Paige Smith

Spring 2023

Industrial Design, Branding

As one of the fastest changing and rapidly growing sports worldwide, women's lacrosse has a distinct gameplay, field layout, stick length, pocket depth, and protective equipment compared to men's lacrosse. The NCAA women's lacrosse board continually adapts rules to improve the speed and flow of the game (the rules when I played in 2022 are already completely different than when I was in high school in 2018)!

The debate surrounding the introduction of more protective equipment like men's lacrosse lingers on concerns of increased physicality. Yet, the truth remains undeniable: the game of women's lacrosse is naturally becoming faster, stronger, and more physical, regardless of whether the protective equipment keeps up.

ISO is a women's lacrosse helmet that bridges the gap between safety and the evolving demands of the game.

Evolution of women's lacrosse headgear:

Johnson, S. (2016, June 6). Native American stickball player [Photograph]. Retrieved from https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/history-of-lacrosse--6

Garcia, L. (2021, February 8). Women's Lacrosse Soft Headgear [Photograph]. Retrieved from https://www.mymcmedia.org/ahead-of-their-game-womens-lacrosse-soft-headgear/

Jones, K. (2021, June 10). STX 4Sight Plus Women's Lacrosse Goggles [Photograph]. Retrieved from https://lacrossescoop.com/best-girls-lacrosse-goggles/

Smith, J. (2022, February 24). Hummingbird Vision Women's Lacrosse Goggles [Photograph]. Retrieved from https://www.hummingbirdsports.com/headgear/

Syracuse Women's Lacrosse Helmets

The standard is to wear goggles (3rd picture shown), and a helmet (4th & 5th picture) optionally, or only after a concussion has already occurred.

Women sustain a higher percentage of head and facial injuries relative to male lacrosse players, according to the study "Epidemiology of Head Injuries in Women's Lacrosse" published in the Journal of Athletic Training in 2018, despite the fact that men's lacrosse allows for more physical contact and checking.

"a low contact sport"

I played women's lacrosse throughout high school and college, so I have experienced many of the shortcomings of current protective equipment firsthand.

My main frustrations were limited visibility, the goggles constantly falling off if I got hit in the head, face, or fell down, needing to adjust the strap for my ponytail height, and the goggles leaving an imprint on my face even hours after I took them off.

My goal for this design was to find a balance between masculine and feminine. Many designs in women's sports aim to preserve femininity but end up looking delicate or frivolous.

I wanted this helmet to command respect while still being distinctly female and setting apart from men's lacrosse helmets.

Women's Lacrosse Headgear & Men's Lacrosse Helmet

Packaging

Vibrant color options and unique designs for showcasing your school's identity.

"Iso": A lacrosse term, referring to an isolation play that is created for an offensive player against a defender; a one-on-one challenge.

"And, to those people that say, 'We can't put a helmet on a girl yet because we don't have a helmet standard,' if boys are wearing a helmet because we are concerned that they're at risk of head injury, and they have a helmet standard for hard-shell helmets that they say does in fact decrease their risk of head injury — if it's good enough for the boys, why isn't it good enough to protect the girls as well?" - Dawn Comstock, Colorado School of Public Health