Women's Collegiate Lacrosse Rules

Women's lacrosse is a non-contact sport played in high school and college. Each player posses a crosse which has netting on one end and a stick on the other end. Players run back and forth on the field to try and score goals by passing a ball from one crosse to another. The rules for collegiate lacrosse come from the NCAA.

Field Boundaries

The dimensions of a women's lacrosse field is between 110 and 140 yards from end line to end line and 60 to 70 yards from sideline to sideline. On this rectangular field the goals must be placed between 90 and 100 yards apart. There must be at least 10 yards, and no more than 20 yards, of space behind each goal.

There are two restraining lines, 30 yards from each goal line extending the width of the field. A center circle must be in the center of the field and have a radius of 30 feet with a 9 foot 11 inch line inside the circle, parallel to the goals.

The fan line, that extends from each goal, must be 39 feet 4 inches from the goal line. The arc line needs to be 26 feet 4 inches from the goal line, inside the fan line. The arc at a 45 degree angle from goal if the goal were extended. The fan is measured with lines, that come off the goal, that parallel the restraining line and then come up into a half circle.

Each team must have 12 players on the field before the game starts. It starts with a draw like a face-off in hockey. The object of a draw is to get the ball to your teammates. Players then try and pass the ball to each other towards their goal. Possession counts when a person has the ball in her crosse. A ball is scored when a player throws it into the goal net without penalties. When a ball goes out of bounds or is dead, all players must take a "stand" position and not move. A player takes a throw when a player commits a foul.

Playing time is 60 minutes in two halves with a 10 minute halftime, when players change ends. The clock stops at an referee's arm signal indicating a goal and when he blows his whistle. When a team has 10 more goals than the other team, the clock doesn't stop after each goal. Each team gets two timeouts and in overtime ( when scores are level after 60 minutes) teams are allowed an additional timeout. The teams get a five minute break and play two three-minute halves.

Women's lacross has two type of fouls. Major fouls occur when a player makes a dangerous check, including a check to the head and cross-checking. Other major fouls include holding, slashing, illegal contact, illegal use of the crosse, hooking, illegal cradling and charging. Minor fouls in lacrosse include hand ball, illegal covering, illegal draw, body ball, delay of game, illegal timeout and illegal substitutions.