Posted by: Gordon
In a little over a month we will be starting games for the 2012 Spring Season. With games we cannot escape getting penalties. I assure you, at some point during the season at least one player, and probably more, will receive a technical or a personal foul. I have yet to ref a perfect game, and no player has yet played in a perfect game. Because penalties are a part of lacrosse, it is important to educate players, coaches, and ...
Continue Reading →Posted by: Gordon
Turning the other cheek, while incredibly difficult, is often the best answer when you feel wronged by another player. Watch the following video and see if the reaction by the defender is greater than the insult caused by the attackman:
Lacrosse, like every other sport, is a game of emotions. Good and bad emotions rise up on every sound of the whistle, and at higher levels of play the onus is on the player to behave like ...
Continue Reading →Posted by: Gordon
Because I said so.
Well, not exactly. I could say we do not schedule team practices during Fall Ball because Coach Lou says no practices. Yet, that is still short of the mark.
I could say there are no set practices because that is how we always do things during the fall at AYL. Still, repeating the mantra of tradition for tradition’s sake is a painfully weak argument.
I need a good theory that I can back up and will address player and ...
Continue Reading →Posted by: Gordon
As I mentioned in this week’s first post, Andy Halperin and I are putting on an officiating clinic on Sunday, September 4th. We will cover the basic rules each youth official needs to know, as well as whistle blowing, flag throwing, penalty reporting, conducting faceoffs, and lots of signaling. It is absolutely free of charge, as we want as many youth officials as possible to go through the training. Only 5th-12th graders are permitted to ...
Continue Reading →Posted by: Gordon
You have read Every Lacrosse Signal, and Off The Book Rules. Now you think you might want to be a lacrosse official. As a current official who loves my job I highly encourage any person to pick up officiating. So long as you don’t mind a job where:
Posted by: Gordon
If you run lacrosse league you need to cover all of the rules that will apply to every division. Atlanta Youth Lacrosse uses the USL Boys Lacrosse Rules, which are slightly modified from NFHS rules, as our foundation governing play at all levels. The general AYL rules may be found on the “Complete League Rules” page.
Next, you need to specify the rules in each division. We find it ...
Continue Reading →Posted by: Gordon
Calling personal fouls is entirely about judgement. No where is this more visibly evident than a call or no-call on a perceived slash. The exact wording of the NFHS Boys Lacrosse Rulebook states that a slash is “swinging a crosse at an opponent’s crosse or body with deliberate viciousness or reckless abandon, regardless of whether the opponent’s crosse or body is struck.” That wording has two clear specifications for a slash:
According to ...
Continue Reading →Posted by: Gordon
One of the most common questions I get asked on the sidelines is: “What is the crease?” We could spend a full week going over every intricacy of crease play, but for now let’s focus on the basics.
The crease is an eighteen foot diameter circle, nine foot radius, extending around the lacrosse goal that protects the goalkeeper from the opposing team. As long as the goalie is inside the crease he enjoys these privileges:
Rule 4, Section 19: Goal-Crease Privileges (
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