February 14, 2012
Hey ump: Getting it right, keeping 'em safe
by Jenny Miriam/
At the annual U.S. Lacrosse convention in Philadelphia last month, the NCAA and its coaches challenged umpires to follow the rules. U.S. Lacrosse challenged us to keep the players safe.
This is what you would expect right? At its core, the job of the umpire should be to keep players safe.
The reminders this year actually were an acknowledgement by the game’s spokeswomen that previous efforts to get umpires to “be efficient” and “let play flow” have led to players getting unfair advantages in field positioning, as well as bruises that are not consistent with the intended rules for women’s lacrosse.
We repeatedly were told that coaches feel that the more physical and aggressive team is winning because they are being allowed to play that way. The goal is to allow only minimal contact while calling fouls on the players who “hit, push or displace.”
It is not uncommon for me to come home from the convention struggling with what can best be described as a referee’s dilemma. Do I call the game according to what was just presented to me — focusing on the points of emphasis that are laid out every year — or do I call it the way the big league (NCAA Division 1) plays it (knowing they request the umpires who call it that way)?
What feels different to me this year is that there is a stronger message from the NCAA and its coaches to tighten up.
When it comes to giving cards for rough play and coach misconduct — and to setting up free positions properly, and not just quickly — the message was clear: “Get it right.”
All umpires want to make the right calls, all the time. “Get it right” was a catchphrase last year, in terms of calling fouls and being an umpiring team, but it struck me that it was different this year, because it came in the context of having, as one presenter put it, “a backbone.”
My conclusion is to wonder if it isn’t the high school game that has done the better job keeping to the standards and traditions of the game, and to the intent of the rules. Certainly, there have been concerns at the high school level about player safety, but those issues are being addressed by rule changes. By comparison, the NCAA has made multiple points of emphasis for umpires to correctly enforce the existing rules that are focused on player safety and fairness.
It will be interesting to see what the 2012 season brings, and whether umpires do, indeed, tighten up safety at all levels.
NCAA Division 1 play will continue to be the role model of athleticism, speed and precision passing and shooting that makes it exciting to watch, but hopefully with fewer players on the ground or sporting nasty bruises all over their arms.
Lower levels may have less speed and precise stick work, but they can continue raising the overall skill level of players and continue with the grace, balance and finesse that make women’s lacrosse such a beautiful game to watch and be a part of.
This article originally appeared in the February 2012 issue of New England Lacrosse Journal.
Jenny Miriam is a youth, high school and collegiate umpire in Western Massachusetts. Contact her with your questions, comments or story suggestions at feedback@laxjournal.com
