The following article originally appeared in the November print edition of US Lacrosse Magazine. Join more than 450,000 members around the country in helping to support the sport and have the magazine delivered right to your mailbox.

US Lacrosse serves an integral role as an advisor and writer of the rules that govern men’s and women’s lacrosse from youth through college.

On the men’s side, US Lacrosse writes the youth rules, serves as a representative on the high school (NFHS) committee and attends college (NCAA) committee meetings.

On the women’s side, US Lacrosse authors youth, high school and college club (WCLA) rules and also writes the equipment specifications for all levels of the sport, while attending NCAA meetings.

Every summer, the various governing bodies meet to parse out innovative ways to make the sport safer, fairer, more exciting and more accessible. Here are seven significant developments that came out of the 2017 offseason.

Free Movement

The biggest game-changer of the summer was the NCAA women’s lacrosse rules committee’s decree that players no longer have to stop moving after a foul or violation as play is restarted. No more so-called freeze tag. “It’s huge,” UMass coach Angela McMahon said. “We were ready for the change in terms of the speed, athleticism and strength of athletes now. Everyone seems a little bigger, stronger, faster.” Free movement also will be allowed outside of the 8-meter on free positions.

Shot Clock

NCAA men’s lacrosse teams are experimenting with two different versions of a 60-second shot clock — one starting upon possession and the other upon entry into the attack area — to collect data on this long-discussed solution to inject tempo into the game. On the women’s side, Division II and III games now will be governed by the 90-second possession clock that received favorable reviews in its first season at the Division I level in 2017.

The Dive

When Bill Tierney speaks, people listen. After Denver lost to Maryland in the NCAA semifinals — including a riveting finish in which two late goals were overturned due to crease violations — the Pioneers coach implored that the shot clock and “the dive” be implemented to add excitement to the sport. The NCAA men’s lacrosse rules committee is now entertaining the idea of allowing players to leave their feet on a shot attempt and land in the crease, but only in a manner that protects goalies from potentially calamitous collision.
 

Stick-Stringing Specs

NCAA, NFHS and US Lacrosse leaders collaborated with industry representatives to simplify stick-stringing specifications for youth, high school and college women’s lacrosse. Much of the technical language has been stripped from the rulebooks to focus exclusively on performance criteria relating to pocket depth and shooting-string parameters. One notable takeaway is that mesh and other material can be a part of the pocket, which will encourage innovation and make game-ready sticks off the shelf more accessible and cost-effective.

Unified Field

The NFHS and US Lacrosse established unified field dimensions for youth and high school boys’ and girls’ lacrosse and will allow leagues and schools the option of applying the same set of lines for both sports.

The Buzzer Beater

The NFHS and US Lacrosse now will follow NCAA men’s lacrosse procedure when determining if a goal counts at the end of a period. Instead of requiring that the ball cross the goal line before time expires, the goal will count as long as the ball is released before the buzzer. Anybody who saw UMass’ dramatic victory over Hofstra in the CAA semifinals last year can attest to the excitement of that play, while it also allows officials to call the play with better consistency. The same protocol now also will be in place for NCAA women’s lacrosse following a questionable goal call at the end of regulation of the Johns Hopkins-Northwestern game last spring.

Unsportsmanlike Conduct

At the youth level, US Lacrosse is providing boys’ lacrosse officials the option to penalize teams for unruly spectator behavior.