Changes With Safety In Mind

At the start of each season, regardless of the sport those in charge of the game hole what is commonly known as the AGM and it’s in  place for a reason.

Changes are made so as to either grow and/or improve the sport for the future of the game and more than even ALL Sports are spending more time focusing on the area of Safety for the players.

We question rules that are enforced and strive for consistency, which will never happen in anyone’s lifetime, but all we can do is hope.

If you think it’s a concern for you as a spectator, think about those who enforce the rules and ask yourself “Do the officials like the current rules and would they make any changes if they could”?

The answer is simple – yes they would as they are on the front line of hearing about rules from players, coaches, managers and naturally the Fan’s, who seldom know the rules, but think they do.

Now we are hearing that the National Lacrosse League has implemented some rule changes for the upcoming season, some of which might not be noticeable, others will.

One of the most noticeable changes this season will be the addition of another official to the field for all NLL games, so you will now see four officials presiding over every game, three of whom will be in the field of play.

 Brian Lemon, VP of Lacrosse Operations for the NLL stated “With our rule changes over the last couple seasons and our players continuously raising the bar of their athleticism, a three man on-floor officiating crew lends itself for much better floor and vision coverage and results in an overall better performance by the officiating crew.”

 Also new for 2017 is the language for Rule 70 (Illegal Body Check Rule), which has been amended to prevent substantial contact to players in a defenseless position.

 “Player safety continues to be a major focus for the Competition Committee every off season when we review our rules. This year we added additional language to rule 70, Illegal Body Checking, to prevent significant contact on players who are in vulnerable and defenseless positions when picking up a loose ball or receiving a pass, for example,” Lemon added. “Our rules reflect the desire to maintain the fast-paced action with physical, legal contact that continues to be entertaining for our fans.”

The full list of rule changes for the upcoming year while the entire 2017 NLL Rulebook can be found by clicking here.