Rules

DBLL Box Lacrosse Rules:

•    Equipment:  All players are required to wear a helmet (lacrosse or hockey), shoulderpads, armpads, gloves and a mouthguard. Goalies must wear a chest protector, throat guard and an athletic cup. Goalies may wear extra padding on their legs, torso and arms similar to what box lacrosse goalies wear in other leagues.  All players use short sticks or goalie crosses.  There are no long poles in box lacrosse.

•    Game Length: Two 24 minute running-time halves. 3 minute half-time.

•    Teams:  Teams shall consist of 8-10 players per roster. There must be at least 8 players on a roster who anticipate attending all of a teams games during the course of the season.  In box lacrosse there are 5 field players and 1 goalie per team on the rink at one time.

•    Ages:  Players must be at least grade 9 and up for the High School+ Division.  Middle School Division is for players in 5-8 grade.   High school graduates not currently participating in collegiate level lacrosse may also participate in the High School+ Division.

•    Fill in Players:  Teams may be allowed to use fill-in players periodically. However, these players must sign a league waiver and pay a per game fee. They also cannot participate regularly. If these players begin participating on a regular basis, they must then pay the full league fee and be added to a regular team roster as a permanent player. Team Managers must notify the DBLL Commissioner if they plan on using a fill-in player prior to gameplay each week and provide the players name and basic information like age, grade, etc.
   
    If a team would like to add fill-in players or additional players to their roster permanently, this must be done by the middle of the season.  Up to three (3) additional players may be added by this time.  Players added to the roster must complete a registration form, player waiver and pay the league fee.  Players added to a roster by the middle of the season may participate in league playoffs.  Fill-in players may continue to be used periodically after the 4th game of the season, but these players cannot be added to a team roster and cannot play in the playoffs.  These fill-in players will continue to be subject to the fill-in rule described above.
   
    A team may request a fill-in player for the playoffs ONLY if an existing player has suffered a season ending injury.

•    No Off Sides:  There are no off sides infractions in box lacrosse.  All players play offense and defense.  Play is 5v5 full rink.

•    Goals:  Goals will be 4' x 4' box lacrosse goals.

•    Over and Back and Stalling:  Like in basketball, once a team obtains possession of the ball it has 10 seconds to advance it across midfield into the offensive half of the field.  Once a team has the ball in their offensive zone (on their offensive side of mid-field), it cannot move the ball back into their defensive zone for any reason.  Over and Back will result in a change of possession.  The only exception is after a deflected or missed shot or loose ball situation.

    Each team in good faith has to make an attempt to advance with the intent of scoring. The referee, at his discretion, can give advanced warning to a team who is perceived to be stalling and commence a ten second count after which the team will loose possession of the ball if a shot on goal is not taken.

•    Goalies will have 4 seconds to clear the ball from the goal crease.

•     Face-Offs: Face-offs occur at the beginning of each half, at the beginning of any overtime period, and to restart play after an out of bounds situation where it cannot be determined who last touched the ball before it left play. There will be no face off after a goal; instead the ball will be put into play by the goalie.

•    Substitutions: All substitutions are on the fly or on a deadball stoppage of play (acknowledged by referee). There is no "horn". Players must be within a 5 foot radius of the bench to substitute.

•    Overtime: If a score is tied at the end of regulation play, then a 2 minute, sudden-death overtime period is played. If the score is still tied at the end of that 2 minutes, teams will select a forward and goalie per team for a Braveheart.

•    Time-Outs: Each team is allowed one, 60 second time-out in the second half only (unless otherwise indicated by the official or league representative at the beginning of the game).  A team leading in the last four minutes of a game may not call a timeout.  In a man-down situation, the man-down team may never call a timeout.

•    Boarding:  A player may not hit or push another player into the boards for any reason. Flagrant boarding will result in at least a 2-minute non-releasable penalty. (Repeated flagrant penalties here may result in removal from the game or expulsion from the league)

•    Body checking is not allowed. Limited use of cross-check holds are permitted, while defending the ball.

