Volume: 1 Edition (11)
Posted: Monday, November 26th, 2012
“If we can make things better,
how cool is that!”
News: “Face it Majors, it’s just about
here”
As posted on LNSS’s website, major lacrosse players (Junior and Senior),
must comply with the new facemask rules as of January 1st, 2013. A
reprieve was given to major players for 2012 sighting the possible lack of legal
facemasks available at retailers, but that will not wash starting January 1st.
Mike Hayes, LNSS’s President, reminded Club Presidents and
Regional Directors at the November 24th AGM that the new facemask
rule instituted last January 1st, 2012, across Canada, comes into
full effect this New Year. The Technical Bulletin describing what constitutes a
legal facemask for minor and major players can be found at LNSS’s website’s “Bulletins”
menu tab.
A suggestion made by Trege Wilson, the Commissioner of the Maritime
Senior Men’s Lacrosse League, is that a large order should be placed with a
local retailer to help reduce the cost per mask. For those interested, they
should contact Trege through the league’s Facebook site by the same name.
News: “Can’t Fight It!”
Stew Begg, CLA’s VP of International
Competition, gave a presentation to attendees of this year’s LNSS AGM: Fighting
is being taken out of lacrosse, primarily due to the negative publicity it
perpetuates on media like YouTube. Passed at this year’s CLA AGM in BC, the
following is an excerpt of the rule change regarding Fighting (Rule 45):
“(a) A major penalty and game misconduct penalty shall be assessed to any
player/goalkeeper who fights. A goalkeeper penalty shall be served by a player
who was on the floor at the time of the infraction. The
major penalty must be served in its duration.
(b) If there is an instigator or clear
aggressor in a fight, a major penalty
and a game misconduct plus any other penalties shall be assessed to the
offending player(s). Where an instigator
or clear aggressor penalty is assessed the non-offending player shall not
receive a game misconduct under 45 (a).
(c) An
additional game misconduct penalty shall be assessed to a player/goalkeeper who
restarts a fight after once being separated.
NOTE: This does not apply to a
player/goalkeeper defending himself/herself.
(d) A match penalty shall be assessed to any player/goalkeeper involved
in fighting off the playing surface.
(e) Should a fight start on the floor, those
players not involved will immediately move to their respective benches. Should
a fight start near the players’ bench(s), those players not involved will move
to their respective goal creases. Should a fight break out near the goal
crease, the goalkeeper will also move to his/her players’ bench. Failure to do
so may result in the offending player(s)/goalkeeper(s) being assessed game
misconduct penalties.
NOTE: This includes between periods and the
end of the game.”
The rule change also defines issues like “instigator”
and “aggressor” and lists several situations and their consequences. Details
will be up soon on LNSS’s website.
News: “The Straight DOPE!
Scrutiny is not reserved just for elite athletes like Lance Armstrong
when it comes to sports doping, all competitive athletes and coaches need to be
aware of the consequences. Stew Begg, CLA’s VP of Internationals Competition provided
an overview of CLA’s stand and participation in the Canadian Anti-Doping
Program at LNSS’s AGM.
Quoting LNSS’s President Mike Hayes, “all of our athletes participating
in National Championships are subject to testing, (In fact, this applies to all
of our athletes, whether in competition, or not). The CLA office will have some
good materials (PPT, pamphlets, reference cards and website links) that you can
request. The important thing is that the CLA and LNSS work towards general
awareness amongst our members such that no one ever says, “I didn’t know””.
The CLA released the following statement, “The Canadian Lacrosse Association and all
Member Associations (MAs) are committed to building drug-free sport and are
unequivocally opposed, on ethical, medical, and legal grounds, to the practice
of doping in sport. The CLA and MAs
fully support the position of Sport Canada and the Canadian Centre for Ethics
in Sport (CCES) against the use of banned substances and methods.
The CCES is the custodian of the
Canadian Anti-Doping Program (CADP); the set of rules that govern anti-doping
in Canada. The CADP consists of several components such as in- and
out-of-competition testing, education, medical exemptions, and the consequences
of doping violations. The CADP is compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code and
all international standards.
