The Men's Lacrosse Committee discussed next year's championships, which will be conducted at Ravens Stadium in Baltimore, and adjustments in playing rules during its June 9-13 meeting in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

Regarding next year's championships on Memorial Day weekend in Baltimore, the committee noted that playing in such a venue provides the sport with opportunities that will require extensive planning and marketing.

One change will be that for the first time, the Division II championship game will be played in the stadium that houses the Division I semifinals and the Divisions I and III finals. Previously, the Division II game was played at an adjacent field on the same campus site as the other championship games. In light of adding one game to the ticket package and the unique setting, the committee will increase all ticket prices by $5. A standard three-day ticket will be $40, a single-day Division I ticket will be $25 and a ticket for the Divisions II and III championships will be $15. A three-day club-level ticket will be offered at $60.

The committee also discussed the issue of attracting individuals into the field of officiating. In an effort to boost the number of new officials, the committee will publicize promotional material in the championship programs and on the NCAA Web site and telecasts, as well as in various magazines and on independent Web sites. The committee also will work with USLacrosse and other coaches around the country to have the issue addressed in summer camps and YES clinics, and communicated to players who are graduating and may not be aware of the opportunities available.

Selection issues

The committee determined that the selections for all championship competition would be announced during an Indianapolis-based television show that would air the evening of May 4. Division I again would convene in person, while Divisions II and III would meet by teleconference.

In an effort to better inform the membership and the public of the criteria for selecting teams for each tournament and deflect public criticism of selections, the committees will post their respective criteria on television before the announcements, as well as seek to have the criteria published in various national media outlets early in the season and shortly before selections. The committee received public criticism for some of this year's selections, but after reviewing the criteria, the group felt the selections were consistent with the criteria, and that some of that criticism would have been lessened had the public and media better understood the criteria.

Regarding playing rules, the committee determined that it would not pass major rules changes without having teams test them in the fall scrimmage season of the school year preceding the one in which the rules might be implemented. For instance, a major rules change under consideration for the 2004 season would be experimented with in the fall of this year.

In other rules issues that affect all divisions, the committee:

Determined that the largest goalkeeper's glove on the market would be scientifically measured and those specifications would then be established as the legal limits. Previously, there had been not limit in size.

Charged the chair with contacting an independent researcher to scientifically measure the heads of all lacrosse sticks on the market to help the committee in determining legal limits. The measurements will be taken at distances of 1 1/4 inches and five inches up from the stop. Current rules establish no limits on how narrow a stick head can be at these points. Any change the committee made would not be effective until the 2004 season at the earliest.

Removed the 1 1/2-inch facemask requirement for helmets because such a measurement is not given in other sports in which helmets are required. Instead, those sports require the helmets and facemasks only to be NOCSAE certified. The new language for the rules book will be: "All players shall wear helmets that carry a warning label regarding the risk of injury and a manufacturer's or reconditioner's certification indicating satisfaction of NOCSAE test standards. All such reconditioned helmets shall show recertification to indicate satisfaction with the NOCSAE standard."

Added a rule that shoulder pads may not be altered. The penalty for an infraction would be a one-minute nonreleasable penalty, just as that for other illegal equipment, as well as removal of the equipment from the game.

Changed the opening-game coin toss procedure so that the winning team gets choice of goal or first alternate possession (losing team gets the option the winning team declines). Previously, the team that won the toss chose which goal it wanted and the opponent got the first alternate possession.

Limited goal nets to one color with no additions to the nets permitted. Both nets must be of the same solid color.

Other highlights

Men's Lacrosse Committee
June 9-13/Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

In addition to the actions taken by the committee that are described in the accompanying article, the divisional men's lacrosse championships committees took the following division-specific actions:

Discussed a proposal to adjust the selection criteria for the championship. The committee will reconvene by conference call later this month to determine if such a change will be recommended to the Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet.

Addressed opportunities and challenges presented by the expansion to a 16-team bracket that will take place for 2003. Such a change will put the first-round games that were held at predetermined sites the past two years back on the campus of one of the competing teams. The change also will eliminate the first-round byes that had been granted to the top four seeded teams.

Recommended that the Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet grant permission to seed eight teams as opposed to four. Such flexibility would allow the committee to create more competitive matchups rather than having to meet geographical guidelines. Because of the regional proximity of all the institutions that sponsor Division I lacrosse, the committee does not feel that such flexibility would increase expenses as it might in other sports. The starting time for each game would be decided by the two institutions at each site. If they cannot agree, the committee would establish a time. Because of the change, the committee asked the NCAA staff to send a letter to sponsoring schools at the beginning of the season to remind institutions that expect to contend to reserve hotel rooms for the visiting team for the weekend of the first-round games in case they would host. The committee also recommended that conference teams not be permitted to meet in the first-round games.

Required that effective in 2003, the runner-up trophy be presented on the field before the championship trophy is presented. Previously, the runner-up trophy had been presented in the locker room.

Noted that the Colonial Athletic Association champion will receive automatic qualification next year, bringing the total of AQ conferences to seven, up from six last year.

Recommended that Chappy Menninger, director of athletics at Mount St. Mary's College, succeed Harry Royle as chair of the Division I committee, and Phil Buttafuoco, commissioner of the Eastern College Athletic Conference, as chair of the joint committee.

Recommended to the Division II Championships Committee that effective in 2003, the Northeast 10 Conference, Deep South Conference and New York College Athletic Conference champions receive automatic bids to the tournament and that the field be completed with one at-large selection. The rationale is that such a change would make the selections more representative of the number of teams in each region. This past season, there were 20 teams in the Northeast and nine teams in the Southwest. The change would guarantee the Northeast two teams and the Southwest one team every year with the fourth team being the strongest team left in the field, as decided by the committee, regardless of region. For the past two years, two teams have been selected from the each of the two regions.

Division III

Noted that the Little East Conference champion would receive automatic qualification next season and that the conference would become a member of the North region. The addition brings the number of AQ conferences in the North to eight. Five conference champions advance automatically in the South region.

Recommended that Jim Zalacca, director of athletics at State University College of New York at Potsdam, succeed Buttafuoco as divisional chair.