Patent ID: 7704171

Claim:
A lacrosse head for attachment to a lacrosse handle to form a lacrosse stick, comprising: an open plastic frame having a catching side into which a lacrosse ball enters and exits the head and a pocket side which opposes said catching side, said open frame being constructed primarily of a plastic material, said open frame including: a pair of opposing sidewall portions each having a top end and a bottom end, said pair of opposing sidewalls each defining a plurality of non-string hole openings extending therethrough to reduce the weight of the head; a ballstop portion extending generally between said bottom ends of said pair of opposing sidewall portions; a scoop portion extending generally between said top ends of said pair of opposing sidewall portions; a throat portion extending rearwardly from said ballstop portion for engaging the lacrosse handle therein; a plurality of attachment structures formed adjacent said pocket side of the head to facilitate attachment of netting to the head; and at least one unitary, one-piece reinforcement member selectively encapsulated within the plastic material of one of said sidewall portions and extending through said ballstop portion into the other of said opposing sidewall portions; wherein the outer surface of the reinforcement member forms a shape, wherein the shape of the reinforcement member is not reflected through the plastic material of said sidewall portions and ballstop portion; wherein a cross section through said reinforcement member and at least one of said sidewall portions and said ballstop portion is solid, including no voids within the cross section; wherein said unitary reinforcement member terminates short of said scoop portion and short of said lacrosse handle; wherein said at least one reinforcement member is constructed of a material that is stronger than said plastic material, said at least one reinforcement member being sufficiently sized for strengthening said plastic material; wherein said at least one reinforcement member provides increased strength to said sidewall portions and said ballstop portion of the lacrosse head; wherein the lacrosse head has at least one of a front edge and a back edge defining a ball receiving area and an area for net attachment, respectively; wherein said at least one unitary, one-piece reinforcement member is disposed distal from said at least one of the front edge and the back edge to reduce the likelihood of breakage of the plastic material proximal said at least one reinforcement member.