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From the outside looking in, the only differences that show between these teams are the genders of the athletes that play for them. Even as sports are adapted for uniforms, game structure, and rules, the demands on athletes remain the same.

Male and female high school athletes score for the same school, sweat in the same color jerseys, and build the same leadership and teamwork skills for the same team. Yet, the game is quite different on both sides of the field.

Most sports are divided based on gender — for example, Boys Soccer, Girls Soccer, Boys Lacrosse, Girls Lacrosse, etc. Although gender is an obvious difference, some sports have changed their rules in accordance to the gender of players.

“Guys can check the other players as many times as you want, while in girls lacrosse, you are not allowed to touch the other girl without possibly getting a penalty or foul,” Conor George, Div. 772, said. “You really

have to hurt a kid in order to receive a penalty (in Boys Lacrosse).”

Physicality is key when speaking of lacrosse. Being able to “truck” a player is very advantageous, especially when you need to stop an offensive attack, George said.

But how does one stop an attack when they are restricted on how aggressive they can play?

“We cannot actually hit them with our sticks, but can make contact by pressing our sticks against or actually touching them physically,” Elizabeth Cyrwus, Div. 760, said, “[In] Boy’s Lacrosse, they can hit one another with their sticks and shove each other, which leads things to become more intense.”

That doesn’t explain half the things the girls are prohibited from doing during games. The list of violations you can receive a penalty for in Girls Lacrosse includes slashing, losing control over the stick when one is trying to check the opponent, shooting space, offensive charging, blocking/illegal screening, being “in-the-sphere” (too close to the player’s face), and unsportsmanlike behavior, according to Cyrwus.

Ms. Vale is head coach of the Girls Varsity Soccer team, and has also served as assistant coach for the BoysVarsity Soccer team. She said there are no differences in the way she trains male and female athletes.

“I was raised with this mentality that girls and ladies are not tough,” Vale said. “I don’t like that. I feel like we can be tough, and we can be rough and tumble, if we want to be.”

She said referees sometimes feel the need to apply certain rules to girls for their safety. Once, a referee threatened to give Lane’s goalkeeper a red card if she were to bring her knee up in the air when she leaped off the ground to catch the ball.

“[The goalkeeper] was asked to play differently than how she normally would,” Vale said. “Goalkeepers jump into the air and bring their knee up. All goalkeepers do this — male, female, professional — all of them do this.”

The referee threatened to give the goalkeeper a red card because he felt the safety of the other female players was at risk.

“The referee said that it was dangerous and could potentially hurt a field player, and it’s to protect the girls and make sure they do not hurt each other,” Vale said.

Not only does gender play a role in how rules and regulations are applied, some say that males and females have different playing styles. When it comes to soccer, players of both genders do see that there is anobvious distinction in how the games are played.

“Guys’ soccer is more fast-paced, while girls’ soccer is more technical and thought out,” Alex Rydberg, Div. 766, said.

The playing style might best be explained by how males and females are depicted while playing. In lacrosse, some say there are specific characteristics certain genders have.

“Women tend to have more skill while men have more aggression and intensity,” Cyrwus said.

Not only are they different in the sense of their regulations and playing styles, but it is also different in the way they use their practices hours. Brian Tait, Div. 771, a member of the boys lacrosse team, said he thinks that the boys practice sessions are “a bit more intense.”

“Generally we do more running and more faster-paced drills,” Tait said.

Although boys and girls teams differ in many ways, there are also plenty of similarities. Not only do the athletes care for their sport with a passion, they take everything about the sport as seriously as they can, from listening to what the coaches have to say to ensuring they use all their playing time efficiently.

“Our coach talks to us about the strengths of the team we will play next and run through real scenarios that might occur against the team,” Rydberg said.

It can also be inferred that the practices times are seen to be the key asset to both genders in order for improvement to occur.

“A lot of coaches have a great amount of experience they share at practice that can really hammer the message into their players,” Tait said.

Cyrwus also adds that the coaches “make us aware of the limited time we have to practice so we all have that mentality of urgency when we arrive on the field to train.”

The players have noticed that the coaches value practice, yet they also noticed that the coaches expect more than just showing up.

“In regards to my expectations for my players, I expect the most from them. I put that bar high and they give me that and more,” Vale said.

When setting the bar high for their players, coaches do not only mean for them to reach their goals in skill level, but also in building sportsmanship within the team.

“They expect us to treat them, our teammates and ourselves, with respect,” Rydberg said. “They expect that we always work the hardest we can and put everything we have out on the field.”