Uniforms

[Sonny]

Reading how some officials across the country are interepting the rulebook differently regarding mandatory matching jerseys and shorts.

How would you handle if a team showed up in pennies or non-matching shorts? Or more importantly how have you been instructed by your conference/CAA to handle said issues?

[laxfan25]

I think it kind of depends on the level of the game. When you've got top squads like Michigan or others, I think you want to have a high degree of compliance. At lower levels or with newer teams, if the opposing coach isn't making an issue of it - I would tend to just let them play lacrosse, assuming you can tell the two teams apart. I know, it's not a strict constructionist approach - but does it really give someone an advantage?

I know JP feels that the MCLA is trying to raise the bar, and that is good. But to start flagging guys - maybe a bit much. Situational ethics.

[cjwilhelmi]

I thought that there was a national mandate on this - that everything had to be the same (jerseys and shorts, not practice pennies, matching gloves, etc)

[Jolly Roger]

The national mandate is that MCLA play is goverened by the NCAA rulebook.

[culax]

I thought that there was a national mandate on this

just curious, but where do you get these national mandates? i am familiar with the 2007 ncaa rule book but is there something else from the mcla that i missed?

thanks in advance.

[scooter]

The national mandate is that MCLA play is goverened by the NCAA rulebook.

what are the penalties of this mandate??? I already said it once, but I think that it is very uncool? if no penalty is to be enfoced for not having matching unis and gloves.

Many of the teams, at both levels are strapped for cash, but most found the funds to get the required equipment. If I were a coach or administrator of one of these teams, and some other school rolled up without matching gear, I would be very upset, knowing the financial sacrifice my team did

[LaxRef]

MCLA games are played under NCAA rules. However, the reality of the situation is that NCAA schools tend to have more cash so they can look pretty for TV. Looking pretty for TV is usually not an MCLA issue.

There's a balance between enforcing the rules necessary for a safe and fair game and nitpicking. For the Hopkins-Syracuse game, all of the gloves had better match perfectly. For an MCLA game, here's what I do:

Before the game, we carefully check the uniforms of the players while they are warming up. When I speak to the coach, I inform him of all of the uniform violations on his team (usually, there aren't too many), and unless there are blatant problems (non-matching jerseys, for example), I tell him that I'm not going to make an issue out of it, but if the opposing coach makes an issue out of it I will be obligated to make the technical foul calls. Usually the coach opts to fix the problems, or if he doesn't the opposing coach doesn't make an issue out of it.

The important thing here is that the coach doesn't go away from the game thinking his team is properly outfitted. What we don't want to have happen is for a team to show up at the championship tournament, be told their uniforms don't comply, and then freak out because they've been allowed to play that way all season.

Finally, if it is very cold, which it can be in MCLA country, I'm willing to be more lenient on things like matching sweats beecause it's a safety issue. But if it's 55 and players on a team have non-matching sweats, I'm probably going to mention it to the coach.

Some officials say they treat it as a field violation: if play starts, the assumption is that it is legal for play and no fouls can be called. There's an inherent problem with this: sometimes the guy with the non-matching shorts was wearing sweats during warmups and the first time you see them is after play has started.

Anyway, I believe that this is a fair approach to the issue: it addresses the problem without making the officials call important penalties on minor uniform violations.

Oh, finally, do not ever think that the goalie doesn't need to wear a matching jersey at any level just because he's in the crease. We officials use the goalie's jersey color to orient ourselves all the time, and it's a major hardship if the goalie doesn't have the right colored jersey. And it's not just me; I have a colleague who's worked the NCAA DI championship game, and he agreed with me on this point wholeheartedly.

[Matt_Gardiner]

For the Hopkins-Syracuse game, all of the gloves had better match perfectly.

As far as matching gloves go, I would be curious to know how many teams have perfectly matching gloves in the MCLA. Both at Purdue and SLU we would make new gloves available to the team every year and you were required to buy them. Every couple of years we would slightly change the glove (manufacturer, design, model, etc). The gloves would be close, but not 100%. I thought the rules did not require a "perfect" match, but only the same, consistant dominant colors. We would not make make someone who bought gloves last year get a new pair (although some did). If the Hopkins/Syracuse standard was applied it would start costing players an average of $65-75 or more extra per year to play lacrosse. Keeping costs down has always been extremely important to me. I want to maximize the value of every dollar the players pay in dues. Making sure gloves match right down to the SLU logo on the collar has never been that important to me.

That said, gloves are difficult because if you give an inch, most teams will take 27 nautical miles. It has never been clear to me exactly what the specific line is where gloves no longer match.

