The possession clock in HS lacrosse

HS Girls Lacrosse
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totc
Posts: 111
Joined: Fri Jan 17, 2020 7:07 pm

The possession clock in HS lacrosse

Post by totc »

Hi, all.

Aside from varsity games in the "A" and "B" flights of games in the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland (i.e., the Baltimore-area private schools), does anyone know which governing bodies of girls' lacrosse are mandating the 90-second clock starting in 2022?
cltlax
Posts: 358
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2019 10:59 am
Location: Charlotte

Re: The possession clock in HS lacrosse

Post by cltlax »

It can't come soon enough. Nothing more painful than watching a team stall for minutes on end.
njbill
Posts: 6835
Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2018 1:35 am

Re: The possession clock in HS lacrosse

Post by njbill »

totc wrote: Wed May 11, 2022 11:00 am Hi, all.

Aside from varsity games in the "A" and "B" flights of games in the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland (i.e., the Baltimore-area private schools), does anyone know which governing bodies of girls' lacrosse are mandating the 90-second clock starting in 2022?
Al,

That's the only league, state, etc. I know of.

Putting aside the merits or demerits of the issue (and I am on the "no shot clock" side of the debate), I think the extra cost and staffing that would be required will prevent shot clocks from coming to glax. Not only would every public school need to buy at least two, but they would have to have someone run the shot clock.

But I am usually wrong in predicting changes in lacrosse, so we'll see, I guess.
cltlax
Posts: 358
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2019 10:59 am
Location: Charlotte

Re: The possession clock in HS lacrosse

Post by cltlax »

njbill wrote: Wed May 11, 2022 11:49 am
totc wrote: Wed May 11, 2022 11:00 am Hi, all.

Aside from varsity games in the "A" and "B" flights of games in the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland (i.e., the Baltimore-area private schools), does anyone know which governing bodies of girls' lacrosse are mandating the 90-second clock starting in 2022?
Al,

That's the only league, state, etc. I know of.

Putting aside the merits or demerits of the issue (and I am on the "no shot clock" side of the debate), I think the extra cost and staffing that would be required will prevent shot clocks from coming to glax. Not only would every public school need to buy at least two, but they would have to have someone run the shot clock.

But I am usually wrong in predicting changes in lacrosse, so we'll see, I guess.
I wonder if the fact that many teams play in football stadiums would mean the technology is already present?
njbill
Posts: 6835
Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2018 1:35 am

Re: The possession clock in HS lacrosse

Post by njbill »

I’m watching a game in a football stadium right now. They have something that shows “shots” although they aren’t using it. Pretty sure that is to count the number of shots. Don’t know if they can turn that into a shot clock. But they would still need a shot clock at the other end of the stadium. Also the scoreboard I am looking at is, I think, too far from the field to serve as a shot clock.

The reason I don’t think it is necessary in high school is that high school players don’t handle the ball well enough. It is not too difficult to take the ball away in high school. Much more difficult to do so in college. But I don’t make the rules. :lol:
totc
Posts: 111
Joined: Fri Jan 17, 2020 7:07 pm

Re: The possession clock in HS lacrosse

Post by totc »

I think what the lax people are counting on is the fact that many girls HS lax teams now play at the football stadium (good move, since most are now artificial grass and there's nobody else using it between Thanksgiving and the next Fourth of July).

And just about all football stadia have 25-second clocks.

It's also pretty easy to wheel in two portable timers at either end if need be. The point is quite salient that trying to run the possession, penalty, and game clocks independently of each other requires a lot of trained people.
njbill
Posts: 6835
Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2018 1:35 am

Re: The possession clock in HS lacrosse

Post by njbill »

I go to a lot of HS games, mainly in Jersey, but also (some in past years) in Md., Pa., NY, Va., and CT.

Just did a quick count. Of the 38 HS games I have seen in person so far this year, 12 were not on football fields. Of those that weren't on football fields, some were on grass fields and some on non-football turf fields. Of the 12, six were at private girls schools that don't have football fields.

It's not clear to me that a football scoreboard has the capability of displaying a 90 second shot clock. And as noted above, the scoreboard in the stadium I was in today was really too far away to have a shot clock reasonably viewable to the field participants.

But putting the football field issue aside, yes, portable shot clocks could be wheeled out and put in place, whether or not at a football field. I actually priced them today: around $750 each, which I suppose is feasible for most public high schools (and certainly for the privates).

HS games have enough trouble with clock operators as it is. Some haven't adjusted to the new clock rules this year. Very few HS stadiums have separate penalty clocks. They simply use the main clock and count off two minutes from the time the card was issued. The scorer's table is responsible for releasing the penalty, not the clock operator.

I imagine a shot clock has to be operated separately and, of course, has to be reset regularly on instructions from the officials. Does the same person operate both clocks in college? I don't know. I could see it being a mess in HS unless someone really knows what they are doing.

But, to me, I get back to the fact that I don't think a shot clock is necessary in HS. Others seem to disagree, which is fine of course.
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