Author’s Note:  I received a request from a group concerning a petition the group would like to send to the FHSAA for the upcoming vote on the use of the girl’s headgear for the upcoming season.  Readers remember two years ago when FLN covered the issue at length.  We were careful to not fully reject the idea as our issue with it was far more about the process of how the FHSAA came to its’ original decision, not the actual ruling itself. Currently, the intent is to continue the mandatory use of a headgear, with two vendors products approved for use for the upcoming season, as listed on the FHSAA Lacrosse web site page: https://www.fhsaa.org/sites/default/files/orig_uploads/sports/lacrosse/2017-18/fhsaa_lacrosse_headgear_approved_list.pdf The petition itself focuses on asking the FHSAA to go with the rules in place via the NFHS and US Lacrosse, which do not mandate the use of the headgear.

  A group of parents, players and coaches are behind the effort to gather support via this petition.   The petition is as below (Alex Ozuna is the Administrator for the sport of lacrosse for the FHSAA) Dear Mr. Ozuna, I am writing to ask that the FHSAA Board revisit the mandated use of helmets for girls’ lacrosse in Florida. Much research has been done by the governing body of US Lacrosse, none of which indicates a need for the mandatory use of these helmets.  Additionally, it is an unnecessary financial burden for the school or family to be required to purchase a piece of equipment that has not been demonstrated to make the game any safer. I request that the Board reconsider its stance and make the helmets an optional piece of equipment as written in the rules of US Lacrosse and the  National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), which has been designated by FHSAA as the rule-making authority for interscholastic competition in all sports. Thank you for your consideration of this request; please feel free to contact me if you would like to talk some more about this. Regards, Your Name Here   Please email the signed petition to:  flagirlslax@gmail.com