July 7, 2010
Officials keep a close eye on physical play
by Jenny Miriam/
This may seem odd, but two things that repeatedly popped into my mind while umpiring this season were driving and football. Don’t jump to the conclusion that I have lost my concentration while working; I haven’t. There are actually aspects of women’s lacrosse that relate to both driving and football.
First, driving. What repeatedly occurs during lacrosse games is that players crash into each other. See the connection? The rules aren’t that different. As a driver, you are at fault when you run into a car that stops abruptly in front of you; the same is true in lacrosse. In a parking lot, you must drive around the lane to get to the open spot in another aisle. Likewise, you cannot crash through an opponent to get to the open space on the other side of them. It doesn’t matter that you are going for the ball; you still cannot cause a collision to get to it.
Incorporating concepts of the road into lacrosse games can clear up a lot of calls. You cannot push a player off with your hip, you are at fault if you suddenly pull in front of them from a side street, and you cannot park against their bumper as they need room to pull out of their space.
In football, players physically force the path of an opponent by pushing. Defenders hold the ball handler upright, hoping teammates will come in and strip the ball.
We’re seeing too much of this type of physical play in lacrosse. Double teams are an integral part of the game and many feel the only successful road to dislodging the ball from an opponent’s stick. The goal is for a defender to get a legal check – hitting only the opponent’s stick without physically endangering the ball handler – because a teammate forced the ball handler to move her stick toward the checker.
The critical element umpires are watching is how the defense “forces” the ball handler to bring her stick to her other side. Did the defender’s footwork and stick positioning create a potential check, which the attacker avoided by cradling on her other side? That is good defense. Alternatively did the defender pressure the attacker by using the stick or forearm against her body, forcing her to pull away and making her susceptible to the second defender’s check? That’s football and worthy of the umpire’s whistle.
Your cue on what foul we called is who gets placed behind the ball handler before play resumes.
If it is the physical defender – and not the checker – who goes behind, we are penalizing the football play.
