Olympics - rule changes in lacrosse here

[OCanada]

There is a lot of chatter about standardizing the rules for men’s and women’s lax to accommodate getting the game back into the Olympics and deal with concussions.

An example is to require helmets in the women’s game and eliminate the arm pads etc in the men’s game.

[steel_hop]

There is a lot of chatter about standardizing the rules for men’s and women’s lax to accommodate getting the game back into the Olympics and deal with concussions.

An example is to require helmets in the women’s game and eliminate the arm pads etc in the men’s game.

So they are going to move to not all for contact like in the women's game.

It is a complete waste of time. The Olympics are trying to down scale from the sports that take a lot of money with huge participant numbers that only a couple of teams play.

[DMac]

Lacrosse has its Olympics in the World Games, no need to concern themselves with such nonsense. The world is not ready for lacrosse in the Olympics as there just aren't enough competitive teams in the world to compete with the big three or four.
Anyone care to predict who would win Gold, Silver, and Bronze in the upcoming Olympics...and the next one? Might be some differing opinions about what color the medal, but I doubt much differing in which teams would bring home the medals. I doubt there's much real interest in the world, including countries that are playing lacrosse, to bring lacrosse to the games.

[Drcthru]

Agree. Lacrosse is a niche sport even in the US and Canada.

[palaxoff]

Yeah, I'd bet between players, coaches, officials, parents and casual fan it be significantly south of 1% of the population n the USA and Canada, the hot bed of the sport. I shutter think what they do to sport for TV revenue. Face off after each goal probably go away with a 60 second shot clock.

[OCanada]

They are talking about making the fields uniform for men and women, same rules etc. Whether it happens or not no way to know but it is getting a lot of chatter it is not just a couple of people sitting around talking

[Hawkeye]

If this happens, the women's game should move closer to the men's game, not the other way around.

[Puck Swami]

Of course, we know who the power countries are in lacrosse today. And if the sport were to become an Olympic sport tomorrow, we know who would likely be on the podium for the first few Olympiads. But then, behind the the power of Olympic's global exposure and the power of the Olympic brand, the sport could spread much faster and kids in other countries would become more likely to be interested in the game than they are now. That's how you grow a sport - more exposure to more casual fans.

The World Lacrosse Games may be interesting to us as current lacrosse fans, but are they reaching casual sports fans? My guess is very little. We're preaching to the already converted....

The Olympics could be a global game changer for the sport, helping growing it from a niche North American-dominated sport to perhaps a truly global sport. That's what the Olympics can do. More interest means more athletes, more fans, more exposure, TV, more development, more money, and perhaps a truly full-time professional league. Sign me up.

[DMac]

No thanks. What they're proposing isn't lacrosse. If the rest of the world wants to play that game they can have it. Meanwhile I'll stick with the World Games and watch real lacrosse.

[Drcthru]

No thanks. What they're proposing isn't lacrosse. If the rest of the world wants to play that game they can have it. Meanwhile I'll stick with the World Games and watch real lacrosse.

I agree. Altering, diluting and abasing the creator's game even more is anathema!

[wgdsr]

Of course, we know who the power countries are in lacrosse today. And if the sport were to become an Olympic sport tomorrow, we know who would likely be on the podium for the first few Olympiads. But then, behind the the power of Olympic's global exposure and the power of the Olympic brand, the sport could spread much faster and kids in other countries would become more likely to be interested in the game than they are now. That's how you grow a sport - more exposure to more casual fans.

The World Lacrosse Games may be interesting to us as current lacrosse fans, but are they reaching casual sports fans? My guess is very little. We're preaching to the already converted....

The Olympics could be a global game changer for the sport, helping growing it from a niche North American-dominated sport to perhaps a truly global sport. That's what the Olympics can do. More interest means more athletes, more fans, more exposure, TV, more development, more money, and perhaps a truly full-time professional league. Sign me up.

yeah, no offense, but that's nonsense.

[xxxxxxx]

Of course, we know who the power countries are in lacrosse today. And if the sport were to become an Olympic sport tomorrow, we know who would likely be on the podium for the first few Olympiads. But then, behind the the power of Olympic's global exposure and the power of the Olympic brand, the sport could spread much faster and kids in other countries would become more likely to be interested in the game than they are now. That's how you grow a sport - more exposure to more casual fans.

The World Lacrosse Games may be interesting to us as current lacrosse fans, but are they reaching casual sports fans? My guess is very little. We're preaching to the already converted....

The Olympics could be a global game changer for the sport, helping growing it from a niche North American-dominated sport to perhaps a truly global sport. That's what the Olympics can do. More interest means more athletes, more fans, more exposure, TV, more development, more money, and perhaps a truly full-time professional league. Sign me up.

yeah, no offense, but that's nonsense.

Agree 100%

Let’s see modern pentathlon, rymthic gymnastics, skeleton, and ski balet have really taken off due to their Olympic exposure

[Puck Swami]

You have a point - some Olympic sports just aren't going to grow here. Some sports just suck. Modern Pentathlon is a 1900s holdover from the early Olympics that celebrated military training among aristocrats, and is an individual sport, as is skeleton. Rhythmic Gymnastics is vile to watch, as is synchronized swimming. Other duddish Olympic sports include indoor volleyball, which has likely maxed out it's interest level in the USA, and water polo and field hockey, which are simply dreadful team sports to watch on TV, thus limiting further interest. Team Handball is enjoyed in many countries around the world and is pretty decent as a TV watch and live arena attraction, but without competitive US teams, interest here remains very low.

