What You Should Know Before Going to the SELC

Heather Blanchard with the Johns Creek Convention & Visitors Bureau presents 10 things you should know if you are going to the SELC in Johns Creek this weekend:

1. Men’s lacrosse is played by two teams with 10 players on the field at a time. The width of a soccer field but slightly shorter than a football field, a lacrosse field is divided into halves and the goals are 80 yards apart.

2. There are four positions: Attack - primarily responsible for scoring and assisting on goals. Midfielders - players that must have good stamina and play both offense and defense. Defense - primarily responsible for keeping attackmen from scoring. Goalie- Ultimately responsible for preventing the opposition from scoring.

3. A face-off starts play at the beginning of each quarter and after each goal with the exception of penalty situations. Players are restricted to certain areas during the face-off.

4. Each team must always have three players on their offensive half of the field and four players on their defensive half. Attackmen and defensemen are not restricted to their half of the field as long as the required number of players are on each side of the midline.

5. A goal is scored when the entire ball passes through the plane of the goal - a six-foot-by-six-foot opening with a net. The goaltender wears several types of required protection that other players do not wear such as a chest and throat protector and his stick head  is much larger than the field players.

6. The area around the goal is called the Crease and the attacking team may not enter this area. The goaltender has special privileges when in the Crease.

7. Unlike any other sport, a shot at the goal that goes out of bounds is awarded to the player that is closest to the ball at the exact time it crosses the out of bounds line. This rule allows for multiple offensive opportunities encouraging scoring by allowing the offense to maintain control of the ball after a missed shot.

8. Body and stick checking are allowed within the rules. Penalties are classified as either Personal (serious) with a 1 to 3 minute time serve or Technical (minor) with a 30 second time serve. 

9. Lacrosse players come in all shapes and sizes.  For example, the small, agile attackman can be very effective in many cases against a larger, not as agile defensemen. 

10. Known as “the fastest game on two feet,” lacrosse is an excellent spectator sport because of the non-stop nature of the competition and the many scoring opportunities.

The Southeastern Lacrosse Championship is being held this weekend, April 27-29, in Johns Creek at and high schools, as well as at Alpharetta High and South Forsyth High.

For tickets and to see where your favorite college team is playing, go to www.SELCtournament.com.