May 18, 2025
In the wake of a tragic on-field death of a high school lacrosse player, an Ohio girls’ team has taken a groundbreaking step toward player safety that has Today in Ohio podcast hosts questioning why such protection wasn’t mandated years ago.
“The Sylvania Northview High School girls lacrosse team wore helmets at their game yesterday for the first time against Cleveland St. Joseph Academy. The Lady Cats is the first lacrosse team in Ohio to mandate helmets, which are currently not required for women because women’s lacrosse is considered less physical than men’s,” Lisa Garvin said.
The move comes after Bay Village lacrosse player Dylan Veselic died from a blow to the head during a game, despite wearing a helmet. The medical examiner determined the cause of death was blunt force trauma to an area at the base of the skull where the helmet provides no coverage.
What shocked the podcast hosts was learning that girls’ teams have historically competed without helmets at all. “I couldn’t believe it when Laura was telling us originally that the girls teams don’t wear helmets,” said Chris Quinn. “When you have a hard rubber ball flying around at 60, 80 miles an hour, I mean, of course you should wear a helmet.”
The discussion revealed deep-seated gender disparities in how the sport is equipped and perceived. Laura Johnston explained: “It’s weird that girls lacrosse has been so different because they just wore goggles, basically. That was the only protection. No pads at all. And they have a different kind of stick with not quite as deep of a pocket, but they generally historically wore skirts like field hockey. And so it was kind of this cute, cutesy uniform rather than the athletic looking like the boys.”
According to Garvin, Sylvania Northview coach Greg Price described the debate over helmets as annual but controversial. “Some don’t want to mandate helmets for women because it would make the sport more physical, like men’s. But he says we have too many concussions going on in Ohio.” Price noted his team had six concussions last season.
Leila Atassi called for comprehensive changes to safety standards: “And it’s astounding that they haven’t had helmets up until this point. And I hope that this becomes a regulation for the sport and that even that they alter the helmets completely so that the back of the head is not exposed in that way. That should be a complete. Everyone should be reevaluating how safety is treated in the sport.”
The podcast discussion highlighted how this tragedy has sparked important conversations among parents and officials about improving protection for all players. Johnston noted: “The parents are talking about it. They’re looking at the helmets that our kids are wearing and thinking, is there something we can do? Is there a neck guard that they should be wearing like they do in hockey? I do think this is spurring conversation.”
Quinn reflected on how changes spurred by tragedy can create meaningful legacy: “And look, if. If girls teams start wearing helmets as a result of this, that’s a hell of a legacy for the family that has had this tragic loss.”
As Sylvania Northview leads the way, the podcast conversation makes clear that the time has come to prioritize athlete safety over outdated gender distinctions in how the sport is played and protected.