About Lacrosse

You are now listening to:

"Eye Of The Tiger"

Lacrosse is played on a field, but it can be played indoors. The indoor version I've never played but it's supposed to be rougher (mainly due to the fact that box (indoor) lacrosse you can cross-check)

The point of the game
The point of the game is pretty much like hockey, get the ball to the other end of the field and put it in the net. The game is usually higher scoring than hockey, like say; 16-14. That’s because the nets are bigger and the shots are harder. (Fastest I've heard of is 105 miles per hour). The nets are 6 feet by 6 feet, making it a little rougher for the goalie, but it shots are usually less in lacrosse than hockey because of the number of players and the windup that you have to take.

The Players
There are four different positions you can play in lacrosse, I've only tried one and I intend to keep it that way unless it's just a fool-around game. I think I'll start with the offensive end and work my way over to the defensive end.

Attackmen
My position. We usually score the most goals but it comes with a price and we are the ones that the defensemen beat on. Attackmen are the players that hang around the offensive net and take passes from the Midfield and shots on goal. Their point is to get away from the defense and get into the open for a quick pass and quickstick into the net. Attackmen are usually the smallest people on the team, they're the ones meant for maneuvering around all the other players, to get into the open. They are not allowed to cross the center line into their own end unless one of their Midfield stays back for them. This rarely happens, though. These are the players that usually call all the shots, like plays and stuff. Therefore, they’re also usually the most experienced ones.

Midfield
Midfield are the players who take the draws, occasionally the shots on goals, and who run the ball up and down the field. This of course, causes the Midfield to be tired and most teams will consist of mainly middies, so that they can change off and on the field during the game. This is where the rookies are usually put to help them learn the game, because you have to play both offense and defense, and you get a real feel for the ball. Both attack and Midfield use the same type of stick, a forty inch lacrosse stick.

Defense
Defense is where all the big boys are put and spend most of the game waiting for their player to get the ball, just so that they can stop them. The defense stick is six feet long or longer. This means that you can reach around the attackmen to poke at their stick and knock the ball away. One of the things that defensemen like is that they are told that when the ball hits the ground, (called a ball down) they are told to not even look at the ball, but to clear away the other players to let our players get the ball easily. The defense are also restrained from crossing the center line into the opposing teams side unless a middie stays back for them. This happens more often than the attackmen crossing because they have a point to go, mainly the goal.

The Goalie
The goalie is usually the craziest person on the team. No one wants to get behind a ball being shot, believe me, it really hurts and often you'll see a goalie bearing his bruises in the locker room, and it isn’t pretty. The goalie is allowed to go anywhere on the field, but he will usually stay in his crease because if he ever lost position he'd have to beat everyone back to the net, and all the padding really slows you down. The goalie stick is a stick about fifty inches long, with a head much larger than any other sticks, about twenty inches, corner to corner.

That about sums up the players. All together there are 10 people on the field, three at each position, except of course the goalie.

The Field
The field is divided into five different parts, two goal lines on each end, two restraining lines, and one center lines. The goal lines are obviously where the nets are placed but the restraining lines are a bit more complicated .
The first restraining line is roughly one quarter of the field, the second roughly three quarters, with the center line in between the two. The rules involving the restraining lines are that the defensemen on their own side cannot cross the lines, and the attack men on the opponents side of the half cannot cross the restraining. If a attackmen or bigstick happens to cross the line or gets pushed over by any player, the call will be offside and their team will either lose possession of the ball, or if they never had the ball, the team that crossed would have to back up nine feet away from the opponent, giving the player a chance to move.

The only time a player is allowed to cross the line is when a Midfield takes their place. For instance, defenseman cannot cross the restraining line, but, if a midfielder ran back behind the restraining line to take his place he could go anywhere that he wanted to on the field, except of course in the crease of the opposites team's goalie. This change is usually made when he would yell "Middie Back!" to tell his teammates that he was going to cross the line, and then a middie would answer him by yelling "I'm Back" to let him know that he can go and to let the rest of the Midfield know that they can go, and he'll be the one to stay back.

The Rules

The rules in lacrosse are fairly simple.
Defensive rules
Slashing-Being on defense, I can take little pot shots at people, but when I really wind up and give it to someone I'll get a minute. Offensive players can also slash, but they can only have a windup of eighteen inches, which sounds like a lot, but doesn't give you much.

On the Helmet
If anyone were ever to hit someone on the cranium, they would get a one minute penalty. Lots of times this is hard to avoid.

On the Back
Usually when someone is going to pick the ball up off the ground, and are not looking at anybody else, they're gonna get nailed, but the law on hitting someone else states that you can't hit anybody from behind. This is very strict, and you can get sometimes get called for hitting their side too. If no one has possession, the player that was hit will get the ball, but if they already had possession, the hitter will have to go off for one minute.

Illegal Body Check
If I were to stick out my elbow when hitting someone else, then I would be called for Illegal Body Check and get pulled for a minute. Trust me, getting hit in the face with an elbow really rattles you up and you'll be glad this rule is here. Penalty=one minute.

Fighting
I don't know exactly how the rules of this penalty go but if we were to ever drop our gloves, we would get kicked out for the game, and then get really reemed out by our coach.

Tripping
Sticking your stick between the legs of an opposite player results in a thirty second penalty. Simple as that.

Offensive Rules
Most of those Defensive rules also work for the Offense, but there is a few that Defense rarely needs to think about.

Moving Screen
This is like setting a pick in basketball, only you move all over the field to do it. For those of you who don't know what a pick is, it means cutting off a defensive player with your body to allow your player through. A move like that results in automatic loss of possesion.

There is one rule that I didn't include because it isn't really a playing rule.

Unsportsman-like Conduct
This rule includes swearing at refs, swearing on the field at any time, fighting with players, badmouthing players, arguing with refs, anything that is unsportsman-like. The price for this can be pretty extreme, depending on how serious the refs think it is. The normal price is one minute off-but most people keep arguing until they get up to three minutes, and then finally shut their trap.