But generally, I think the Olympics have been a boon to many team sports as an excellent platform for growth, TV ratings and relevance.

Certainly ice hockey has become a much larger sport here in the USA due to Olympic exposure in this country. The 1980 US Olympic hockey win over Soviets doubled hockey participation in the years afterwards, and now the USA is a global power in the sport for both men and women, with the NHL expansion into the Sun Belt in the '90s which has certainly helped the sport move from regional to a more national sport, due in large measure to that Olympic win.

Women's ice hockey has become much bigger since it's Olympic debut in 1998, and while competition is only relevant to a few countries so far, the heated USA vs Canada rivalry has become must-watch viewing in the Olympics. Participation in ice hockey continues to grow, too.

Another team sport that has really benefitted from global Olympic inclusion is women's soccer, which used the Olympics as a platform to help fuel the interest in the growing women's world cup to the point that women's soccer stars in this country have become household names. Other countries are now investing in the women's game and making that competition better.

Men's soccer is already the top sport in the world, and doesn't benefit as much from having its U23 (and three overage player) version in the Olympics. But Olympic Soccer is a solid developmental step for those players, and if you saw the emotional Brazil win in Rio Olympics in 2016 before a full house of 70,000 at the Maracana, you will remember how much that soccer win meant to that country after its failures in World Cups since 2002.

Men's basketball and baseball (when it was in the Olympic program)s have really helped to grow those games in other countries outside the USA, making both games far more competitive globally today. The US is no longer a lock to win in those American sports. Dream teams have become dream tourneys. NBA players are now global, and baseball in very competitive now in Latin America and parts of Asia. Such are international trajectories are beneficial to a game like lacrosse, which is largely a North American sport that has big international potential.

Women's basketball and softball have a harder road to larger global relevance, because those sports are still over-dominated by the USA, and it will take time for more viable competition to emerge, but certainly, Olympic participation has been an important visibility for those sports.

Curling, Rugby 7s and beach volleyball are additional team sports that are generating strong Olympic attendance/TV ratings in many countries including the USA, and all have strong growth potential here, due to competitive US teams in those sports and those sports' TV-friendly appeal.

My point here is that lax is a great game to watch and participate in, live and on TV and international Olympic exposure would help it.

[cltlax]

Great points above. Anecdotally, girls indoor volleyball is taking off in a big way in pockets of the country. In fact, locally, an indoor facility recently took out its soccer turf and replaced it with sport court so it could accommodate more volleyball.

I would enjoy seeing lacrosse in the olympics, I just wouldn't want significant changes to the game just to wedge it in.

[DMac]

How many of those games you use for examples did they completely revamp for Olympic competition, swami?
That's what they want to do with "lacrosse". Other than the sticks and goals that game won't much resemble lacrosse. Call it cradleball, the brand new game for the Olympics, but don't call it lacrosse because it's not.

[wgdsr]

How many of those games you use for examples did they completely revamp for Olympic competition, swami?
That's what they want to do with "lacrosse". Other than the sticks and goals that game won't much resemble lacrosse. Call it cradleball, the brand new game for the Olympics, but don't call it lacrosse because it's not.

seriously, when has uslax not taken the opportunity to sell out the game?
youth lacrosse and run for profit tournaments? check.
build themselves a new building on new land? check.
change the rules of the game without putting up any real due diligence? check.
get ready to bastardize the rules of the game in order to shoehorn into the olympics? all in!!!

[AreaLax]

Breaking: FIL Launches Membership Consultation Process In Developing New Discipline, Rules

Summary of Trial Rule Recommendations:
Eliminate long sticks
Field size -- 70 meters X 36 meters
Field markings – perimeter markings, goal circles/creases, goal line, midline, draw circle, substitution and player boxes
Goals – maintain current specifications
Game structure – four 8-minute periods: running clock; 5-minute halftime and 2 minutes between quarters
Time clock stops for a timeout, end of a quarter, injury, or during a dead ball within the last two minutes of the fourth quarter
Shot clock – 45 seconds; resets on every possession change
Game and shot clocks stop for a timeout, injury, or during a dead ball within the last two minutes of the fourth quarter; resets following the end of a quarter
Two 30-second timeouts for each team per half
Squad size – 10; 6 + 4 subs (allow up to two alternates in the case of competition-ending injury TBD)
On-field players – 6 on 6; goalie and five field players on the field at one time
On field staff – two coaches and one medical
Substitutions – on the fly
Offside – both teams must hold back two players behind the midline
Over-and-back – prohibited
Ball out-of-bounds – when the ball goes out of bounds for any reason, including a shot, it is awarded to the team that did not touch it last
Goals – if a player is fouled in the act of shooting, the goal will count
After a goal – goalies have 5-seconds to put the ball in play be either passing it or running it out of the goal circle
All defending players can run through the crease but cannot act as a goalie
Draws – at start of each period and OT
OT – sudden victory
Officiating – 2 officials per game
Penalties – major/minor/technical fouls and related mechanics as close as possible between disciplines
Pre- and post-game officiating mechanics identical across disciplines

[stupefied]

Leave the game alone

[Cheeseandcrackers]

These rules look good to me for youth leagues up to 5th grade. Smaller field means you can get more fields in less space. No 7 year old needs to learn the skills with a long pole. Stopping after every goal to lineup for a FO is a waste of time. Fewer players means more touches for every kid. Once you get to middle school, shift to "real" lacrosse.

[SCLaxAttack]

Here’s what it sounds like in one word - cute.