Spring Break
The Daily OrangeSU ditches shorts, sticks with tradition
By Anthony Mague
Posted: 4/23/04, 1:16 AM EST Section: Sports
At the beginning of the school year, while the weather is still hot, girls in high school are often faced with the administrators' "above-the-kneecap rule." In other words, if a female's shorts are above her kneecap, put on something else.
It's assumed college girls don't have to worry about this rule. Unless, of course, it's the Syracuse women's lacrosse team that plays Denver tonight in the Carrier Dome at 7:30.
The only difference for the No. 13 Orangewomen was they were implementing the rule, not the administration.
In the fall, Syracuse ordered shorts for its spring season to replace the traditional skirts - a piece of clothing that some might say draws attention to the women's sport for the wrong reasons.
The Orangewomen (8-3, 4-1 Big East) were set to make the switch to shorts, until they saw them.
"The shorts - Oh my gosh," junior Monica Joines said. "They looked like bathing suit bottoms. They were bad. Coach got blown out of the water when she saw those short shorts."
And so it was back on with the skirts - out with the Daizy Dukes.
Syracuse head coach Lisa Miller, who said she wouldn't mind seeing the Orangewomen switch from skirts to shorts, brought up the idea to Syracuse in the fall. But, Miller said, the Orangewomen didn't want to break the tradition of wearing the skirts.
"And my fashion sense is limited at best," Miller said, "so I go with the kids."
Miller speculates that the tradition behind women's lacrosse players wearing skirts stems back to the 1800s. Sometime then, when it became common to play lacrosse at prep schools, students most likely couldn't change out of their school clothes. Soon thereafter, wearing skirts just became a common practice, Miller said.
"I played two skirt sports (lacrosse and field hockey) growing up," Miller said. "They were plaid and they were the ugliest things on Earth. I thought as a kid (the skirts) were stupid."
Men in Europe play field hockey in kilts - still a common practice among American women field hockey teams. European women, who play either field hockey or lacrosse, also wear the traditional-looking kilt.
It's assumed college girls don't have to worry about this rule. Unless, of course, it's the Syracuse women's lacrosse team that plays Denver tonight in the Carrier Dome at 7:30.
The only difference for the No. 13 Orangewomen was they were implementing the rule, not the administration.
In the fall, Syracuse ordered shorts for its spring season to replace the traditional skirts - a piece of clothing that some might say draws attention to the women's sport for the wrong reasons.
The Orangewomen (8-3, 4-1 Big East) were set to make the switch to shorts, until they saw them.
"The shorts - Oh my gosh," junior Monica Joines said. "They looked like bathing suit bottoms. They were bad. Coach got blown out of the water when she saw those short shorts."
And so it was back on with the skirts - out with the Daizy Dukes.
Syracuse head coach Lisa Miller, who said she wouldn't mind seeing the Orangewomen switch from skirts to shorts, brought up the idea to Syracuse in the fall. But, Miller said, the Orangewomen didn't want to break the tradition of wearing the skirts.
"And my fashion sense is limited at best," Miller said, "so I go with the kids."
Miller speculates that the tradition behind women's lacrosse players wearing skirts stems back to the 1800s. Sometime then, when it became common to play lacrosse at prep schools, students most likely couldn't change out of their school clothes. Soon thereafter, wearing skirts just became a common practice, Miller said.
"I played two skirt sports (lacrosse and field hockey) growing up," Miller said. "They were plaid and they were the ugliest things on Earth. I thought as a kid (the skirts) were stupid."
Men in Europe play field hockey in kilts - still a common practice among American women field hockey teams. European women, who play either field hockey or lacrosse, also wear the traditional-looking kilt.