•    Bench Area and Field of Play: Only team members and coaches are allowed in the bench area or field of play during a game or during half time.

•    Out of Bounds: The ball is considered "out of bounds" only if it is lost under the boards or thrown over the boards.  Deflections of the ball off the boards will keep the ball in play.  A pass out of bounds will go to the opposite team.  A shot out of bounds will go to the team that shot the ball.

•    Ejections: A player ejected from a game shall leave the bench area for the remainder of the game. A second half ejection shall result in a suspension from the following game. A second ejection shall result in expulsion from the league.

•    Helmets must be worn at all times, once a player has entered inside the boxed and fenced arena. No spectators are allowed inside the fenced arena. Most field rules apply to box lacrosse.

DBLL Season:

•    The DBLL regular season will consist of 8 games.

•    Regular season standings will determine seedings for League Playoffs.

•    The League Playoffs will be seeded based on league play results. The Playoff Tournament will be head to head, single elimination. Seeding tiebreakers will be settled first by head-to-head result, then by result versus a commonly played team with the highest seed in the pool, then by fewest goals against, then if still tied, by a coin flip.

•    Playoff Tournament games will have the same duration and running time as regular season league games. Overtime will be determined with a 3 minute overtime period with sudden victory format, with the addition of Braveheart if the overtime period does not determine a winner.

Referees:

•    There will be at least one referee on the field at all times. Referees may or may not be fully sanctioned lacrosse referees but will have training on DBLL rule modifications and otherwise adhere to all NFHS rules regarding play on the field. All calls by the referee are final. There is no arguing calls.

•    Referees will have the power to remove any player from the field or facility for any reason.

Playing Rules and Regulations:

•    IMPORTANT : The DBLL is intended to promote lacrosse skill and stickwork development in the off-season. The idea behind the league is primarily to encourage improvement of lacrosse skills, lacrosse I.Q and stick handling. The DBLL is an off-season league. As such, the safety of all players will be kept at the forefront. The DBLL will diligently enforce the following rules, in particular those rules intended to keep the safety of the players in mind and the game played with a fast pace which emphasizes lacrosse skill and stickwork. The DBLL will not hesitate to eject players from games for violating these rules. Major infractions or multiple violations will result in expulsion from the league.  The DBLL will use a cement surfaced hockey rink for play.  Due to the nature of this hard surface, checking will be carefully monitored and enforced.

•    Technical Fouls – Technical fouls will result in a loss of possession or 30 second penalty (1 minute running time). Technical fouls include holding, interference, offsides, pushing, screening, stalling and warding off.

•    Personal Fouls and Major Penalties – Personal fouls will result in a 1 minute 30 second penalty (2 minutes on the officials clock with running time). Major penalties will result in the offending player being suspended for the balance of the game and subject to suspension and/or expulsion from the league. The offending team will also serve a 3 minute penalty (3 minutes 30 seconds on the officials clock with running time).  BOARDING IS CONSIDERED A MAJOR PENALTY AND WILL BE STRICTLY ENFORCED.  THERE WILL BE NO BOARDING IN THE DBLL.  Loose ball pushes and push with possession from behind near the boards will be strictly enforced.
   
•    Personal fouls include slashing, tripping, cross checking, unsportsmanlike conduct, unnecessary roughness, illegal crosse, illegal body checking, no mouthguard and illegal gloves.

DBLL Rule Exceptions:

•    FIGHTING WILL NOT BE TOLERATED AT ANY POINT. ANY PLAYER WHO FIGHTS WILL BE EXPELLED FROM THE LEAGUE. NO REFUND WILL BE GIVEN. Fighting is a Major Penalty.

•    There will be NO BODY CHECKING with the intent to put another player on the ground. There will be no “take out checks” period. “Take out checks” as described in this paragraph will result in a Major Penalty.  Illegal checks deemed malicious will result in ejection from the game. Multiple infractions of this rule may result in suspension or expulsion from the league.  Age range is this league is very broad.  A league with no checking is essential to ensure the safety of all participants - very young and very old.

