Women's lacrosse headgear: the ASTM standard and where it is allowed.

The standard: ASTM F3137

ASTM F3137 is the "Standard Specification for Headgear Used in Women's Lacrosse (excluding Goalkeepers)". ASTM's store lists the active edition as F3137-15(2022), shown as F3137-15R22 and last updated on 29 December 2022, with F3137-15 as the earlier edition. A paper by Comstock and colleagues (Injury Epidemiology, 2020) describes it as calling for flexible-shell headgear rather than a hard-shell helmet.

ASTM's summary says the standard:

• sets performance requirements and test methods for protective headgear for women's field players, not goalkeepers, against incidental stick and ball impacts;
• covers adult and youth classifications;
• requires shock-absorption, ball-impact and deformation tests, and does not allow partial compliance;
• does not cover governing bodies' administrative rules.

It sits under ASTM Committee F08, Subcommittee F08.53, and references ASTM F1446 and F3077 (F3077 is the women's lacrosse eye protector standard, on protective eyewear). ASTM standards are sold, and the test values were not read for this site.

How the standard came about

USA Lacrosse Magazine (22 September 2021) says USA Lacrosse first asked NOCSAE for a women's headgear standard, and that NOCSAE declined to write one specific to the women's game and proposed the men's helmet standard instead. An ASTM task group was then formed in May 2012 at USA Lacrosse's request, and ASTM approved F3137 in May 2015 at its semi-annual meeting. The Comstock paper says compliant headgear was first marketed in 2016, and, citing US Lacrosse, that the standard was written to reduce the force of ball-to-head and stick-to-head impacts.

The edition label: two versions

World Lacrosse's FAQ and its release of 12 May 2026 refer to "ASTM F3137-15A". ASTM's own store lists F3137-15 and F3137-15(2022) and shows no "A" edition. This page uses ASTM's designation. The same FAQ pairs "ASTM F3137-15A and ASTM F3077-21" as the certification marks for women's headgear, which appears to name the headgear and eyewear standards together.

The rules, body by body

These rules apply only to women's and girls' field players. The men's game requires a hard helmet under different rules.

USA Lacrosse

USA Lacrosse made headgear optional but required any headgear worn to meet F3137, from 1 January 2017. In September 2021 USA Lacrosse Magazine said headgear remained optional under the rules of the NCAA, the NFHS and USA Lacrosse. The current 2026-27 NCAA women's and NFHS girls' headgear wording was not read in a rule book for this site, so whether that is still the position is not confirmed here.

World Lacrosse: the 2025-2026 book

World Lacrosse's 2025-2026 Women's Field Lacrosse Official Playing Rules, version 1.0, Rule 6.A.2, let field players wear close-fitting gloves, nose guards or eye guards, but do not permit headgear or face masks. A version 1.1 dated March 2025 exists but was not read.

World Lacrosse sixes: 2026-2028 book

Sixes Rule 2.4.1W (version 2.0, May 2026) lets women's sixes players wear headgear meeting the applicable ASTM standards or comparable standards in the product's country of origin. A player wearing headgear must also wear certified protective eyewear, and where eyewear is built into the headgear both must meet their standards. Hard-shell helmets like the women's goalkeeper's are strictly prohibited for field players, with no medical exemptions.

World Lacrosse's May 2026 decision

On 12 May 2026 World Lacrosse announced that soft-shell headgear is permitted for women's field and women's sixes athletes at its owned and sanctioned events, phased in from the 2027 Sixes World Championships for sixes and from the 2029 Women's U20 Championship for women's field. Its FAQ says the change goes into the 2027-2030 women's field rule book, which is being revised.

Two answers, two dates. The 2025-2026 women's field book bars field-player headgear; the May 2026 decision permits soft-shell headgear in women's field from the 2029 Women's U20 Championship. Both are correct for their dates, so any statement about World Lacrosse women's field headgear needs a date attached.

World Lacrosse's FAQ also says players who do not wear headgear pose no safety concern to others, and the decision permits headgear rather than requiring it.

What World Lacrosse says about effect

World Lacrosse's May 2026 release cites a 2024 study reporting a 50 percent lower concussion rate among women's lacrosse athletes wearing soft-shell headgear. That figure is World Lacrosse's: the release does not name the study, and the study was not read for this site. A blow to the head or a suspected concussion needs medical care, whatever is worn. Other research, state mandates and the views on each side are on the headgear debate, and each body's concussion rules on concussion by body.

Goalkeepers are different

F3137 excludes goalkeepers. The women's goalkeeper wears a field lacrosse helmet with a facemask and throat protector under World Lacrosse women's field Rule 6.A.20; see goalkeeper equipment and helmets and NOCSAE.