Free movement is coming to high school girls’ lacrosse.

US Lacrosse announced Tuesday rules changes for the 2020 season that were approved by both the NFHS and the US Lacrosse boards of directors. Paramount among them is free movement, which allows players to move around the field instead of being required to hold their position on stoppages. This rule change, intended to improve pace of play, has already been in effect for two seasons in NCAA women’s lacrosse.

“This will be an exciting rule change for the high school game, one which we believe will enhance the athlete experience on the field and ease the workload on officials to monitor players off the ball,” said Caitlin Kelley, women’s lacrosse director at US Lacrosse and liaison to the girls’ lacrosse rules committee. “We want athletes to have opportunities to use their athleticism on the field and free movement will increase this important component of the women’s game.”

Other rule changes and adjustments addressed player substitutions, self-starts on boundary restarts, checking penalties and some equipment clarifications. Click here for the complete release.

“The committee addressed topics with intention and extraordinary attention to detail,” said Lindsey Atkinson, the NFHS’s director of sports/communications associate and liaison to the girls’ lacrosse rules committee. “The commitment of the joint NFHS/USL committee to do what is best for high school girls’ lacrosse was evident in both the content of their discussion and the outcomes of their hard work.”