[John Paul]

This is one issue we've been very consistent on since the start of the MCLA/MDIA/USLIA/USILA Associates (there's our history of acronyms in one sentence). The MCLA has tried to make very clear to the MDOC for years that we would like uniform and field violations called by the rulebook. Unfortunately, some officials are reluctant to enforce them. LaxRef, all due respect, but telling a team you won't enforce a violation, no matter how minor, unless the other coach wants to make an issue of it is not appropriate. That puts the coach in a very difficult position. Coaches are not rules enforcers. Officials are. By enforcing the rules consistently, the MCLA as an organization can take the heat from teams that are penalized for non-compliance. Like any rule, we depend on officials to enforce it and direct complaints to the league.

Scooter is absolutely correct. Teams that make the effort and investment to follow the rules should expect other MCLA teams to do the same thing. Your conference application process should also make those requirements clear, and a team's ability to meet the requirements should be proven before they are admitted.

I urge anyone who sees uniform or field violations to let me know about them directly. We can't improve things unless we know what's going on.

[LaxRef]

This is one issue we've been very consistent on since the start of the MCLA/MDIA/USLIA/USILA Associates (there's our history of acronyms in one sentence). The MCLA has tried to make very clear to the MDOC for years that we would like uniform and field violations called by the rulebook. Unfortunately, some officials are reluctant to enforce them. LaxRef, all due respect, but telling a team you won't enforce a violation, no matter how minor, unless the other coach wants to make an issue of it is not appropriate. That puts the coach in a very difficult position. Coaches are not rules enforcers. Officials are. By enforcing the rules consistently, the MCLA as an organization can take the heat from teams that are penalized for non-compliance. Like any rule, we depend on officials to enforce it and direct complaints to the league.

Scooter is absolutely correct. Teams that make the effort and investment to follow the rules should expect other MCLA teams to do the same thing. Your conference application process should also make those requirements clear, and a team's ability to meet the requirements should be proven before they are admitted.

I urge anyone who sees uniform or field violations to let me know about them directly. We can't improve things unless we know what's going on.

I'm probably not being clear, but maybe you'd still disagree with me. If there's a guy who has non-matching compression shorts which are sometimes visible while he's sprinting, that's what I'm talking about. Gloves/helmets/jerseys/shorts have to match, at least in terms of dominant team color (but perhaps not trim). But some of the underjersey/compression shorts stuff, if you just go on the field and start throwing flags for it, everyone gets more than a bit perturbed.

I mean, there are few players or coaches who want the entire rulebook to be enforced by the letter. I'm doing my best to achieve compliance with the spirit of the rules while being sympathetic to the economic realities of MCLA lacrosse and college life.

As an example—and this probably isn't where you're taking exception—do you have a problem with the officials being somewhat relaxed on the matching sweatpants rule when the temperature is 22 degrees at the start time?

[John Paul]

undergarments - not until post-season, although I would bring it up when I saw it. sweatpants - yes, I would have a problem with that.

[LaxRef]

undergarments - not until post-season, although I would bring it up when I saw it. sweatpants - yes, I would have a problem with that.

I guess I find your position inconsistent: at first, you say:

By enforcing the rules consistently, the MCLA as an organization can take the heat from teams that are penalized for non-compliance. Like any rule, we depend on officials to enforce it and direct complaints to the league.

but then you say that you wouldn't enforce the rules on visible underjerseys or compression shorts until the post season.

And as officials, we're supposed to put safety first. I have a hard time telling a player he has to wear shorts in 22 degree weather because his pants are black and his teammates' are navy blue.

[cjwilhelmi]

And as officials, we're supposed to put safety first. I have a hard time telling a player he has to wear shorts in 22 degree weather because his pants are black and his teammates' are navy blue.

Isn't that the coach's fault for not making sure all of his kids had the same color stuff before the game. Its not like this rule just popped out of nowhere.

[SDSULAX]

What makes one rule more or less important than the other and why is it OK to enforce some rules and not all of them? No wonder we have official consistency issues.

[LaxRef]

What makes one rule more or less important than the other and why is it OK to enforce some rules and not all of them? No wonder we have official consistency issues.

The fouls that affect safety are more important than all of the other fouls.

The fouls that confer an advantage are more important than the ones that don't.

Then judgment comes into play, both in terms of what confers an advantage and what rises to the level of a safety foul.

Personally, I'd love to officiate in a system where we just call all of the fouls exactly as written; it would make life a hell of a lot easier on the officials. But this is not how the coaches and players want the game to be called. If you don't believe me, I'll call a game like this for you sometime.

I've done some coaching, primarily to see what it's like for you guys. If you haven't done any officiating, I'd suggest that you try it sometime.