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Is there anything in the rule book that calls for or delineates checking the head of the stick from the back side?

I had a friend who had one of his players (from a High School team) get his stick checked when the ball stuck in the back side after a face-off (as often happens). After performing a stick check on the back side of the head, and seeing that the ball would stick in the cross, the ref deemed it illegal and gave a 3 min non-releasable and obviously ejected the stick.

I don't believe I have ever seen a ref check the back of the stick. If this is the case what are the rules?

Thanks for your input.

Unfortunately that ref was incorrect. If the ball sticks in the back during a faceoff or play of the game, it is an immediate whistle and turnover. During a stick check, you are specifically NOT supposed to do what he did. If that became part of the stick check we'd have sticks getting yanked everywhere! Check the pocket from the front ONLY!! When you do it from the back, you add two thicknesses of the mesh, and you will find lots of sticks where the ball won't come out then.
On behalf of the referee fraternity, my sincere apologies for a bad call.

I had a HS coach call for a stick check after a play like that. I did the equipment check and found the stick to be legal. That coach was irate since the ball could stick in the back of the head and not be illegal. This was also the coach that argued a player could hit someone in the head with a free hand on a check.

laxfan25 wrote:Unfortunately that ref was incorrect. If the ball sticks in the back during a faceoff or play of the game, it is an immediate whistle and turnover. During a stick check, you are specifically NOT supposed to do what he did. If that became part of the stick check we'd have sticks getting yanked everywhere! Check the pocket from the front ONLY!! When you do it from the back, you add two thicknesses of the mesh, and you will find lots of sticks where the ball won't come out then.
On behalf of the referee fraternity, my sincere apologies for a bad call.

This was my understanding of the rule as well. It was no skin off my back, but I told my buddy that there would be folks on this site that would know for sure. Thanks for the info, I will pass it along.

A couple of years ago, checking the back of the stick was a face-off mechanic if I'm not mistaken.

See the Stripes Newsletter from March 2007 for a summary of equipment rules:

http://www.uslacrosse.org/mens_div/mdocnews.phtml

FWIW, the rules used to say something to the effect of 6.5 inches at the widest point in the front and the back. I suggested that the NCAA remove the "and back" part since as officials we never measured the back and—if we did—most sticks would have been illegal. They took it out in 2005 or 2006. Then this year, they put it back in. Then a bulletin came out deleting the "and back" part again. But it goes back in with the new stick requirements in 2009, although it will have to be at least 6 inches in the back and 6.5 inches in the front.

There is not one word in the rulebook saying a stick is illegal if the ball sticks in the back, just that possession is awarded to the opponents if it does. Sometimes I think there are only about 5 of us who read the rulebook cover to cover. . . .

i'm almost positive around 2003-2004 they checked the backs of sticks and hit you with a 3:00 penalty even if you did not face off.