#4- The Rules of the Game

Lets dive a little deeper into lacrosse, and how it actually works. I want to discuss the game, the objectives and the rules and regulations. Some of these differ from college and high school, and especially differ from girls and boys. The object of the game is the same all around. The object of the game is to use a stick (known as a lacrosse stick) to catch, cradle, and pass a solid yellow rubber lacrosse ball in an effort to score by shooting the ball into an opponent's goal. The head of the lacrosse stick has a mesh or leather net strung into it that allows the player to hold the ball. While playing defensive the object is to keep your opponents from scoring and to steal the ball from them by checking and using good body positions to get in their way. Girls all have the same sized sticks, with variations of the shape of their head (net of the stick) and the netting, but all the shafts are the same length. Girls wear protective goggles for their eyes protection, and they wear mouthguards. There are 12 people on each team including the goalie. Boys stick size can vary depending on their situation. On defense they have longer shafts then the midfield players do. Their nets are a lot deeper than girls, but they still cradle to keep the ball in. Boys wear helmets, shoulder and elbow pads, chest protector, gloves and a cup. The boys are a lot more aggressive than the girls so they need all the gear to keep them safe. The goalies for girls and guys wear the same gear as the guys but with shin guards as well. And the goalies stick is an average length depending on their height, but the net is round and deep and very wide so it is easier to stop goals. Because there's so much difference in the gear worn the rules differ a ton as well. In girls the ball used is typically yellow, unless both teams agree to use a different coloured ball. The allotted playing time of the game is 60 minutes, with two halves. Each team is allowed two 90-second team time-outs per game. A time-out may be requested by the head coach or any player on the field after a goal is scored or any time the requestor's team is in clear possession of the ball. If a possession timeout is called, players must leave their sticks in place on the field and return to that same place for the restart of play. Girls are not allowed to check across the body, in the sphere (the area close to someone's head in case of injury) when the ball is not in their stick, or any other time it is above the shoulder or simply dangerous. Girls can not being in someone's lane of shooting before they get 3 feet within the player they are defending. Also girls can not shoot when someone is in front of them. The offensive markings on the field is a 8 meter arc coming out from the goal like a cone, and a 12 meter arc that is a few feet back from the 8, but is the same shape. If someone is in the 8 for more than 3 seconds without defending someone it is called 3 seconds and they get a penalty shot. When defending girls can not set blind picks, horizontally set their stick on someone's body to stop them, or trip, push, hit, etc. Boys can not slash, which is hitting other parts of the body then the stick in an aggressive manner. They can't trip other players they are defending. They cannot cross check someone by just using their shaft to hit the other person's shaft in between their hands. They can't body check if someone does not have possession of the ball or is within 5 feet of the ball, they can't hit them if they are on the ground, or from behind or below the waist.