An important part of becoming a successful student-athlete is knowing how to gain an edge over the competition. But there are some in the men's lacrosse community who fear this desire to get the upper hand has gone too far.

There is concern that some players are manipulating face-offs to gain an unfair advantage over opponents.

"The face-off situation in men's lacrosse is a unique aspect of our game, and many of us feel that it's an important and integral part of the game," said Willie Scroggs, senior associate director of athletics at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and chair of the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Rules Committee.

"We want the face-off in men's lacrosse to continue to have an important role, but we also want it to be fair to both teams," Scroggs said. "What we're trying to do is review the entire situation to make it as fair for both teams involved and also for the officials to be able to adjudicate the situation to make sure someone isn't taking advantage."

Some in the lacrosse community are concerned players are doctoring their sticks or using other illegal methods to gain an advantage. They say being a skilled face-off specialist is one thing, but cheating is another.

"There are face-off specialists out there and I think like everything else, no matter what you do, they're going to find a way to circumvent the system," said Jim Stagnitta, men's lacrosse coach at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, and president of the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association. "Just the ability to reshape pockets and equipment has really led to an advantage, and if they can find a way to keep that throat size consistent I think that would probably help a lot."

Scroggs said there are standards for the front of the lacrosse stick, but none for the backside. Although the rules specifically forbid altering a stick as it comes from the manufacturer, student-athletes can get away with doctoring the back of the sticks to gain an advantage during face-offs, because they use the back of the stick to gain possession of the ball.

"I think the coaches are saying the sticks coming from the manufacturers have not been doctored and they're very narrow on the backside and we don't have a standard for the backside of the stick right now," he said. "Everyone was concerned about the front of the stick, because everyone plays with the front of the stick, but it seems like sticks are being manufactured so that you could pick up a ball off the ground with the back of your stick.

"That's what these kids have discovered they can do and we feel like that's not in the best interests of the game," Scroggs said. "They even have a name for that move -- it's called the plunger."

Something drastic needed

Scroggs said the issue has been discussed by the rules committee and the group plans to look at the specifications of the lacrosse sticks and possibly work with the manufacturers to address the situation.

Dave Webster, men's lacrosse coach at Dickinson College and a member of the rules committee, said he agreed the committee should look at the issue and collect coaches' feedback on the matter.

"Any athlete tries to get an advantage over his opponent -- that's part of being a competitive athlete," he said. "It's kind of a passionate thing for some, and for others, like myself, we just want to take our time and make sure we're doing the right thing for our athletes and for the game."

Others in the sport, however, say a more drastic change may be needed.

"I think something needs to be done to make it a cleaner face-off," said Scott Marr, men's lacrosse coach at the University at Albany. "With guys having the ball get caught in the back of their stick, or a kid having the ability to cheat with leaning his stick forward or putting his pole over the line, I just think it needs to be cleaned up a little bit -- make it more of an initiation of play and just get the ball out and make it a ground ball."

Marr said he would like to see the ball placed in the middle of the players' sticks and their sticks placed four inches or so off the midfield line. Currently, he said, the sticks are basically on either side of the midfield line, which is a four-inch stripe.

"It does make it less of a dominant position, if you're making it just into a ground ball, but then you're getting away from every game you play -- he's leaning in, he's doing this. It's just getting old," he said. "I think some of us are just tired of arguing about it every game. It seems like we're nitpicking a lot about the face-off, and I think we could just make it easier by cleaning it up."

Difficult to officiate

Warren Kimber, national coordinator of officials for the sport, said officials have changed their own mechanics in the past two years to put themselves in a better position to see violations during the face-off. These infractions could include jumping the whistle, a player not placing his hands in the correct position at face-off or players wrapping their fingers around the plastic and squeezing it together so the wide walls are closer together, creating an advantage to clamp the ball.

"It's one of the most difficult plays to officiate because it's so quick," Kimber said of the face-off. "Officiating is reactive and the players are proactive, so every year we have to take a look at what players do to try and gain an advantage in that play, and then we have to try to come up with ways of eliminating the ability to gain that advantage."

Despite any possible drawbacks the face-off may have, Kimber stressed that it's an exciting play and to take it out would ruin a tradition of the game.

Stagnitta said that coaches and others involved in the game have had lengthy discussions about the situation and there doesn't seem to be any firm consensus on how to improve things.

"Everything from having a template for the stick or changing the face-off mechanics, to completely changing how you would approach a face-off," he said has been up for discussion. "It's become more prevalent and it's become a point of emphasis. It's something that people are going to watch closely."