bproc

1. presentation
Play of the Game
Basic Positioning
Basic Procedures
In this presentation:
• Face off
• Out of bounds
• Restarting play after a penalty
• Calling a time out
• Over and back
• Goals
Men’s Lacrosse Basic Officiating
BASICS

2. presentation
Play of the Game
Basic Positioning
Basic Procedures
Face off
• Face off to start play after a goal or at the beginning of most
quarters
• Face offs have to be quick
• Officials have to be quick to start
• Players too
• Maximum time between goal and face off is 30 seconds
• Penalize a team taking too long to set up
• Delay of game, technical foul, other team gets the ball
Men’s Lacrosse Basic Officiating
BASICS

3. presentation
Play of the Game
Basic Positioning
Basic Procedures
Face off
• How to set up a face off:
• Nothing touching the ball or midline
• Crossess parallel to midline
• Crosse head straight up, not leaning towards the ball
• Gloves touching the ground, wrapping the crosse
• Entire body left of the plastic (head of the crosse)
• There are more details, but these are the basics for a starting
official
• For more details, read up on rule 34
Men’s Lacrosse Basic Officiating
BASICS

4. presentation
Play of the Game
Basic Positioning
Basic Procedures
Face off
• Face off procedure:
• Referee that is conducting the face off stands over the ball
• When the other on field officials signal that they are ready for
play by pointing their arm toward the wing lines
• Referee moves off the ball with his back toward the
team bench areas
• Referee instructs players to go down, by saying “down”
• Players set up correctly
• If not set up correctly : one warning to set up
correctly, by instructing both players
• If still not set up correctly: illegal procedure, award
ball to other team
Men’s Lacrosse Basic Officiating
BASICS

5. presentation
Play of the Game
Basic Positioning
Basic Procedures
Face off
• Face off procedure:
• After players have set up correctly, referee will say “set”
• Players can no longer move the stick or hands
• Other body parts may move as long as it does not affect
hand or stick position
• Official should not move any more either
• If a player moves:
• No whistle, since play is not live yet
• Tell players to get up, explain the penalty
• Call illegal procedure, award ball to other team
• Start play by blowing the whistle
Men’s Lacrosse Basic Officiating
BASICS

6. presentation
Play of the Game
Basic Positioning
Basic Procedures
Face off
• Face off procedure:
• After players have correctly set up and not moved after set,
the referee will blow the whistle
• Players can go on the whistle
• Wing players can cross the wing line on the whistle
• Players behind the restraining line have to wait for
possession or free ball call before their can cross the
restraining line
• The referees’ whistle should come quickly after “set”
• The referee should not make any other signal except for
blowing the whistle
Men’s Lacrosse Basic Officiating
BASICS

7. presentation
Play of the Game
Basic Positioning
Basic Procedures
Face off
• Face off procedure:
• After the whistle, the face off players can scrimmage for
possession of the ball
• As long as the ball is in between the face off players, no
other player may touch them or their sticks
• Once the ball has moved out from in between the
players, normal rules apply
• Body checking players who are down in face off position
is very dangerous and should be penalized with a 2 or 3
minute personal foul for an illegal bodycheck
Men’s Lacrosse Basic Officiating
BASICS

8. presentation
Play of the Game
Basic Positioning
Basic Procedures
Face off
• Face off procedure:
• Referee positioning summary:
• Before the face off: stands over the ball
• Steps out with back towards bench side
• Stradles the midline, one foot on each field half
• Says (does not yell) “down”, puts whistle in mouth
• Says (does not yell) “set”, no longer moves
• Blows the whistle
Men’s Lacrosse Basic Officiating
BASICS

9. presentation
Play of the Game
Basic Positioning
Basic Procedures
Face off
• Procedure after face off whistle:
• If a player gains possession of the ball, all on field referees
signal and call possession
• Signal:
• Rotate full arm backwards two times
• Loudly yell “possession!”
• If the ball crosses the restraining before any player gains
posession, all on field referees signal and call free ball
• Signal:
• Rotate full arm backwards two times
• Loudly yell “free ball!”
Men’s Lacrosse Basic Officiating
BASICS

10. presentation
Play of the Game
Basic Positioning
Basic Procedures
Out of bounds
• Two different out of bounds situations:
• Normal out of bounds
• Ball touching the line or anything outside of the field is
out of bounds
• Player in possession touching the line or anything
outside of the field is out of bounds
• Team that did not touch the ball last is awarded the ball
• Shot going out of bounds
• Team that is closest to the ball when the ball goes out of
bounds gets the ball
• On any restart, no player may be within 5 yards of the ball carrier
Men’s Lacrosse Basic Officiating
BASICS

11. presentation
Play of the Game
Basic Positioning
Basic Procedures
Out of bounds
• Normal out of bounds procedure:
• Blow the whistle to stop play when the ball goes out of
bounds (this is important: dead ball vs live ball)
• Award the ball to the opposing team: “red ball!”
• Signal direction of play by pointing one arm in the direction
of play (towards the offensive end line)
• The ball carrier needs to step on the field before the whistle
• Blow the whistle and signal to start play
• Start of play signal:
• Arm straight up, then pull down on the whistle
Men’s Lacrosse Basic Officiating
BASICS

