Lacrosse / Sofcrosse Adaptations

Lacrosse and sofcrosse are popular sports in both high school and primary school. It provides the students with the opportunity to demonstrate skills that are different to many other sports while still offering a high level of physical activity.

Like all information on this website it is important to understand that these are just possible adaptations and for further information please contact your advisory teacher or Andrew Whisson (PE teacher at the SA School for Vision Impaired)

Communication is key in all sport adaptations and lacrosse is no different. Enforcing that all students or athletes playing the game communicate their position allows athletes with vision impairment to feel confident on the field. This can be done by enforcing all athletes to communicate "Voi" when intending to take possession of the ball, either as an offender or defender. The failure to do so results in a penalty shot or loss of possession of the ball from this point on the field. In enforcing this rule we are able to ensure that an athlete with vision impairment can have confidence in where their peers are and not have the ball intercepted without warning.

Reducing the number of players in each game or drill also acts to reduce the confusion, clutter and any reserved reactions from athletes or students with vision impairment. Rather than playing 1 full field game with 9 players and 1 goalkeeper on each team, half the size of the playing area and reduce the teams to 5 players and no goal keeper on each team similar to sofcrosse.

Enforcing the players to call out to their intended target with a pass also means that all players are expecting to receive the ball and can turn and square off to their peers before the ball is passed to them.

Enforcing students to throw bounce passes acts to reduce the fear that the ball will hit them without warning. The bounce pass enforces the ball to always be traveling in the same direction (up towards the athlete) and then allows them to prepare for a more predictable movement and pass from their peers. The bounce pass also forces the ball to make sound before reaching the student or athlete with a vision impairment.

Similarly, by enforcing both teams must make at least 2 passes before a shot can be taken will give defenders the opportunity to track the ball or puck before a shot is taken.

Depending on the individual students the equipment will differ greatly. For all student's, however, the choice of ball is an important first step to ensure an inclusive unit or lesson. Depending on the vision of the individual student it maybe important to include an audible ball, or a ball of high contrast to the environment being played in (see PE adaptations pages). Wiffles balls are often used in mainstream sport and by simply pressing bells into them they can become audible and easily tracked by athletes or students with vision impairment.

By ensuring the adaptations above, the lesson, unit or training will automatically become more inclusive and encourage all students or athletes to be involved. However, further rule changes could also encourage inclusive practice. This could be as simple as all students must touch the ball before a goal can be scored. This forces all students to turn to their team members or peers and support their involvement in the game. Reduce or remove the time that the athlete or students with vision impairment spends in goal as a keeper, not only is it very difficult to trap or effectively stop a fast moving shot it may also reduce their opportunity to be involved in the game at all.

For more information, contact your advisory teacher- or Andrew Whisson (PE Teacher at the SA School for Vision Impaired).