Protective eyewear: the women's game's eye standard, and who requires it.

The standard: ASTM F3077

ASTM F3077 is the "Standard Specification for Eye Protectors for Women's Lacrosse". ASTM's own page for it was not read for this site, so its editions rest on other listings:

• A German standards distributor lists the current edition as F3077-25 (9 pages), with a scope of eye protectors that reduce the risk of injury to the eye and the tissues around it from lacrosse-ball impact and penetration, protecting the eyes only. This is a distributor's listing and is unconfirmed against ASTM.
• Earlier editions named in listings include F3077-14, F3077-17 and F3077-21, also unconfirmed against ASTM.
• A search-result summary of a 2017 SEI bulletin, which was not opened, said F3077-17 would bring updated label and marking requirements, requirements for women's lacrosse prescription eyewear and a new CSA headform.

World Lacrosse's equipment FAQ names "ASTM F3077-21" alongside its headgear standard. ASTM standards are sold, and the test requirements were not read.

The US rule: how it began

All of this concerns the women's and girls' game.

• US Lacrosse, May 2003: ISHN reported on 30 May 2003 that the US Lacrosse Women's Division Board of Governors voted to strongly recommend eyewear meeting the current ASTM lacrosse standards for 2004 and to make it mandatory from 1 January 2005, giving product availability as the reason for the delay. The stated aim was to prevent the rare but catastrophic eye injury.
• The background: MedStar Health (26 January 2015) records that the decision followed literature reviews and recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the US Lacrosse Sports Science and Safety Committee, and applied at youth, scholastic and collegiate levels from 2005. Neither source names an ASTM designation.
• Fairfax County, Virginia: MedStar records that the county's public high schools required eyewear for girls' lacrosse from the 2004 spring season.

The first compulsory year: accounts differ

US Lacrosse's mandate began on 1 January 2005, by the 2003 ISHN report; a 2012 study summary puts its start in the 2004-2005 season. Search-result summaries of a secondary source, which was not opened, say the NFHS required eye protection in high school girls' lacrosse a year earlier, from 2004, and that the NCAA required it at its spring 2004 championships with full-season use from 2005; no NFHS or NCAA document confirming either date was found, so both are unconfirmed. Fairfax County schools required it from spring 2004.

SEI certification from 2020

A memo hosted by the Sports and Fitness Industry Association, a trade body, says that from 1 January 2020 girls' lacrosse eyewear had to be SEI certified to the current ASTM F3077 and listed on SEI's website to be legal at youth and high school levels, and that products made on or after that date had to carry the ASTM standard and the SEI mark; for 2020 it says the youth rule also required the SEI mark on the eyewear while the high school rule did not. No USA Lacrosse or NFHS original was read, so this is unconfirmed.

The current 2026-27 NFHS girls' and NCAA women's eyewear wording was not read for this site.

World Lacrosse

Women's field, 2025-2026 book

World Lacrosse's 2025-2026 Women's Field Lacrosse Official Playing Rules, version 1.0, Rules 6.A.2 to 6.A.4, let field players wear eye guards but do not require them. Any eye guards worn must comply with the safety parts of Rule 6 or meet the certification requirements of any country, organisation or standard, and World Lacrosse says it does not guarantee, monitor or approve eye guards or any certification process. Prescription glasses or sunglasses may be worn, with shatter-resistant frames and lenses strongly recommended. A version 1.1 dated March 2025 exists but was not read.

Sixes, 2026-2028 book

Sixes Rule 2.4.1W (version 2.0, May 2026) says eyewear must meet the applicable ASTM standard or a comparable standard of any country or testing organisation. From the 2027 Sixes World Championships, all women's sixes field players at World Lacrosse owned and sanctioned events must wear protective eyewear meeting that standard, with no medical exemptions. A player wearing headgear must also wear certified eyewear.

The May 2026 decision

On 12 May 2026 World Lacrosse announced that protective eyewear is required for women's field and women's sixes athletes at its owned and sanctioned events: for sixes from the 2027 Sixes World Championships, and for women's field from the 2029 Women's U20 Championship or an earlier continental qualifier for the 2030 Women's Championship.

Two answers, two dates. The 2025-2026 women's field book makes eye guards optional; the May 2026 decision makes them compulsory in women's field at World Lacrosse events from 2029. Both are correct for their dates.

World Lacrosse's release cites research that protective eyewear can reduce the likelihood of catastrophic eye injury by up to 84 percent when an impact occurs. The figure is World Lacrosse's; the release does not name the study, and it was not read for this site.

The men's game

No rule book read for this site requires separate eyewear for men's players, whose helmets carry a full facemask (World Lacrosse men's field Rule 17.1, 2025-2027, v1.0; a v1.1 dated January 2026 was not read).

Injury data

The studies of eye injuries before and after the US mandate, and where their figures differ, are on eye injuries and the eyewear rule.