•    Incidental contact will be allowed but will be closely monitored.

•    Loose ball: When two opposing players are going after a ground ball, they may do so by implementing “man-ball” strategy, proper body positioning and correct footwork and PLAY THE BALL and not the opposing player. If in the opinion of the official, a player initially body checks an opponent to gain an advantage, then the checking player will be penalized. At the referees discretion in this case, the penalty time will be a minimum of 1 minute 30 seconds consistent with a personal foul.

•    Taunting will be considered unsportsmanlike conduct and result in a personal foul. Repeated violations of this rule in one game will result in a Major Penalty and ejection from the game. Repeated violations in one game and over the course of the season may result in expulsion from the league.
   
•    Taunting includes but is not limited to any actions by athletes or spectators which are intended to bait, anger, embarrass, ridicule, or demean others. Included is conduct that berates, needles, intimidates, or threatens based on race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic origin or background, and conduct that attacks religious beliefs, size, economic status, family, special needs or personal characteristics.
   
•    Examples of taunting include but are not limited to: verbal communications of a personal nature directed by a competitor to an opponent by ridiculing his/her skills, efforts, sexual orientation, or lack of success, which is likely to provoke an altercation or physical response; and physical intimidation outside the spirit of the game, including “in the face” confrontation by one athlete to another, standing over/straddling a fallen player.
   
•    Any player that receives his 5th personal foul in a game will be ejected from the game.
   
•    A teammate must then serve the now ejected players penalty in the penalty box.
   
•    Goalie Penalties – A goalie will never serve his own penalty. The manager of the offended team will personally select a midfielder from the offending team that is on the field when the penalty occurred. This player will serve the penalty for the goalie.
   
•    A goalie that receives his 5th penalty of the game will be ejected. A new goalie will need to take his place in full goalie equipment. The clock will continue to run during this transition.
   
•    Flag Down Situation – In a flag down situation where team “A” has possession and is in team “B's” end and team “B” commits a penalty, and a goal is scored by team “A”, then the penaltyis waived off and a time served penalty is NOT awarded to team “A” though the penalty is recorded by the scorer. The goal counts and play continues with team “B's” goalie clear.
   
•    As with field lacrosse, if a team has a player serving a penalty (man-down) and the mandown team scores, this player is not released from the penalty box unless his penalty time expires.

•    Repeated violations of DBLL league rules and rule exceptions during the course of the season may result in the cancellation of league play indefinitely. The safety of the players participating is of primary concern to the league.

  General:

•    Weather cancellations – Due to limited availability of the facilities, we cannot guarantee make up games canceled due to inclement weather. The DBLL will make every effort to reschedule canceled games during the week following the canceled game when possible, but cannot guarantee that canceled games will be played at a later date.
   
•    All goals scored against one's own team count.
   
•    If a Team Manager would like to hold practices at a remote location, they cannot be mandatory and there cannot be any consequence for not attending. Practices outside league play are allowed and encouraged, but the team must be responsible for scheduling and cannot penalize players for not attending since it is outside the DBLL's purview.
   
•    No refunds will be issued once league play begins.
   
•    All decisions by DBLL Commissioners are final.
   
•    The DBLL reserves the right to change rules at any time during the season to enhance gameplay and player safety. Teams will be notified of any changes in the rules in advance.

Code of Conduct:

It is expected that all players, fans, managers, parents and officials will conduct themselves in a manner that is based on sportsmanship, safety and respect.  Players must adhere to the following code of conduct to stay in good standing with the DBLL:

•    Show respect for DBLL officials, managers, fellow players, referees, and the league.
•    Demonstrate good sportsmanship before, during and after games.
•    Honor the authority of each official and treat him/her with respect.  Accept decisions made by the officials as final.
•    Respect the game, play fairly and follow its rules and regulations.
•    Refrain from the use of drugs, tobacco, alcohol, and abusive/offensive language.
•    Respect the privilege of the use of public parks and facilities.