The Canadian Lacrosse Association
endorses and has
adopted the CADP which means lacrosse is part of a world-class
anti-doping program that is designed to protect athletes’ rights and ensure a
level playing field. The CLA's
anti-doping policy reflects and supports the CADP in that no athlete, official,
coach or volunteer shall take prohibited substances, nor should any team official or parent
recommend or condone the use of prohibited
substances. The CLA expects all members of
the lacrosse community to abide by CADP to preserve the integrity of sport.
Any sanction by the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES)
shall be enforced by the CLA.” More details regarding CADP can be found at http://www.cces.ca/en/antidoping/cadp.
News: “Big Winners!”
Lacrosse Nova Scotia honoured this year’s top
coach and team at its annual AGM Awards ceremony. Head Coach of the Year
honours went to Glenn Dunbar, who as Mike Hayes, LNSS’s President said, “Glenn
won the Tripple Crown”: His South West Jr. A team won the ECJLL Championship,
his Founders Cup team won Tier B Gold (and was only two goals short of the Tier
A playoffs) and his Dalhousie Tigers field lacrosse team won the MUFLL
championships.
Other important winners included Team of the
Year honours to the Eastern Shore Breaker’s Jr. B team with its 18-0-2 record and
Manager of the Year honours to Bill Banks of the Women’s Provincial Midget Box
team. This year’s Volunteer of the Year went to coach Brendon Smithson who: was
the head coach of the Millbrook Warriors, the Provincial U16 men’s field team
and the IAS Showcase road team; helped organize the high school field lacrosse
program; and, single handedly created the Miners Youth Lacrosse program, which
included two age divisions with three teams each and about 130 brand new
lacrosse players.
A full list of all winners will be posted
shortly on LNSS’s website.
Column: “Tips from the Crease”
“Education with your lacrosse”
Over the past
month two travel teams headed down to New Hampshire to participate in the annual
Girl’s and Boy’s IAS Showcases. Located in the heart of New England, the girl’s
and men’s IAS lacrosse field showcases are popular events for US college
coaches looking for players about to graduate from high school, or private
academy coaches looking for students to bolster their schools’ rosters.
For coaches
heading up these travel teams, as Danica Cooley (First Women’s team) and
Brendon Smithson (Fourth Men’s team in six years) did this year, the great
reward is giving their players the best opportunity to showcase their athletic,
lacrosse and academic abilities. And our players ARE attracting interest and
being offered opportunities at colleges looking for talent to fill specific
team niches or shaping exceptional players into their programs.
Depending on
the college, some D1 college coaches can offer “full rides” which means a
player could have all their academic financial needs met, but typically, D2 and
D3 coaches can offer much reduced tuitions fees by waiving things like
International and States fees. Several years ago, Husson University was taking
Canadian dollars at par, which at the time made tuition and boarding fees similar
to the cost of going to Acadia University, as coach Mike Hayes discovered.
With the
addition of Glenn Dunbar to LNSS’s executive, as VP Technical Development, Glenn
offers great insight into the US and Canadian recruiting process with two sons
who have both played Canadian and US college lacrosse.
If you have any tips you’d like to share,
email them to lacrossetechdirector@sportnovascotia.ca
Column: “Provincial News”
The Head Coaches for all of the Province’s box
teams were announced at LNSS’s Awards Ceremony:
Women’s Bantam Box – Craig Moore
Women’s Midget Box – Julie Finck and Wayne
Finck
Men’s Pee Wee Box – Mike Smeltzer
Men’s Bantam Box – Tyler James
Men’s Midget Box – Ross Mackay
Founders Cup Team – Glenn Dunbar
Column: NCCP News
Very pleased to announce that newly certified
MLF/ME David Kehoe conducted his first men’s field lacrosse In-person evaluation
with Brendon Smithson and the two passed with flying colours.
Column: “Alumni News”
A very special ceremony capped off LNSS’s AGM
meeting this year. Stew Begg, CLA’s VP of International Competition, present
Steve Brown and Wayne Finck with Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medals. The
Medal is given to those individuals who have made a significant contribution to
Canada or to a particular province, territory, region or community within
Canada. Steve and Wayne’s families were in attendance and shared in the
celebration. Photos will be up soon on LNSS’s website.
News: “Next Month”
Keep track of up-coming events on LNSS’s
website newslider and calendar.
- The quiet before the storm. Look for gym or winter lacrosse sessions at local MMLL clubs.
- Come January, box lacrosse will be offered again at Exhibition Park, Halifax.
“Players should expect the best - We can
deliver”
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