Massachusetts college lacrosse standout is benched because his head is too big

[mahatmakanejeeves]

{I edited the title to clarify that this Wheaton College is the one in Massachusetts, not the one in Illinois. Yes, there are two Wheaton Colleges.}

Hat tip, a poster at IL Indoor:

Lacrosse standout benched

SEAN P. MURPHY | THE FINE PRINT

Lacrosse standout is benched because his head is too big



DEBEE TLUMACKI FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE
Wheaton College lacrosse player Alex Chu has been sidelined because no one can find a helmet big enough to fit him.

By Sean P. Murphy GLOBE STAFF FEBRUARY 17, 2019

At 6 feet tall, 265 pounds, Alex Chu is a big kid with a mighty passion for playing one of the toughest positions in sports: lacrosse goalie. ... As a high school all-star, Chu blocked dozens of shots per game, some hurtling at him at nearly 100 miles an hour. ... He’s now a freshman at Wheaton College, where he was recruited for lacrosse. But he’s sitting on the bench because they can’t find a helmet large enough for his head.

Yes, that’s right: Chu, a soft-spoken, polite kid who wants to become an elementary school teacher, happens to have an oversize head. ... And without an NCAA-approved helmet, he’s been relegated to the sidelines, welcome to run sprints with the team but banned from tending shots or playing in games when the season begins later this month.
....



DEBEE TLUMACKI FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE
Alex Chu measured his head.

Alex, his mother, and others are convinced that Cascade-Maverik, based in upstate New York, could make a helmet to fit Alex. It recently helped with a custom, large-size helmet for Tehoka Nanticoke of the University of Albany, one of the best players in the country at a school that made it to the Final Four last year. (Wheaton runs a serious Division 3 lacrosse program, but no one will confuse it for an elite Division 1 school.)

A spokesman for the University of Albany confirmed that Nanticoke wears a very large helmet that was produced after Albany coaches and Cascade “huddled up,” but declined to say much more. ... My repeated calls and e-mails to Cascade-Maverik went unanswered. Alison Chu said the last time she tried to speak with a company rep, he angrily hung up on her.
....

Sean P. Murphy can be reached at [e-mail]. Follow him on Twitter @spmurphyboston.

[3catwoman3]

1. OT, but of interest. Wheaton is one of the institutions that sued...

...over the Affordable Care Act, objecting to the contraceptives portion - even tho their existing insurance plans, prior to the ACA, already covered contraceptives. Very fundie school. Dancing was allowed in 1997. Their statement of Faith and Educational Purpose is interesting, to say the least: https://www.wheaton.edu/about-wheaton/statement-of-faith-and-educational-purpose/

Here is one of the statements from that page:

WE BELIEVE that God directly created Adam and Eve, the historical parents of the entire human race; and that they were created in His own image, distinct from all other living creatures, and in a state of original righteousness.


They have a strong biology/health sciences major. I would love to sit in on one of their Bio 101 classes and ask how Adam and Eve could have started the whole human race without either one of them or some of their offspring committing incest.

Wheaton is a member of the same athletic conference at the school both our sons attended - CArthage College, in Kenosha WI. Their soccer players were famous for embellishing on the field, attempting to get fouls called on their opponents. Which is that pesky little commandment about "Thou shalt not bear false witness"? I remember yelling out at one game, "Are all you guys drama majors or what?!" Nasty bunch of little fakers.


They recruited him to play lacrosse. They need to find a way to get him a helmet.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. This is the other Wheaton College. There are two of them.

Yep. Don't feel too bad. I thought it was the one in Illinois too. It finally dawned on me, why should the Boston Globe run a story about a lacrosse player in Illinois?

The one in Massachusetts

Wheaton College (Massachusetts) Men's Lacrosse

Wheaton College
26 East Main Street
Norton, Massachusetts 02766-2322
PH: [phone]
FX: [phone]

[3catwoman3]

4. I did not even notice the story was from...

...the Boston Globe. Living in Illinois, it was logical to think it was the local institution.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

8. That was my first thought, that this was the Wheaton College in Illinois. NT

[Bayard]

2. Dang.....27 inches?

I think that was my bust size in high school.

[csziggy]

5. 25 inches - you can see the end of the measuring tape behind the number

I thought I had a big head at 22.25 inches - none of the "one size fits all" type hats fit me and women's hats haven't fit since I was eleven years old, only a few years after women's gloves no longer came in a size I could wear.

My husband's hat size is just a little bigger than mine so we both have trouble finding hats and caps to fit. And his palm is exactly the same size as mine - but my fingers are a half inch shorter, LOL!

[mahatmakanejeeves]

9. Left out, due to the limit:

I get that these companies are in business to make a buck and that there’s little profit in a one-off order of this sort. After all, the vast majority of lacrosse players have a head circumference of less than 24 inches and fit nicely into one of the standard-size helmets that come rolling off the assembly line. Chu’s head circumference is slightly larger than 25 inches, so big that he can’t get even the largest available helmet over his ears.

Lacrosse helmets are injection molded. It's hard to justify making a mold that will produce a few dozen helmets per year.

[Javaman]

6. Did he not wear a helmet in High School?

somethings not right about this.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

7. Due to the four-paragraph limit, I had to leave this out:

At Nipmuc Regional High School in Upton, Chu wore a rigged-up helmet that a local fabricator made by combining the front and back portions of two different helmets. But he is no longer in business.

The state organization that oversees public high school athletics approved the custom-made helmet, and Chu made good use of it by notching dozens of victories for his team during two years in goal.

He had hoped to use the same helmet in college, but by the time he arrived at Wheaton last fall, it was too cracked and tattered.

But even if it had been in perfect shape, it likely would not have been allowed: Helmets worn in NCAA-sanctioned sports must be embossed with the official stamp of the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment. NCAA officials are supposed to randomly check helmets for the stamp before whistling a game to begin.

There are only a few manufacturers of lacrosse helmets. The best known one is Cascade, in Liverpool, New York.

[Javaman]

10. dang, that's some mellon. thanks! nt