shorts is not enough reason to wear one, here are two more:

First, wearing a protective cup is required in youth lacrosse. That's right, it is (kind of) the law. No one conducts cup checks, but it is a mandatory piece of equipment.

Second, wearing a cup might be uncomfortable at first, but you will get used to it. Compression short styles from Shock Doctor and other work for most, and modern design and materials are way better than the jock strap style from ancient days (aka the 1970s and 80s).  

If you haven't already been wearing one, get one and start wearing it to winter practices. After a couple weeks you will get used to it... and one day you might be glad you were wearing one.