What's in store for 2010? Lacrosse trends to watch for this year

As lacrosse continues to grow, new trends, styles, and influences emerge. We know readers of Lacrosse Playground are cutting edge when it comes to lacrosse. We took a look at some of the trends we've seen recently in lacrosse and came up with our look at trends to expect in equipment and apparel for 2010:



More regional trending
One thing we anticipate as a growing trend in 2010 is that we’ll be covering more types of trends. That is to say, what is trendy for lacrosse players in one area may not necessarily be trendy in another. As the sport continues to grow and spread to different areas of the country, regional influences will take a hold of the sport. No longer is the sport being influenced entirely by east coast trends, but by influencers all over the country. Some of the nation’s top retailers and uniform and apparel leaders are not in lacrosse hotbeds. Furthermore, as customization of products becomes more common and as manufacturers team up with retailers for limited release items, you’ll start to see more product and styles become popular locally.



More influencers
If there is one thing we know about lacrosse, it’s that there are tons of creative and talented lacrosse players out there. This year we saw a lot of companies and businesses hit the lacrosse world. Online we saw the rise of Lacrosse Playground and Lacrosse All Stars, giving a new and different look at the sport. College Lacrosse 2010 hit Xbox Live. LXM Pro gave lacrosse a new kind of event. Apparel companies seem to be popping up all over the country. And more and more people are getting into the lacrosse business. Some ventures will succeed and some will fail. But one thing is certain: there are far more voices in lacrosse now than in the past. There are more people influencing how the sport is portrayed, the style(s) behind lacrosse, and the direction it is going in. We think that’s a good thing.



Yes, we'll plug ourselves with a bit of a shameless self promotion. But new voices in the marketplace are helping influence, and share, new trends.



Clean it up
The increased use of sublimated printing has made customizing jerseys to your liking easier than ever. We still think this is going to be a hot trend and you’ll continue to see wild and off-the-wall designs this summer. However, we think you’ll also see some teams go in the opposite direction. There is something to be said for a classic and clean uniform design, and we expect you’ll see some teams return to a cleaner, sleek, and simpler look.



Team colors? No problem
In 2010 you’ll start to see more color and style options for gear than just one standard color. We’ve already started seeing companies come out with more factory dyed head color options than just a white head. As players want gear to more closely match team colors, we’ll see more options offered by companies. Take Warrior, for example, which came out with a factory dyed Noz head and the Sabotage gloves . Teammates can start buying factory-made gear with colors closely matching their schools, without the need to place a custom team order.





Warrior teamed up with Lacrosse Monkey to introduce more team colors in the Warrior Sabotage gloves. This year you should expect even more off-the-shelf options for your team colors.


Solid and sleek gloves
Gloves have trended towards including multiple colorways and varied tones, but look for the solid color glove to make a comeback in 2010. Over the past several years you’ve seen a lot of white, but we bet you’ll start to see more teams go for a solid/dominant color with varied accents, instead of dual-tone gloves.


Bolder arm guards
So far it has been all about the team colors, but your elbow may be the next place you’ll see product getting a little more adventurous. Look for there to be more risks taken with arm guards/pads in terms of introducing more patterns, textures, and prints. Brine has the Lo Pro AP checkerboard arm guards, but look for more of this type of thing in the future. By the way, check out the tip we gave you back in November on how to look real slick, matching your Lo Pro AP with some Vans shoes.




Brine produced the Lo Pro checkered arm guards. We expect to see more prints and patterns in 2010.


Customize it
It used to be that many players were perfectly happy going to the store and buying off-the-rack equipment. But it is becoming easier and easier to customize the gear you are wearing. You’ll start to see more teams – high school, youth, club – wearing custom gear and not just going off-the-shelf.



It’s all about the shoes
It’s weird. Young males can get pretty obsessed about their athletic shoes. But footwear has been slower to catch on in lacrosse. Sure, there have been some lacrosse cleats over the past five years – the Warrior Burn, Nike Land Shark, etc. – but buying a standard cleat at the store isn’t anything special. This year you’ll continue to see more emphasis placed on footwear. Every sport has custom and limited edition footwear to make a team stand out. Obviously Nike is the leader in footwear, but Warrior has made a huge push this year, especially with their custom cleats for college teams. We dye our heads, customize our gloves and wear flashy socks… why wouldn’t we make our shoes stand out too?



Lacrosse players will see more custom cleats in the coming year as teams start to pay more attention to what they are wearing on their feet.


Innovation
It probably sounds silly to have innovation as a trend for 2010. Obviously innovation has always been a part of lacrosse (or any industry). But as more companies enter a crowded lacrosse market, companies will have to look for ways to stand out from the rest. Those that can become truly innovative and offer lacrosse players something new and different will help separate themselves from the rest. It should also result in some truly unique and cool product in the future.


Did we hit the mark? Let us know what you think about the trends listed above and let us know if you think there are any upcoming trends that we missed.