Cascade, Hummingbird Sports helmets approved for girls lacrosse

For girls lacrosse players who wish to wear a helmet, there are two models available that meet the performance standard set by the American Society for Testing and Materials International, an organization that publishes product standards.

One of the soft helmets is made by Cascade, a New York company that is synonymous with lacrosse gear. Based in upstate Liverpool, Cascade has been making men’s lacrosse helmets for 30 years. The Cascade helmet for girls retails for $149.99.

Jenna Abelli, who oversaw the launch of the new helmet for Cascade, said the company spoke with more than 700 girls about their preferences and ran tests in simulated game settings to account for the lacrosse community’s fear that helmets would change the game.

“What we saw in our field testing is that girls did not have a tendency to increase aggression,” Abelli said. “A lot of them felt they were still wearing goggles and that it wasn’t a big change.”

Abelli said Cascade provided enough helmets to outfit the varsity teams at Northport and Mount Sinai at no cost to the schools because it wanted feedback from players on an “ongoing” basis. Asked why those teams were chosen, Abelli referred to them as “two top-tier” programs. Mount Sinai has won state titles in three of last four years and Northport last won a state title in 2011.

The other helmet is made by Hummingbird Sports, a new company founded by Rob Stolker of Holmdel, New Jersey. The Hummingbird helmet retails for $139.

A father of four girls, Stolker said he was “absolutely stunned” when he brought one of his daughters to her first lacrosse practice three years ago and learned that they didn’t wear any head protection.

SEE PHOTOSSee the Cascade and Hummingbird girls lacrosse helmets

“I couldn’t believe that the boys were on the adjacent field and they were wearing these helmets, shoulder pads and elbow pads,” Stolker said, “and the girls were wearing little shorts and [mesh jerseys].”

He believes it’s only a matter of time until helmets are required in girls lacrosse.

By Jim Baumbach

jim.baumbach@newsday.com

Jim Baumbach is an award-winning investigative reporter at Newsday, where he has worked since 1998. He spent two decades in the sports department, where he covered every professional team and league, including events such as the Super Bowl and World Series.