Pacific Ridge A I

The SDCLA finishes the season with a championship round for the top 8 teams in Div I and a Consolation round for the next 8 seeded teams (seeds 9-16).  These playoffs will commence Tuesday June 3 with semi-finals on June 5 and the finals on June 7.  The games on June 3 and 5 will be at the site of the higher seeded team.  The finals for both groups will by June 7. 

In addition, the SDCLA also has all star games on June 7 for three groups: Div I A for the top 16 seeded teams, Div I B for the remaining teams in Div I, and Div III. The site for the finals and all star games on June 7 will be announced this week. 

The participants in the Div I championship and consolation rounds will be determined by a seeding committee that consists of Steve Whitman (SDCLA commissioner), Matt Holman (SDSU coach) and Russ Olsen (Canyon Crest HS Coach).  The seeding committee will meet May 31 at 3pm and announce the seedings by 6pm.  The seeding committee will primarily consider the following in arriving at its results: won-loss record weighted for the strength of schedule and seeding information forms that teams have the option of submitting.  We are still in the process of creating the form but it will be a form that should be e-mailed to me by 2:30 pm on 5/31 in order to be considered. Unlike last year, there will be no league meeting to work out the seedings among the coaches.  If you want a sense of how your team may be seeded, you should go the Power Ranking section of the SDCLA website.  This is updated once each week. 

The playoffs for the top 8 teams will match up the first round based on seedings with #1 vs. #8, #2 vs. #7, etc.  The playoffs for the consolation round may take geography into consideration for the first and second round so there may not be a precise matching of seeds as being used in the championship round.  If the higher seeded team cannot host the game on the specified date then the lower seeded team will host the game.  Changing the game date is not an option. 

The all star games are organized by allocating a number of players to each team based on their final seeding.  Each team will then select which of their players will participate in the all-star game.  Each game will be organized with approximately 30 players to each side.  In the Div I A group, the teams will be allocated 6 players for the two top teams down to 2 players for the lowest seeded teams (#15 and #16).  For Div I B and Div III, the range will be from 4 players for top seeded teams to 2 players for the lower seeded teams.  The allocation of players will also be announced May 31 by 6pm.  Each team will then need to notify me by the end of day 6/3 of the players selected, their position and whether they will attend the all star game.  Players will be listed on the website and a game day program handout.  They will also receive all star t-shirts the day of the game. 

The following are the planned game times for the finals and all star games on June 7: 

In addition to the all stars, each year the SDCLA issues an award for the Most Outstanding Player, Best Attackman, Best Middie, Best Defenseman, and Best Goalie.  This is only done for Division I.  This process will be addressed separately.

  NOCSAE TEST EMBLEM ON HELMET

One of the basic helmet requirements is that it have a visible exterior NOCSAE emblem on the helmet.  Although it rarely comes up, there are occasions when this emblem is covered with stickers of the player’s choice or it has received a special paint job that covers the etched emblem so it is no longer visible.  The officials cannot assume this emblem exists for all helmets if it is not visible.  The existence of this emblem is a critical safety issue. 

ILLEGAL STICKS:
The league decided in 2008 that the penalty for a stick determined to be illegal because of a slight measurement deficiency was too heavy handed for middle school lacrosse.  A concern was noted that the sticks were either illegal at time of purchase or so close to minimum specs that it didn’t take much for the stick to unintentionally become illegal. There are three measurements that are causing concern:

         Minimum overall length of stick is 40” 

         Minimum width at widest point of head is 6-1/2”

         Minimum length of head is 10” Illegal sticks carry penalty of 1-3 minutes. 

A stick that is illegal because of deep pocket is a 1 minute penalty.  If a stick was found illegal because it was altered to gain an advantage, the penalty will be 3 minutes.  By default, if a stick is illegal because it did not meet the minimum dimensions, it is deemed to have been altered to gain an advantage and therefore subject to a 3 minute penalty, regardless of whether altered by the player intentionally or as a result of normal play on the field. Based on discussions with Bob Duggan, he is not aware that sticks are frequently found illegal because of the measurement issue. 

The SDCLA has implemented a modification of the rule so that a 1 minute penalty will be assessed for not complying with the dimensions, unless the official concludes it was clearly altered by the player for the purpose of gaining an advantage.  

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.