A Women's Lacrosse Rules Committee is on track to be in place for the 2005-06 season, and while some say this will improve the sport for women at the collegiate level, others believe such a group is not necessary.

The rules committee was first proposed by the Division I Women's Lacrosse Committee, which saw the need for such a group to focus entirely on the women's collegiate game. Presently, rules for women's lacrosse on all levels are determined by US Lacrosse and some claimed those rules are not always compatible with the college game.

"I think that the college game sometimes progresses faster," said Division I committee Chair Kathleen Zerrlaut, associate athletics director at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. "Right now the US Lacrosse rules committee consists of members from youth leagues, club leagues and high-school leagues, and I think they don't always address the particular problems that may occur in the women's college game."

The Division II committee also supported the establishment of a rules committee.

"The women's game continues to develop, and the committee would like to see the NCAA membership control its own game," said Doreen McAfee, chair of the Division II committee and director of women's athletics at Millersville University of Pennsylvania. "Presently, there is concern regarding injuries incurred in the women's game. Establishing an NCAA rules committee would allow the opportunity for such concerns to be addressed via the rules and technology rather than through equipment changes.

"The committee would like the opportunity to control the integrity and essence of the women's game and strongly believes the establishment of a rules committee would be a step in the right direction."

Aid to officiating

Zerrlaut also noted that establishing a rules committee provides an avenue to tap into NCAA funds to help improve the level of officiating and the number of officials. In fact, the Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet and the Divisions II and III Championships Committees have approved the creation of an officiating improvement program for women's lacrosse. It has been recommended for implementation in 2005-06.

The program was recommended by both the Division I and II women's lacrosse committees, but not the Division III committee.

"Women's lacrosse is growing at a great pace, which is a good thing, but unfortunately the growth of the number of officials is not keeping up with the growth of the game," Zerrlaut said.

According to the latest NCAA data, there are 258 women's lacrosse teams across all three divisions. Between 1988-89 and 2001-02, a total of 137 new women's lacrosse teams were added at all three divisions.

But while some say such a committee is a good next step in this growing sport, others in the women's collegiate lacrosse community think that rules put in place by US Lacrosse are sufficient.

"We didn't feel like it was broken, so why fix it?" said Laura Moan, chair of the Division III Women's Lacrosse Committee and head women's lacrosse coach at State University College at Oneonta. "We weren't sure why it should change."

Moan also said her committee thinks collegiate coaches do have adequate input into the rules.

Officials from the national governing body also were disappointed with the decision to form a separate rules committee for the collegiate game.

"A lot of people feel it's unnecessary to have a separate rules committee just for the college game," said Pat Dillon, rules committee chair for US Lacrosse. "I think US Lacrosse has expressed its disappointment that this is happening, and I think a lot of college coaches have expressed that as well."

Dillon, who also serves as an umpire for the sport, said the group's rules committee consists of about 15 people representing all levels of the sport, including those from the collegiate game. She added that the NCAA committee should include both coaches and officials to get the full perspective.

Expeditious change

As currently proposed, the Women's Lacrosse Rules Committee would be composed of nine members, with four from Division I, one from Division II and three from Division III. One additional member would serve as a nonvoting secretary-rules editor and this person may be non-NCAA affiliated to allow for a more objective view of the issues. Zerrlaut said at least 50 percent of the committee's members will be coaches.

Currently, the recommendation for such a committee has been approved by the Division I Championships/Competition Cabinet, and the Divisions II and III Management Councils and Presidents Councils, and it has been put forward as part of the budget process.

If approved, the committee could be in place by September 2005.

"The benefits will be that we will have much more direct control over our game. (Coaches) will have a much more direct voice," said Christine Sailer, a member of the Division I committee and head women's lacrosse coach at Princeton University. "If we want to make changes, we should be able to do that in a more expeditious manner."

Zerrlaut said the decision to create such a committee did not come about quickly.

"We have been talking about this for a while," she said. "Our concern is really the advancement of the game, the rising popularity of the game. We just had to deal with putting the goggles in this year and that didn't go as smoothly as we had hoped -- the actual process -- so I think the rules committee coming on the back of the goggles issue is what kind of gave people a misunderstanding of the whole process.

"In the long run it's going to be best for the college game. We're going to be able to help address what we can see as issues in maybe a more timely fashion and also maybe help promote the officials, which obviously we need."