UVA Women's Laxed Look
March 2, 2009 | Kevin Zdancewicz

It’s interesting to see how uniforms for the same sport compare and contrast depending on whether male or female athletes are wearing them. For example, basketball uniforms and soccer kits are essentially the same for both men and women. Baseball and softball are similar in most cases, but not always. Anyways, one of the most glaring contrasts in terms of uniforms based on gender is lacrosse. The major differences are the direct result of the physical nature of each game: men’s lacrosse is full contact and women’s is minimal contact. Men’s lacrosse equipment includes shoulder, chest, and arm pads that require more of a football-style jersey to be worn over them, while women’s lacrosse requires only protective eyewear. Women’s lacrosse could not be further from its male counterpart in terms of equipment, save for the goalie who wears a helmet and gloves straight out of the men’s game. Also, not to be overlooked is the fact that women’s lacrosse players wear skirts.

The featured jersey this week belongs to the UVA women’s lacrosse team. The squad’s uniforms this year are sort of a cross between familiar soccer (in terms of the layout) and volleyball (in terms of the navy accents) looks, though the navy side panels extend down the length of the jersey. I really like the white home uniforms and the navy roadies aren’t bad, but the orange piping kind of makes it look like the jerseys are inside out with exposed seams. The overall template is a little bit flashier than last year’s mostly solid color jerseys. It’s also interesting to note how some of the lesser-covered, non-revenue sports seem to alternate between using wordmarks and simply using the V-sabre logo, as evidenced by comparing women’s lacrosse now to a couple years ago.

 
Photo Courtesy of VirginiaSports.com