College lacrosse player forced to sit because of oversized head

A freshman lacrosse goalie at Wheaton College in Norton, Mass. has been sidelined because he can't find a helmet big enough for his head.

Alex Chu was recruited by Wheaton to play lacrosse, but without an NCAA-approved helmet, he won't be permitted to play in games when the season starts later this month.

"Lacrosse is kind of my whole life," the 19-year-old told Sean P. Murphy of the Boston Globe. "I can't remember ever going this long without playing."

Chu, whose head measures slightly more than 25 inches around, can't even get the largest available helmet over his ears.

While attending Nipmuc Regional High School in Upton, Mass., Chu wore a helmet that a local fabricator made by fusing together parts from two different helmets. Since the fabricator is no longer in business, Chu needs one of the two major manufacturers of lacrosse helmets, Cascade-Maverick or Warrior, to supply him with a custom-made one in order to attain NCAA approval.

A representative for Warrior told Murphy that a custom-made helmet is "cost-prohibitive" because retooling factory machinery would cost the company "tens of thousands of dollars as a general estimate."

Cascade-Maverick recently fitted Tehoka Nanticoke, a star lacrosse player at the University of Albany, with a larger custom-made helmet. Chu's mother, Alison, has contacted the company but said she was angrily hung up on the last time she tried to speak to a representative.