In 2021-2022, the former Box Sector Chair for Lacrosse Canada held consultations with the two Senior A and three Junior A leagues in Canada to craft new rules. The purpose was to better align with the rules of the National Lacrosse League. The decision was not to adopt the entire NLL rule book, but to choose some of their better rules that make the game faster, safer, and more exciting. This included items like 8 seconds to get across half, no over and back at centre, new face-off alignments, penalties for offensive too many men, three person officiating crews, and several others. These rules were then implemented for Senior A/Junior A for the 2022 season.
Since that time we have had requests to standardize the rules across the RMLL. This was due for several reasons. First, people liked the new rules. Second, the referees wanted a consistent rule book across all major lacrosse divisions. Third, some teams wanted the same rules because of player mobility between Junior B and Junior A. In fact, both Alberta Series Lacrosse (SrB) and JrB Tier 1 adopted the three person officiating crews, but not the new rules, in 2022.
At the RMLL planning meetings in November 2023, there was discussion about standardizing the rules. Teams debated it and there was no consensus. Some teams were in favour, but others were opposed. Much of the disagreement was about whether the rules would be used in Lacrosse Canada national championships. The RMLL Executive made numerous inquiries, but could not get a full confirmation. Finally, with the season approaching and the RMLL officials “uber” clinic quickly arriving, the RMLL Executive decided, based on the best interest of major lacrosse for all teams/divisions, that we would use a standardized set of rules in the entire RMLL. We firmly believe that this will eventually be the norm across Canada.
The full set of 2024 RMLL Rules can be found here https://rockymountainlax.com/2024-rmll-playing-rules/
The casebook for RMLL officials, which incorporates situations flowing from the 2024 can be found here https://rockymountainlax.com/rmll-casebook/
The new floor markings, which have been distributed to the arenas, can be found here https://rockymountainlax.com/2024-rmll-box-diagram/
