PLAY-ON TECHNIQUE

1. PLAY-ON TECHNIQUE The Technical Fouls (Pushing, Holding, Warding off, Illegal offensive screening, interference, withholding ball) Fouls that cause an unfair advantage!

2. PLAY-ON TECHNIQUE TECHNICAL FOULS + PLAY-ONs Penalty Enforcement • If the ball is loose, there should be a Play-On, and if the offended team does not gain possession, they are awarded the ball at the spot where the ball is– • if ball was inside the attack area--- then move Laterally outside attack area. • Play-ons are also used for crease violations and goal keeper interference and all loose ball line violations

3. PLAY-ON TECHNIQUE TECHNICAL FOULS Penalty Enforcement • If the team that has possession commits a technical foul, there is an immediate whistle and the ball is awarded to the opposing team at the spot or outside the attack area. • If Team A has possession and Team B commits a technical foul (other than goalie interference or crease violations) the Flag down, Slow-Whistle (FDSW) technique is used. If Team A does not score a goal during the FDSW situation, then the player committing the foul will serve a 30-second penalty. • If the ball was blown dead in the offended team’s defensive half, they will be awarded ball just over midfield (Free Clear) • If blown dead in the team’s offensive half, the ball is awarded at the spot or laterally outside the attack area closest to where the ball was. • If the offended team A scores a goal during the flag down situation, then the technical foul penalty is wiped out by the goal. Wave flag overhead and re-affirm goal is good.

4. TPOAD(The Principle of Advantage Disadvantage) Advantage/disadvantage is best left to "judgment" calls, not to clear rule infractions. Judgment calls you can always say "Hey, it was my call and I don't think it was a push". You cannot say "Hey, B1 was clearly 5 feet over the line, but I'm not going to call it this time". Applying TPOAD is important in lacrosse because it keeps the game moving. If you called everything that was technically a rules violation even if there was no advantage gained, a high school game would take 2.5 hours. PLAY-ON TECHNIQUE

5. Good Officiating tips to live by: • “Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance” • “If you are not getting better - you must be getting worse.” • “It is not who you are - it is who people think you are.”

6. Play-On Technique PLAY-ON Technique (7-10) • Remember to use the PLAY-ON for all loose ball or line violation technical fouls and crease violations and goalie interference. • Raised hand and Verbal Play-on! • If the offended team gets possession, point in the direction of play and indicate the offended team (e.g., “Blue ball!”) to signal the end of the play-on

7. Play-On Technique • Why the “Game Interrupter”? • The main idea behind the play-on, it allows play to continue so that a team that is on the receiving end of a loose ball Technical foul can continue play with out being disadvantaged. It also adds the feature of improving the flow of the game by reducing the number of whistles.

8. Play-On Technique • Play-on enforcement : If the offended player gains possession, the whistle is not blown and no penalty is given. If the offended player fails to gain possession , then the whistle is blown and the ball awarded to the team fouled. • Crease violation play-on enforcement: (a) If the goalkeeper with possession, continues to play on, withhold the whistle, no penalty if the offended team maintains advantage of the ball. (b) If the goalkeeper, with possession does not play on, the whistle is blown and the ball is awarded to the offended team in it’s offensive half at center X, no penalty time served.

9. Play-On Technique • Watch for residual action from any play • Short: “Loose … push … blue ball!” or even “Push … blue ball!” • Make call loud and clear, with big signals! • Move ball out of Zone 4 if necessary • Quick restart: everyone should be “in the play” (exceptions: 5-count for GK out of crease, player too close on free play)

10. Play-On Technique Things to Consider on Play-ons: Letting loose ball scrums continue too long can be hazardous where players are much more likely to get hurt or a team to get a personal foul. If you let a play-on continue to long you risk having the other team commit a personal foul and then you have simultaneous fouls and confusing over why a player has to serve time for a loose ball technical foul.

11. Play-On Technique When to use short play-ons: • At higher levels of play, don’t let the play-on go on for more than a few seconds and even less if it’s obvious the offended team will not have an advantage and would rather have a restart. Examples include: • Near sidelines, end lines, or in a large group scrum where the ball will be check out as soon as it is scooped up. • Plus most EAST-WEST play-ons, that is going across the field toward sidelines. • The farther from the offended team’s goal, the shorter the play-on should be. • The defensive team would rather have a nice clean re-start with un-interrupted possession of the ball than the possibility of scooping it and loosing it quickly after gaining possession.

12. Play-On Technique When to use short play-ons cont’d: • If it seems like it might be near the end of a 10 or 20 second, consider a shorter play-on. This will simply help avoid the situation where you have two fouls to consider and sort out rather than just one. • Near the end of a quarter or when a penalty is in effect, consider a shorter play-on. Generally a team with little time remaining either in a quarter or in penalty will have a greater advantage with possession, so you are not creating a disadvantage by ending the play-on. • Consider how the teams are playing. If a game is getting physical, consider a shortening your play-ons to give players fewer opportunities to commit other fouls during loose balls. Stopping play and awarding possession can settle a game and avoid both fouls and even injuries.

