question about stick check

[pshwarriorlax17]

ok so we are playing in a JV game and after the first quarter the ref check someone's stick... they find it illegal and our coach asks to see it the ref says no.... BTW it was called deep pocket... and then after gettign the stick back it was clearly legal... so my question is if the ref has to let the coach see how its illegal??

[laxfan25]

No, the official only has to report the penalty, not show the infraction. In fact, that is explicitly discouraged. The only time I show them an illegal stick is if the ball lodges in the bottom of the throat. Then, I bring the stick to the sideline witht he head turned upside down - that eliminates any arguments.
A deep pocket is a 1 min NR, and you can correct the problem. After I have turned the stick back to the player (1 min variety) I can't control any adjustments he might make before showing it to his coach - saying "it's legal!" I already know from another thread that lacrosse players have no scruples, and would lie if it meant winning a game, so I'm not going to accept their assertion of legality if I've already deemed it illegal beforehand.

[LaxRef]

I already know from another thread that lacrosse players have no scruples, and would lie if it meant winning a game, so I'm not going to accept their assertion of legality if I've already deemed it illegal beforehand.

We had a discussion about this locally, and the thing we came up with as a guideline was "Don't call it unless you're sure it's illegal." This sounds obvious, but there were some guys calling it when it was really borderline.

And no, we don't demonstrate for the coaches, except in the case you describe.

[pshwarriorlax17]

laxfan25 the coach grabbed it off the table right after the penalty expired because thats what the ref said he could do so there couldnt have been any changes.. i felt really cheated....