12. presentation
Play of the Game
Basic Positioning
Basic Procedures
Out of bounds
• Out of bounds on a shot procedure:
• At the time of shooting, lead refere yells “shot!”
• A bad / failed shot is still a shot, intention matters
• A deflected shot is still a shot
• If shot goes in: goal procedure
• If shot misses: out of bounds
• LR looks for where and when the ball went out of bounds
• Blow the whistle to stop play
• Award the ball to the team closest to the ball when the ball
went out of bounds
• Signal direction of play
• Blow the whistle and signal to start play
Men’s Lacrosse Basic Officiating
BASICS

13. presentation
Play of the Game
Basic Positioning
Basic Procedures
Restarting play after a penalty
• The ball is restarted in the same relative position as where the ball
was when the whistle to stop play was blown
• All restarts need to be at least 20 yards (18.2 m) away from goal
• Look for the (extended) wingline and restraining line
• This goes for restarts behind the goal as well
• All restarts need to be at least 5 yards (4.6 m) away from the
substitution area
• Restarts need to be as quick a possible, but safe for all involved
Men’s Lacrosse Basic Officiating
BASICS

14. presentation
Play of the Game
Basic Positioning
Basic Procedures
Restarting play after a penalty
• Quick restarts:
• No player may be within 5 yards (4.6 m) of the ball carrier at
the time of the restart
• If a player is within 5 yards at the time of restart the
player is not allowed to defend the ball until he first
reaches a distance of 5 yards from the ball (carrier)
• Violation of this rule: illegal procedure
• Slow whistle / flag since the offended team is in
possession
• 30 seconds time served penalty
• Restarts should always be fair and safe; quick but not hasty
Men’s Lacrosse Basic Officiating
BASICS

15. presentation
Play of the Game
Basic Positioning
Basic Procedures
Calling a time out
• Two kinds of time outs:
• Team time out:
• By coach, captain or player in possession
• Can be requested during dead ball or live ball on teams’
offensive half
• Duration is 90 seconds
• Officials’ time out:
• By any official, for safety and fair play reasons
• Can be called at any time
• Duration is not set, as long as needed
Men’s Lacrosse Basic Officiating
BASICS

16. presentation
Play of the Game
Basic Positioning
Basic Procedures
Calling a time out
• Team time out:
• Signals:
• If legal request, blow whistle to stop play
• Wave arms above head
• Point both arms towards teams’ bench side of the field
• Call “stop all clocks, time out, blue [team color]!”
• Time starts after whistle is blown to stop play
• 30 Seconds before the end of the time out, CBO will indicate
this by blowing the whistle and calling “30 seconds!”
• Restart:
• Same as restart after a penalty
Men’s Lacrosse Basic Officiating
BASICS

17. presentation
Play of the Game
Basic Positioning
Basic Procedures
Calling a time out
• Officials’ time out:
• Signals:
• Wave arms above head
• Point both arms towards own chest
• Call “stop all clocks, time out, my time!”
• Examples:
• Time needed to fix goal netting or goal position
• Player severely injured
• Lost ball
• Restart:
• Same as restart after a penalty
Men’s Lacrosse Basic Officiating
BASICS

18. presentation
Play of the Game
Basic Positioning
Basic Procedures
Over and back
• When a team enters the attack goal area (crosses the offensive
restraining line) the single side referee will signal
• Arm straight up and then point down to the attack goal area
• This is to let teams and officials know that over and back rule
will be applied on a ball going back across the midline
• When a ball or ball carrier is moving close to the midline, SR will
signal to assist the trail referee
• “Yes, yes, yes!” in case of over and back rule in effect
• “No, no, no!” in case of over and back rule not in effect
Men’s Lacrosse Basic Officiating
BASICS

19. presentation
Play of the Game
Basic Positioning
Basic Procedures
Over and back
• When a ball or ball carrier returns to the defensive half through
actions of the offensive team:
• Play on when the other team is in a position to pick up the
ball
• Whistle, signal over and back and quick restart when there is
no chance for the other team to pick up the ball quickly
• Signal: move lower arm away and then towards body
• Being legally body checked across the midline is over and back
Men’s Lacrosse Basic Officiating
BASICS

20. presentation
Play of the Game
Basic Positioning
Basic Procedures
Goals
• When is a shot at goal a scored goal?
• Ball must cross the plane of the goal entirely
• Up to the moment the ball has completely crossed the plane
of the goal, no fouls from the offensive team may occur
• Example: crease violation, off side
Men’s Lacrosse Basic Officiating
BASICS

21. presentation
Play of the Game
Basic Positioning
Basic Procedures
Goals
• When is a shot at goal not a scored goal?
• Period ended (even if not yet whistled for)
• Referee blew whistle (even when inadvertent)
• Second shot (rebound) in flag down situation
• Offensive team commits a foul (any foul)
• Head of shooters’ stick comes off during the shot
• Stick is declared illegal before the next live ball
• Signal:
• Wave arms below the hips
• Call “no goal!”
• Restart:
• Same as restart after a penalty
Men’s Lacrosse Basic Officiating
BASICS

22. presentation
Play of the Game
Basic Positioning
Basic Procedures
Goals
• Goal call procedure:
• At the time of shooting, lead referee calls “shot!”
• LR blows whistle to stop play when ball goes in the goal
• LR then runs toward the goal
• During run, LR looks at SR to be aware of irregularities
• SR can confirm the goal with a nod or small goal signal
• LR steps into the crease area, and makes signal
• LR signals goal signal and number of the scorer
• LR signals to TR
• TR relays signal to CBO
• Noting assists is up to the bench
• Calling out multiple numbers can cause confusion
Men’s Lacrosse Basic Officiating
BASICS