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Lacrosse: Rules
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The rules of lacrosse will vary between different leagues, but we'll try to outline some of the basic rules here that mostly apply to high school men's lacrosse:
Source: National Archives
- There are 10 players on each lacrosse team. Four of the players must stay on the defensive half of the field, three must stay on the offensive half, and three can go anywhere on the field.
- The game is typically divided up into two halves and 4 quarters with each quarter being 12 minutes long. College lacrosse games are longer and kids games are shorter.
- The game starts with a face-off between two players on each team. The ball sits on the ground between the two players and the referee blows the whistle. This signals that the players can both try to get the ball.
- Only the goalie can touch the ball with their hands. All other players must use the lacrosse stick to carry, pass, shoot, or catch the ball.
- When an opponent has the ball or is within five yards of the ball, a player can body check them. A body check is contact from the front between the waist and the shoulders. You can also stick check the player on the stick or gloves to try and knock the ball away or to keep a player from getting the ball.
- There is an area around the goal called a crease. An opponent is not allowed to enter the crease, but they can reach in with their stick to pick up the ball.
- When a player with the ball or the ball goes out of the field of play, the opposing team gets the ball unless the ball goes out of bounds after a shot. In that case, the team with the player closest to the ball when it went out of bounds gets the ball.
Some plays that you are not allowed to do in lacrosse are called fouls. If a player commits a foul, they will get put in a penalty area for 1 to 3 minutes. Like basketball, at 5 personal fouls the player is removed from the game.
Lacrosse personal fouls include tripping, unnecessary roughness, cross checking (making contact with another player with the stick between your hands), slashing (a stick check not on the opponents gloves or stick), or illegal body checking.
Some Lacrosse technical fouls include holding, offsides (not the right number of players on each half of the field), setting screens, stalling, and pushing.
Sports----> Lacrosse
Lacrosse Player
Positions Lacrosse Rules Lacrosse
Strategy Lacrosse
Glossary
