u/Ksizzle2_0

Hi! I’m looking for some advice on youth lacrosse arm pads. I’m choosing between the Warrior Burn Next and the Warrior Evo Rise for my 6-year-old playing box lacrosse and mainly trying to figure out which offers better protection. Any experiences or recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks!

Hi fellow Redditors! You helped me so much last time that I’m back again because I honestly don’t know what to do.

Because of you guys, I found a lacrosse store, got my daughter fully geared up, and she was extremely excited and motivated to start! She went to her first few box lacrosse sessions and just fell in love with the game immediately.

And now everything kind of fell apart.

TL;DR: My 2019 (6 year old) was supposed to be on a U9 team but it folded. Everything else is full. Her only real option right now is playing on the U11 rep team. Is this a terrible idea?

So here’s the situation.

My daughter is 6 years old, but she’s big for her age and very athletic. She plays hockey, has two older brothers, and has basically played “mini stick wars” in our basement with the brothers her whole life. She’s not timid. At all.

At her lacrosse sessions:

• She learned to scoop and trap almost right away
• She’s already doing this little zig-zag fake shot thing before scoring (no idea where she got that from)
• She battles along the boards with bigger boys with NO FEARS
• She drops and does pushups instantly when coaches tell them to

She tries extremely hard.

However, at the most recent practice, they told us that the U9 team folded.

I’ve called around and basically every house league is full now (waiting to hear about one lacrosse field option, but I know she prefers box because it’s more like hockey and she loves the pace).

So now the only real option for box is staying with this U11 rep team.

The coaches are honestly amazing. They thought she was 8 years old. When I told them she was only 6 they were shocked and said she’s braver than some of the older kids.

They’ve said:

• They will warn the opposing team coaches that she’s 6
• She can sit during rougher shifts against bigger kids
• She can try one game next week to see if she likes it first

And Juliet wants to play box lacrosse with no hesitation.

But I’ve never even watched a u11 box lacrosse game, so I don’t know what this actually looks like in real life. Practice is one thing… a game feels different.

I’m worried about:

• The size difference once it’s real game intensity
• The speed
• Her getting overwhelmed or hurt

But also…

I have another kid who has practiced with older kids in his sport and it made him so much better.

And my daughter? She’s like a puppy that doesn’t understand her own size. She wants to go against bigger kids. She doesn’t hesitate. She told me she wants to be a Defender.

And then the part that honestly broke me a bit was when I told her there might be an issue playing lacrosse. She looked at me and said:
“What did I do wrong?”

She didn’t do anything wrong. She gave 100% every time.

So now I feel like I’m choosing between protecting her… or holding her back.

They’re letting her try a game next week, which I’m grateful for. I just don’t know what I’m walking into.

What does a U11 game actually look like?
Am I overthinking this or is this actually risky? What would you do in my situation?

I would really appreciate honest answers. I feel kind of stuck.

Thank you!