'hard hitters' was not meant as teams purposely out to hurt and play with intent to hurt. It was meant has very good physical teams play each other on the first day. Sorry you took it that way and felt the need to rant on because you are a referee. I have never seen any team at this level out to purposely or promote Neanderthal behavior.Does it occasionally happen yes but to state that on this forum that it is promoted is a stab at all the hard work and dedication that the players and coaches put into a season. Congratulations on being a D-1 level ref. Yes, every parent on this thread and at the 2022 elite level has noticed and promotes the safety of all lacrosse players.They are big advocates supporters of Safety in this sport. Being a referee doesn't make you the authority on this matter.Stating that certain teams promote this behavior makes me very suspect on your ability to call a fair game. Very good lacrosse IQ and very good and well respected coaches teaches our boys good lacrosse. I hope you and your counter parts this year will do a better job of calling these games because the past few years it has been mediocre at best. I hope you are putting as much time mastering your job as the Coaches and players have put in to play good lacrosse. In case you haven't noticed-
Look forward to heckling you on the side line this year. Cheers
You are wrong about certain teams promoting these type of hits. The refs, other coaches and involved parents know who they are and watch very carefully when they play. Refs do call a very fair game when one of these teams play but they also have the responsibility to protect the players on the other team. We can always use more refs as the game is expanding. Why don't you look into becoming a ref, you seem to feel you have the ability to criticize how refs call games in the past few years. Do you think you can do better? Try it sometime and see how much of a challenge it is, especially as the kids get older and the game moves faster. Don't forget, refs also put in a lot of time, many meetings before the season starts and all of the games throughout the spring/summer and fall. If you feel good about yourself heckling refs, have at it but don't take it too far or you just may winds up not just out of the game area but out of the entire facility area. You have no idea how many times refs, not just lacrosse but from other sports as well have been threatened after games but out of control idiotic parents. Think that's fair? Lastly, I was not ranting, I don't do that, sorry you took it that way. Just giving a heads up of what is out there and what is being done to control it and protect the safety of all players. That is the top priority.
