Equipment check philosophy

[LaxRef]

I spoke with an official recently who had an unusual philosophy on equipment checks. He said that when he saw a stick that was obviously illegal, he specifically avoided checking that stick because he thinks the coach would want to save the opportunity to use it at an opportune moment to get a goal disallowed and/or to get a 3:00 man advantage. I took the position that since coach-requested equipment checks are relatively rare, the coach would be happy to get a 3:00 advantage to start the second or fourth period and that avoiding checking a stick you believe to be illegal runs directly counter to what the rules tell us to do.

Thoughts?

[spenny]

as a coach, i'd like to see you ding all the illegal sticks you can. i have some control over the sticks my kids use, so i'm pretty sure that they arent illegal intentionally (as i certify during our little talk before the game), but who knows about the other team.
I'll take my chances with my players in exchange for the chance that my defensemen may actually be able to force a turnover

[Snake~eyes]

I disagree with that philosophy, as you said, stick check requests are rare so I would definitely try to get it if I thought it was clearly illegal.

[Woodenstick]

Personally, I have enough trouble calling the game without trying to strategize for each team and take into account the tactical advantages resulting from my calls.

[jimd619]

Thank you Woodenstick, even though as a coach I could use all the help I can get, I would rather a referee call the game straight as he sees it. And in this instance, I don't know I would notice another team's illegal stick, I have plenty of other issues in the air. In fact I would hope you would seek out questionable sticks. Course there was the one guy we saw being pulled off the field just prior to the end of the first 3 quarters. We had his stick checked.

[dram183]

i was under the impression(at least in our area) that it was an unwritten rule that you dont go checking sticks, unless that one player scores an absurd amount of goals and its obvious. so it would probably be better for the officials to just penalize the stick after the first or third quarter

[RamLacrosse]

what happens when, the whole teams sticks are illegal? you can only check 3 sticks a game... I have also heard that its a common philosophy for D men to have illegal sticks because they are almost never stick checked.

[laxfan25]

what happens when, the whole teams sticks are illegal? you can only check 3 sticks a game... I have also heard that its a common philosophy for D men to have illegal sticks because they are almost never stick checked.
No, if the coach calls for a stick check and it is found to be illegal, he still retains his one check at no charge, as well as the ability to call more, at the peril of losing a timeout or taking a technical if they are found to be in compliance. so if a whole team had illegal sticks you could root them all out.

[LaxRef]

i was under the impression(at least in our area) that it was an unwritten rule that you dont go checking sticks, unless that one player scores an absurd amount of goals and its obvious. so it would probably be better for the officials to just penalize the stick after the first or third quarter

Unwritten rules aren't worth the paper they're printed on.

There are some coaches who think that the lowest thing in the world is to call for an equipment check because you're implicitly calling them cheaters by doing so. Of course, they don't see the irony in this, since they *are* cheaters (assuming the stick was illegal).

[LaxRef]

what happens when, the whole teams sticks are illegal? you can only check 3 sticks a game... I have also heard that its a common philosophy for D men to have illegal sticks because they are almost never stick checked.

I don't know where you heard this limit, but it's an imaginary rule, not a real one.

And D-men do tend to have illegal sticks, which is why they told us to start checking them at the NCAA level, at least.

[petejobu22]

Most if not all of the D men on our team have had illegal pockets at one point or another during the season.... I've only seen one pole checked this last season, and that was because he was crossing the midline to clear it almost every play.

[dram183]

Unwritten rules aren't worth the paper they're printed on.

There are some coaches who think that the lowest thing in the world is to call for an equipment check because you're implicitly calling them cheaters by doing so. Of course, they don't see the irony in this, since they *are* cheaters (assuming the stick was illegal).

i didnt mean unwritten rule as in actual rule, i just meant sorta like what you said in the second paragraph, but vice versa. It seems to me like calling a stick check on the other team makes the accuser seem like hes trying to get some free lucky penalties

although they shouldnt be illegal anyways

[Rileylax]

I'm quite surprised at the lack of knowledge of this simple area. Book says (paraphrased) that you should (not must) check the stick of a player who has been doing the majority of scoring/ball handling after the 1st and 3rd periods. An official should NEVER get involved in strategizing or playing odds. Our role is to enforce the rules consistently and fairly. No such limit on coaches' requesr for stick checks as long as you keep finding illegal crosses. NCAA (COC) sent out an advisory eary in the season for us to include a long pole during one of our checks. Some of our crews at the HS level adopted that towards the tail end of the season.

[LaxRef]

I'm quite surprised at the lack of knowledge of this simple area. Book says (paraphrased) that you should (not must) check the stick of a player who has been doing the majority of scoring/ball handling after the 1st and 3rd periods.

Actually, the rule as stated in the book means that we must:

Each half, officials shall conduct at least one inspection of a player’s crosse per team. These inspections shall take place in dead-ball situations. Players in violation will be penalized the same as if the crosse inspection were requested by the opposing head coach.

In addition, it says:

Officials shall select players whom they suspect may be using illegal equipment, who are involved in the scoring or who frequently handle the ball.

Thus, we have quite a range in choices for whom we select. We can select someone who doesn't handle the ball much and isn't involved in the scoring if we think he's using illegal equipment. Furthermore, nowhere in the rules does it say that we need to do it at the end of the first and third periods; that's a mechanic. Maybe you're referring to the COC mechanics manual?