13. Play-On Technique When to use short play-ons cont’d: • The lower the level of play the shorter the play-ons should be. • Call play-on and than immediately blow the whistle since this communicates that you know the ball was loose and a technical foul was committed. Delaying the whistle for a technical foul makes it more difficult for the players to know exactly what behavior is being penalized and hopefully learn from it.

14. Play-On Technique When to use short play-ons cont’d. • The more players around the ball, the shorter the play-on. • When there are lots of players around the ball, it is difficult for one player or team to get an advantage. Even if a player scoops the ball, it is often checked out of his stick immediately. In that case, the offended team has been disadvantaged by your decision to let play go on: had you blown the whistle they’d have possession with a clean restart, but the play-on ended when he gained possession and now the ball is back on the ground. • In addition, with more players around the ball, there is a greater chance of another foul being committed.

15. Play-On Technique When to use short play-ons cont’d. • Play-ons for loose, rolling balls toward midfield line with players lined up on other side of midfield line and someone goes off sides • If let go too long, when the ball becomes possessed, a player who went off sides may still be off and now you have a time-serving penalty.

16. Play-On Technique Examples of When to use longer play-ons: • North-South going play-ons especially in the attack area are better to let go on. • Play-ons favoring the Attacking team in their Attack area are better than play-ons favoring the defensive team in their defensive end in most cases. • The closer to the offending team’s goal, the longer the play-on: if the defense commits a loose-ball technical in front of their goal, the attacking team has a good chance of scoring and so the play-on should be allowed to continue a little longer than usual to allow the possibility of a scoop and shot. In this case, a quick whistle really does take away an advantage.

17. Play-On Technique • A common rule of thumb is that, in general, no play-on should go on for more than about 3 seconds unless the ball is rolling away from most of the players and if the offended team is uncontested as it attempts to run down the loose ball. • The play-on is one area where the rules specifically ask officials to consider advantage/disadvantage when making a call. A key point here is that the play-on is intended to allow the offended team to keep an advantage, not to see if they might eventually be able to gain an advantage. • Some officials use the play-on as a clock-management tool, thinking that just maybe—if they let the play on go for long enough—the offended team will pick up the ball so the official doesn’t have to blow the whistle and stop the clock. While this may get you home 20 seconds earlier, it’s poor game management and can lead to a host of other problems.

18. Play-On Technique When a play-on lingers it often makes understanding the call harder. Lacrosse is a fast-moving game, and a lot can happen in just a few seconds. The longer the time between the offending action and the whistle, the more likely there will be some confusion and misunderstanding from players, coaches, fans and even your crewmates.

19. Play-On Technique Some play-ons are extremely short. However, it is still a good practice to call the play-on even if you intend to blow it dead immediately, because it gets you in the habit of doing it when you need to and it also communicates to the coaches and players that you know what you’re doing well enough to use the play-on technique. If you simply blow the whistle when you see a loose-ball technical foul, they may think you don’t know that a play-on can be used there. Keep your play-ons short

20. Play-On Technique Play-On Rulings: • 4.5 SITUATION: During normal play, A1 makes a pass to teammate A2. While the ball is in flight, B1 commits (a) a technical foul or (b) a personal foul. RULING: In (a) the official calls out “play on” and if the pass is completed, the “play-on” is over. In (b), flag down, slow whistle • “re: situation 4.5....A1 in possession outside the attack box. 10 second count is underway when A1 passes to A2 who is also outside the box. While the ball is in flight B1 pushes A1. (a) Does Team A get a new 10 second count when A2 catches the ball? (b) If A2 doesn't catch the ball?” (a) & (b) Absolutely! If there's a play-on for a foul by Team B and Team A regains possession, give the reset signal and start a new count.The same would be true for goalie interference on a clearing pass: reset your 20-second timer.

21. Play-On Technique

22. Play-On Technique

23. Slow Whistle Technique • If a Defending player commits a foul against an attacking player and an Attacking player has Possession of the ball (foul could be against player in possession or some other player of the Attacking team) and the act of fouling does not cause the player in possession to loose possession, the official shall drop (throw straight up in the air) a signal flag and verbally signal “Flag down”

24. Slow Whistle Technique • Flag down with hold whistle until any of the following occurs: • A goal is scored • Ball goes OOB • Defending team gains possession of the ball • A shot is taken that does not result in a goal • The ball enters the goal area or is in the goal area at time of foul occurs and then moves out of goal area. • An injury to a player or either team and deemed serious enough for immediate whistle • Player loses any of the required equipment in a scrimmage area • A loose ball results, when the ball hits the ground(not a bounce shot) • A player on the attacking team commits a foul • The ball was in defensive half and failure to advance

25. Slow Whistle Technique • Enforcement after Slow Whistle • If Personal foul committed player suspended from game for designated penalty time regardless if goal is scored • If a goal is scored after FDSW on a technical foul, no penalty time is given. If goal is not scored, the penalty for Tech foul is 30 seconds • If a goal is scored after FDSW and it is found that there were simultaneous fouls committed before the whistle was blown signaling scoring of goal, the goal is disallowed, regardless of the nature of the foul on the attacking team.

