Game Procedure
Indoor league games are played with 7 field players and a GK, with 2 players kept behind the restraining line, which is the half-field line. Subbing is on the fly and you will change ends at the half. Except for the beginning of each half which will start with a draw, after each goal, we do a GK clear. The 8 meter is clearly marked but short so players receiving an 8-meter penalty shot will be instructed to take two big steps backward before play resumes. There is no 12 meter fan; we estimate its placement. All MS games are modified checking and there will be no marking the goalie inside of the 8 meter permitted. The game clock cannot be stopped for card implementation, injury, or stoppages in play to address spectator behavior.
Covid mitigation addition: There will be no draws administered. The home team will start the game with a free position at half field and yje away team will do the same to begin the second half.
Focus on Safety
Anyone receiving two yellow cards during a game will be ineligible to complete the contest the infraction occurred in. Players receiving a yellow card must immediately leave the field of play and will serve a 1 min penalty from the time play resumes. Teams will play a player down during this time, with two players still required to be behind the restraining line. Any team receiving 4 or more yellow cards during one contest will play down for the reminder of the game.
All shots directly to the goal keepers helmet will result in a yellow card and the goalie and bench coach have the option of stopping the game to assess the goalie's fitness to continue.
A ground ball that results in excessive digging near the perimeter boards of the field will result in a AP. This is solely at the official's discretion.
Self-Start Modification
For the self-start in games, the player who is getting the ball must have both feet set, planted and still on the turf, and must wait until all players are 4 meters away, and then may proceed. If she starts before the others are 4 meters away, any disadvantage that may occur is now her responsibility. If she starts incorrectly, we will then set the players and use a whistled restart. Placing the offender 4m behind is still enforced. We will have 12m fan markings placed on the field as one cannot self-start inside the Critical Scoring Area. For those fouls inside the 8m arc, we will clear the new “penalty box” of all players except those defenders who may have been inside the 8m and who did not foul. Only those closest two defenders may take the adjacent hashes to the attack who gets the free position. Additionally, (for indoor only) ALL players below the Goal Line Extended will be moved to the outer most boards along the Goal Line Extended. Free Movement will be played during all games for the 2020 Winter Indoor Season.
Participant Conduct
Players, coaches, and spectators are expected to conduct themselves in a way that honors the game. Officials have the right to card players or benches for conduct unbecoming this great sport. Officials or staff members will ask spectators to leave the catwalk if they are infringing on the rights of the players, coaches, staff, and officials to conduct game play in a safe environment devoid disrespectful, aggressive, or inappropriate language and behavior.
COVID 19 Protocols for Indoor League
1. All players must be fever screened at the front desk prior to playing. The arena reserves the right to deny access to any customers with a fever of 100.4 or higher or showing symptoms of communicable disease. Players who have experienced Covid symptoms or who have had close contact with someone who has them, or who has tested positive for the virus should not attend league play for 14 days after exposure. Symptoms include: cough, fever or chills, sore throat, shortness of breath, headache, loss of taste or smell, fatigue, or gastrointestinal distress.
2. All participants must sign an ONLINE WAIVER accessed through the arena’s website. No exceptions. Parents must sign waivers for each of their children under 18. This link will be emailed out along with a copy of these regulations.
3. Both halves with start with an indirect free position at the center. Home team first, away team second half.
Our Officials and Support for The Western Pa Scholatic Lacrosse Association
In 2012, the Western Pennsylvania Scholastic Lacrosse Association (WPSLA) began to train and utilize Junior youth officials (JOs) for their middle school and youth league. The purpose was two-fold: ensure an adequate workforce in both numbers and training commensurate with the growth of the sport and to provide opportunities for current HS players and other interested adults to serve the youth of Western PA lacrosse. WPSLA recognizes those who play the game make much better officials than many of the adults who work their HS games. WPSLA has trained over 250 officials from 2012 to the present and many of these young women have gone on to officiate in the communities where they attend college.
Winner’s Edge has been an enthusiastic supporter and participant of this program. WE recognizes the benefit the program provides not only to WPSLA’s spring league and clubs but also to the growth of these young officials as they transition into becoming responsible young adults. The program builds confidence, teaches conflict resolution, responsibility, leadership and professionalism; character traits needed for young teens as they become adults.
WE uses its indoor fall and winter sessions to provide on-field, real-time training on games under the aegis of the most experienced adult College, PIAA and US Lacrosse officials in Western PA. Each new official attends 6 hours of classroom training and 4 hours of on-field training before taking the field for WPSLA in the spring. A nice by-product of this program is that these young women populate almost every HS team in the WPIAL, adding to their overall knowledge of the game which tangentially benefits their varsity squads: they themselves become “junior coaches” and “ambassadors of the game” as they pass their rules knowledge on to their teammates, parents and coaches.
As you watch from above, please offer words of encouragement to the young officials down below when appropriate. Officiating has inherent stressors involved and as in most jobs in life, proficiency grows with confidence and positive feedback.
