Players, equipment and officials

Windsor Clippers (OJBLL) runner in 2014.

During play, a team consists of six players: a goalkeeper and five "runners". A runner is any non-goalkeeper position player, including forwards, transition players, and defenders. When the sport originated teams played with six runners. However, in 1953 the sixth runner, a position called rover, was eliminated. Team rosters are typically a total of as many players as a team can carry. The goalkeeper can be replaced by another runner (often when a penalty has been signaled by the referee or at the end of a quarter).
A player's lacrosse stick must be between 40 inches (1.0 m) and 46 inches (1.2 m) in length (youth levels may use shorter sticks). In most box lacrosse leagues, the use of a traditional wooden stick is allowed. However, almost no lacrosse players use wooden sticks anymore, preferring aluminum or another metal, and a plastic head. In the NLL, wooden lacrosse sticks are not allowed. Besides a lacrosse stick, each player must also wear a certain amount of protective equipment, including a lacrosse helmet with facemask, lacrosse gloves, arm and shoulder pads, and back/kidney pads (rib pads, optional in some leagues).
In some box leagues, especially the NLL, the five "runners" wear helmets specifically designed for box lacrosse. These helmets consist of a hockey helmet with a box lacrosse face mask attached instead of a hockey cage. Players who use these helmets often cite that they are lighter than field lacrosse helmets as the primary advantage.
During a typical game the number of officials can range from one to three, depending on the league and level of play. In most games there are at least two referees: a lead official and a trail official. In NLL games there are three officials per game.

• Goaltender 
• Defenders
• Transition
• Forwards