In an adaptation of an article formerly printed in Lacrosse Magazine, women's players and coaches weigh in on the new Hard Boundaries rule

There is an overpowering feeling of ownership among women's lacrosse players. Everyone who has ever played the sport feels it is theirs. And so when U.S. Lacrosse made the controversial decision to place hard boundaries on the women's field starting this season, everyone who has ever enjoyed playing the game has formed an opinion on the new rule's implication for the greater good (or bad) of lacrosse.

"I know the game has changed," says Allison Risch an umpire in the New Hampshire Women's Lacrosse Umpires Association, who refs both high school and college games and is the organization's rules interpreter. "I don't want to sound like an old-timer who's just resistant to change. I've adapted to all the other changes well - and there have been many - but this one is beyond the pall."

Risch says that the new rule is "causing [lacrosse] to be like the other games. It's adding more whistles, more stoppage, more arbitrary exchange of positions."

Her colleague, Agnes Kurtz, agrees. Kurtz has been a prominent figure in the game since 1962. She was the first head coach at Dartmouth and was a member of the U.S. National team in 1964 and 1970. She has been a national women's lacrosse referee for over 40 years and she is currently umping high school games in New Hampshire.

"The game just seemed so free when I played in the '60's," Kurtz says. "This rule just doesn't seem necessary. It really changes the game and I still haven't hear a good explanation for its existence."

Leah Dubie, a former Hofstra standout in her first season as head coach of the girl's junior varsity squad at The Pingry School in New Jersey and a current post-collegiate club participant, is also a lacrosse traditionalist.

"I always thought of lacrosse as a game where the ball is always in the air, never on the ground or just hanging out in a stick," she says. "The transition game in women's lacrosse is artfully athletic and very poetic, there is a free-flowing feel to it. This rule almost eliminates that and changes the game into the men's version. It takes away its grace and it rewards players who can just muscle their way past defenders."

She feels that it takes away from the essence of women's lacrosse, which, in her estimation, appeals to a different kind of athlete.

"Then again," Dubie added jokingly, "if I was in charge of women's lacrosse, I'd require everyone to use a wooden stick."

But it seems this new generation of players, nurtured on plastic sticks, a physical game that now requires protective eyewear and Under Armour skirts instead of traditional kilts are excited about the hard boundaries rule.

Natasha Fuchs, a sophomore at Virginia Tech loves the implementation of the new rule.

"It makes the game faster and more fair," she says. "You shouldn't be able to run out of bounds and still have possession of the ball. There should be boundaries. I think its going to help a lot of people out with their stick skills and with passing and throwing."

Fuchs, like many other college players, has been playing with the new rule since the summer. Most college programs adopted the new rule as soon as administrators and coaches heard that the change would most likely go into effect this season.

"It took a day or so to get used to [the boundaries], but once you get used to them its not a big deal at all," Fuchs says.

It seems the entire team at Stonehill College is more than happy to play with hard boundaries according to head coach Michael Daly.

"This rule rewards teams that run goo mid-field pressure," Daly says. "It's just like basketball, you can use the sideline to your advantage."

Cece Berger, the director of Westchester Elite Lacrosse and the head coach at Scarsdale Public Schools in Westchester, N.Y., is very happy about the rule change.

"At the high school level, think about the girl who cannot pick up a ground ball," she implores. "She flips it and flips it and eventually she flips it out of bounds, yet she is awarded possession of the ball because she's closest to it. That's not fair to reward her for having poor stick skills. This [rule] will make her bend down and pick it up right the first time."

Megan Matthews, Berger's assistant coach, was against the rule at first, until she saw it applied during games. "This rule raises the level of play," Matthews says. "If you don't have a good pass, you hold it back. Players are wiser with their decisions on the field."

Matthews also noted that the new rule seemed to arise from a logical evolution.

"In high school, out-of-bounds rules were subjective last year," Matthews says. "Playing a game on a grass field could have different 'hard boundaries' depending on who was officiating the game. Now we see more games played on a turf with actual man made boundaries, where it hits the track when the ball goes out of bounds. Why not use it and make [the boundaries] uniform across whatever field you play?"

Matthews is now adapting to playing with the new hard boundaries rule in her own games as a post-collegiate player. London Jones, an assistant coach at Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey also had misgivings about the new rule until she coached some games when the rule was in effect.

"Initially I was against it, I thought it would really take away from the game and the hustle that is traditionally known in women's lacrosse," Jones says. "But now I see that it is transforming hustle players into skillful players. It forces them to go the extra mile to reach out and grab that ball."

Another positive effect of the hard boundaries rule Jones noticed was they way teams have had to adjust their goalie clears.

"A lot of teams used to depend on the lob clear," she says. "They didn't have to make a good clear, they just had to get the ball close to a player, even if it landed out of bounds. It's making people own up to their mistakes."

Ilene Cunningham, head coach at Stevens, says that the main effect of the new rule will take place in the midfield. "It's just like basketball," Cunningham says. "Now you have more options in the middle rather than throwing the ball up the side."

"As a traditionalist you don't want to see a change in the game," she added. "But now, you get penalized for not taking care of the ball and every sport is like that. This hurts teams that are faster than other teams but at a lower skill level, which is a positive thing."

Stephanie Linder, a sophomore at Stevens agreed with her coaches.

"I do miss not having [boundaries], it was a lot easier to get [the ball] back," she says. "But I'm starting to like it a lot more now. It will make the game faster and it will improve everyone's skills."

Melissa Scott, a senior at Stevens has always been in favor of hard boundaries.

"I'm all for it," the enthusiastic defender says. "You have to think of a different game plan, you have to use the sideline to your advantage, the goalies have to be more accurate on the clear. It just brings the level of play up." But her younger teammate disagrees. Kaitlyn Roes, a sophomore, thinks the rule "takes away from the uniqueness of the game."

Furthermore, she doesn't think the rule really motivates players to hustle to catch the ball or work on their skills. "I liked the hustle on the sideline and how you had to work to get possession," Roes says of the way the game was played before the hard boundaries rule came into effect. "Now when people see a pass is going out of bounds, no one rushes to get it anymore because they know there's no point. People don't work as hard to get the ball."

Pat Dillon, the chair of the Rules Committee, says this rule has been in discussion for some time because of the advent of the turf game.

"The fact that we aren't playing on wide open spaces anymore makes calling 'out-of-bounds' easier," she says. "[Umpire] discrepancies in calling 'out-of-bounds' depending on the field was becoming much too contentious of an issue."

With lacrosse growing in popularity across the United States, players and coaches are trapped between the old-fashioned ideals of the game and ushering the game into its future. No doubt this new rule will have the most critical impact on the direction of the game. But in what direction will it go? No one seems to know.

One thing is for sure, older players in the post-collegiate club pool may have a harder time adjusting to the new rule changes than some of the younger players in high school and college as they may mourn the changes in the sport from their youth. But, as for now, there doesn't seem to be much choice in the matter… and the women's lacrosse community has always been adaptable.


To submit something for publication, please contact our editor Dana Czapnik at danaczapnik@yahoo.com.