StringKing and Warrior recently made an announcement about their unstrung lacrosse head prices that’ll change the lacrosse market. These two companies now both offer unstrung lacrosse heads for $70 and under. The StringKing Legend Sr. is $69.99 and constructed to follow up their highly successful Mark 1 and Mark 2 line. Warrior then decided to start pricing ALL warrior unstrung lacrosse heads at under $70 on 11/3/2017. Brine lacrosse also is involved with the Warrior announcement, because they too a subsidiary of New Balance. To save time though, I’ll just refer to them as Warrior. These two companies are now leading the pack in delivering the highest quality, for the lowest price in unstrung lacrosse heads. With these new options, hopefully, lacrosse can begin to expand more rapidly into more communities. After all, an affordable game is one that more people will be able to participate in.
Thank you, StringKing and Warrior Lacrosse for Wanting Lacrosse to Expand
Making lacrosse affordable has been the goal for many people for many years. This isn’t a novel idea and there are already companies like Boombah and Tribe7 who sell very affordable heads. The difference is that Warrior and StringKing are top-shelf brands with MLL sponsorship.
This move to lower pricing on unstrung lacrosse heads is a direct influence from those companies like Boombah and Tribe7. They have been growing under the radar and pushing their innovation to the point that the big guys are getting worried. I don’t believe StringKing and Warrior are scared, but I think they are very aware of their situation. High prices with high quality only gets you so far in a competitive market. With more options on the lacrosse market that actually are usable for intense play, something was going to give. Either those companies would be bought out by the big guys, or the top dogs would adjust their strategy. Luckily, we won’t have a monopoly now and prices will encourage more players to pick up lacrosse.
Why An Affordable Lacrosse Head Makes All the Difference
As America’s oldest sport, Lacrosse should have an advantage in the popularity category; but it doesn’t. Lacrosse is sadly one of the less popular sports with major leagues in the United Staes for a few reasons. First of all, Lacrosse is a Native American sport and its roots go deeper than almost any other sport. This is both a positive and a negative for the expansion of the game. Its native history made lacrosse a sport that was unfortunately suppressed. Besides a few areas with Native America reservations or a serious Native community, lacrosse expansion was very gradual. Other sports became far more popular in America and lacrosse hadn’t seen serious growth until the 90’s.
Once lacrosse technology became more advanced and the game became more popularized, growth spiked rapidly. Lacrosse is even one of the fastest growing sports in America, but with one hang up. The cost of lacrosse is much higher than most sports. This is so true that most players I know started with a “hand-me-down” stick and used pads.
I was definitely part of that club, and so was my brother, and so was our older cousin that gave us the sticks. We all played with old gear that didn’t look the best, and we all still loved the game. I even played my first 3 years with an old cascade bucket instead of the newer helmets. It may not have looked great, but I think it made me better for it. I also didn’t get a new pair of gloves until high school, but those gloves meant that much more.
Lacrosse Should Be Accessible to Everyone
The worst part of my story is that my parents are well off and provided my brother and myself with great lives. This may sound strange, but let me explain. We both attended the same private high school and then were lucky enough to go to private colleges. Our bigger than average home is in a nice neighborhood, and both my parents are employed with good jobs. I only bring this up because they still were hesitant to buy me new gear because of the price. They didn’t get me anything new until they knew I would stick with lacrosse so that they didn’t waste money on the gear.
Most families in America don’t have the ability to be frivolous with their spending and buy whatever their kids are interested in. The majority of households need to take into account whether spending could hurt them down the line and $500 for lacrosse gear normally isn’t in the budget. Spending this much is often not a plausible reality for many families and it can leave kids very disappointed.
No child deserves to be deprived of such a great sport and learning experience because of profit margins. Companies are more than aware of how much they stand to make from products, and the big guys always end up on top. This comes from their volume of sales, but also from their markups. Lowering these prices, even to the $70 mark, does quite a bit for players who need equipment. It’s still more expensive than a soccer ball and cleats, but it’s a start.
A Final Message
To those companies that are doing the right thing by making lacrosse more affordable, thank you. The more kids that we can get to play, the more kids we can help with lacrosse. Just imagine where you’d be without the sport. Imagine where you’d be without your first lacrosse stick. I know I wouldn’t be as good of a person as I am today, and I’m eternally grateful to my OG Brine Edge and my cousin. It’s a special feeling, connection, and friendship that you hand down when you give away an old stick; and I’m glad some of the big guys are starting to realize that.
