Pacific Ridge A I

UNNECESSARY ROUGHNESS:
Historically, the middle school league has not had a meaningful problem with unnecessary roughness.  However, we have had some circumstances where some injuries or dangerous situations might have been avoided had all coaches been familiar with the SDCLA policy regarding unnecessary roughness.  The intent of the unnecessary roughness rule is to protect players from being hit in a violent manner.  The rule exists for all levels, from middle school to high school to college and international lacrosse.

Section 5-8 includes in its definition Article 3: any avoidable act on the part of a player that is deliberate and excessively violent, whether it be with body or crosse.  This may include a legal body check.The following is guidance that Bob Duggan, the head official, provides to the officials to help them understand the amount of body checking that may be appropriate for the different levels of lacrosse they officiate:

High school varsity – Body checking allowed within the confines of the unnecessary roughness rule.

High school JV – More than Division I, but less than varsity.

Middle school – Division I – Significantly more that Division III, but significantly less than high school varsity.  No take-out checks are permitted by any player.  The definition of a take-out check is:  “checks in which the player lowers his head or shoulder with the force and intent to take out (put on the ground) the other player.  The fact that a check results in a player put on the ground does not meet the definition  --  unless he lowers his head or shoulder with the force and intent to put the other player on the ground.

Middle school – Division III - Body checking will be deemphasized and almost non-existent. The body contact should amount to no more than pushing and shoving in the proximity of ground balls. 

The guidance on our Division I is in accordance with the 2008 Rules for Youth Lacrosse in the back of the Boys Lacrosse Rule Book.  The guidance on Div III is an adaptation of the Youth lacrosse rules for players in 4^th and 5^th grade.  Although Div III covers 5^th-6^th graders, we feel the guidance on no body checking is appropriate. 

The penalty for unnecessary roughness is suspension from the game for 1-3 minutes depending on the official’s judgment of the severity and perceived intent of the foul.  We have asked Bob Duggan to encourage officials to use 2-3 minutes as the guidance for assessing penalties related to body checking. 

We need the coaches to understand that it is their responsibility to teach their players to play within the confines of this guidance.   Although we look to the officials to enforce the rules of the game, the coaches have a responsibility to recognize when the level of physical play is becoming unsafe.   In this regard, Bob Duggan will inform the officials that before each game they will review these rules with the coaches to make sure everyone is on the same page.  If there is concern about the game becoming too rough, coaches from either team are encouraged to request a meeting between coaches and officials between quarters to review the league policy again and consider whether both coaches need to discuss policy with their players before the next quarter begins.  Naturally, the coaches have the ability at any time to call a team time-out to have this discussion if there is an immediate concern for player safety.