26. Slow Whistle Technique The wise official only shouts "shot" [a] after the ball hits the ground [b] and, as Trail, only if Lead needs help making the end line call. Thus, once the play ends, neither coach can use the official's signal / words against them. This gives the crew some latitude in the situation being discussed, i.e., the 'shot' never touches the ground and is caught by another attacker (turns out to be a pass). ("Coach, that was a great pass. Play until the whistle sounds. Goal is good.") 7.9 Situation I: During FDSW, A1shoots the ball toward goal. A2 catches the ball and shoots it into goal. Ruling: Legal goal. What appeared to be a shot turned out to be a pass. What if shot passes goal and is caught by teammate behind goal? Is this a pass no whistle?

27. Penalty Enforcement • Don’t Do Play-by-Play: • Choose your words carefully, eliminate excess! • Nothing drives me nuts more than working with a guy who goes into "I've got a loose ball push from behind on 23 blue, we're going green! " First of all, it's too long, plus it communicates a lot of unnecessary information, has a lot of "filler," and makes it personal ("I've got . . ."). And those 10 extra words on every call add up over the course of a game.There are times when a little extra explanation is warranted. For example, on a faceoff: “Official: Illegal procedure, blue ball!”On something like that, can give a short explanation: "Illegal procedure, blue ball, back hand lifted!" or “went early”. But I don't "got" anything.The trend is toward even shorter explanations: we’ve should be convinced to shorten "Loose ball push, blue ball" to "Loose. . .push. . .blue ball,“ and there are those that say we should even drop the "loose" unless there could be any question about whether there had been possession. After all, if there's no flag and we're just awarding possession, it must have been loose, right?

28. Penalty Enforcement • Coaches want to know whose ball it is and what direction immediately in order to get subs on ASAP. So when calling OOBs, they hear the first color “Off White” and start thinking offense (White Ball) and getting subs ready, then the Official yells “Blue Ball” and now they realize his team is on defense and might have started subbing for offense. • Don’t confuse everyone: Just state whose ball It Is going to be only.

29. Restarts • DEAD BALL OFFICIATING • When the whistle blows the ball dead, you’re attentiveness must go up!! Don’t go after balls! • Don’t take you eyes off the players on the field. (By pointing and starring in that direction away from players) • Some very experienced officials once told me to pay attention when the ball was live, but to pay even more attention when the ball's dead. • Referees often tend to focus on getting the ball, signaling to the benches, and their attention is divided. • Plus players fouled against aren't expecting it (you paying attention), and the potential for offense and later retaliation is great.

30. Restarts • Restarts following a time-out shall be nearest the spot where the ball was at the time the whistle was blown. A ball in the goal area shall be restarted laterally outside the goal area nearest to the spot of the ball at the time of the whistle. A ball that has crossed the end line shall be restarted at that spot.

31. Restarts • Make sure the player in possession is standing on the field, at least one yard in from sideline or 5 yards from sub box and no player including his own teammates are within 5 yards of him. If players are closer warn them to get back while starting a visual 5 second count. If players don’t move call a delay of game. • Once the referee has signaled the ball ready for play, the official shall resume play within five seconds. • Announce to Goalie where the ball is on a restart if there is penalty time: “Keeper man-down 1 minute- Ball top right”. • If the goalkeeper is out of the net and a turnover occurs which results in a whistle to stop play, he shall be given how much time to get back to his position? • RULING: The goalie should be allowed a maximum of five seconds to reenter the crease on any restart.

32. Restarts In the event of an offensive violation (crease, illegal screen, loose ball technical fouls) with the option as to which side of field to restart deep in defensive end, always pick goalie’s left side where the New Trail will blow in restart and start beeper. Compliance through cooperation beats compliance through coercion every time. Saying “Guys, I need your help here. Could you please move back a couple of feet and get behind that line. Thanks a lot, guys. I appreciate it” is a lot more effective than “Get back or I’ll flag you!!!”

33. Restarts Player A1 is given the ball for a restart. Which of the following is permitted? A: B1 is 4 yards away. B: A2 is 3 yards away. C: A1 is 3 yards away from the special substitution area (aka "the box"). D: none of the choices are permitted.

34. Restarts • By the rules there's no reason we can't call any technical foul during a dead ball, but by TPOAD there are a bunch we don't. Usually. But if the situation were right, you really might call some of these things during a dead ball. Good example--and I've never had to call this, but I would if I saw it--is if you're about to restart play with A1 in possession and A2 cuts so he'll be open to receive a pass as soon as you blow the whistle, but A3 sets an illegal screen to free up A2. It's a dead-technical, but by TPOAD (see the acronym dictionary thread at the top of the forum) you have to make that call.Do these calls happen often? No, not at all, because most technical fouls other than IP and conduct fouls shouldn't be called because of TPOAD. But when those dead-ball fouls do confer an advantage, call 'em!