Lacrosse Updates From Around Utah, NCAA Rule Changes & Racism in Lacrosse
Issue 31
Good afternoon everyone and thank you for spending some time reading the Utah Lax Report. Let’s get to it!
Cache Valley Tournament
The boys high school teams in Cache Valley played last weekend in a tournament to officially wrap up the season. Six teams competed: Bear River, Box Elder, Green Canyon, Logan, Ridgeline (with some Mountain Crest players) and Sky View. I spoke with Troy Oldham, Green Canyon head coach who said, “All players, coaches, and spectators were screened with thermometers whenever they entered the fenced-in field area. Everyone was very willing to follow all the rules, and they did a good job distancing themselves on the sideline, and around the field. All coaches wore masks, we played with no face off, and just cheers and elbow bumps at the end.”
The results were favorable for Green Canyon who battled Box Elder in a 6-5 championship win for the Wolves.
IMLAX High School League
The IMLAX high school league will begin this Friday. You can see the whole schedule by going to the IMLAX website and going to Team Pages -> Select the 2020 Spring IMLAX Boys -> Varsity and then select schedule on the left side navigation. There are games on Friday and Saturday and all games will take place at the Legacy Events Center in Farmington. The league will then play on June 10 at the Weber Fairgrounds and June 13 at Legacy. The top two teams will play for a championship on June 13.
NCAA Rule Changes
There are likely some new rules coming to the NCAA. Inside Lacrosse has a great rundown of the new changes. There is always controversy around the rule changes and this time it stems at the face-off X where they are proposing neither player will be able to have a knee on the ground (will have to be standing, bending over) and tweaks to the grip. What do you think of the new changes?
Racism in Lacrosse
A lot can be said about racism in lacrosse. Whenever Hollywood wants to stereotype a sport as white, it’s ours, but I don’t think we need to talk about that today. I think we need to talk about what needs to happen moving forward. To that, I look at the message the PLL sent.
I also look to the message Nat St. Laurent sent to coaches and leaders (and parents).
Then I saw this from Kyle Harrison and it all came full circle.
So please, no matter what race you are, please be kind to those around you and to those who are different from you. Please don’t stereotype others. Please show respect to others. Racist jokes aren’t funny. Racism is real and it’s time to stand up and eradicate it together by fixing it in your heart, home, practice field, school, locker room, bus ride, and neighborhood.
— Tim Haslam