literally grabs the stick, I would call unsportsmanlike on him. What about you, Darrell?
DB: Yeah, that's a rule that went in two, three years ago. Now it's an unsportsmanlike conduct foul and it's not a technical violation. The other rule change that we don't call as much is that if a player's hands do come off his stick and touch the other's kid's stick, that's supposed to be an unsportsmanlike conduct foul, but in a lot of cases it's one of those incidental contact type things and we're just going to call it a technical violation. So we try to be a little more judicious in that type of situation.
The Scoop: What are some scenarios where there may need to be a reface?
PQ: Correct me if I'm wrong, Darrell...
DB: You're never wrong, Paul...
PQ: [Laughs] The reface will happen if the ref doesn't know who the ball goes out of bounds off of, and it didn't go into the defensive area. Instead of going AP (Alternate Possession), you would reface. Am I right?
DB: Yeah, if it's between the 30s. If two kids are vying for the ball, and they both just rake it, and you don't know who it went off of last, and it goes out of bounds between the 30s, you just reface it. That's not an AP situation. And if the ball crosses the 30, and we yell out "play" because the ball's in one of the restraining areas, and then it goes out of bounds, in that scenario, we go AP if I'm not mistaken.
The Scoop: We see withholding happen a lot during the clamp technique...
DB: One of the things that we hear feedback from the coaches during the faceoff is when a player plunges, he's got the ball, and he turns and looks to his left, then he turns and looks to his right, and he's kind of rotating around the head of the crosse, and then he might turn to the left again, and then to the right... and all this takes two or three seconds, that's withholding the ball. A lot of times you'll hear the refs say "get it out, get it out, move it, move it" and try to encourage the kid to move it, because I don't think the rules state the time frame specifically, but the rule of thumb is, if he clamps on the ball, and he holds it for more than two or three seconds, and doesn't try to move it, or doesn't move it, then that's withholding the ball and it's a turnover.
PQ: Yeah, the rule is pretty gray right there. And there's a lot of yelling and screaming when that kid clamps it and looks. Obviously the team who loses the ball is screaming for withholding. It's a gray area. If the kid looks and finds someone and tries to get it to him, I let it go. If he looks at does nothing, that's usually when I call withholding. But it's definitely a gray area.
DB: Everyone has a different rule of thumb. But usually it's if he looks left and looks right and doesn't move the ball after he's looked both ways then I give him maybe another half a second and just kill it. If he looks left and then looks right and then he moves it, that's fine. He has the opportunity to look at both of his wings to see if anyone's open.
The Scoop: How close are we to perfecting the faceoff rules? What can be done to make the game even better?
DB: I think this is the best mechanics we've had in 15 years. But I wish at the youth and high school levels we can just put the ball down, let the kids line up, and then do our adjusting. I think that will be as close to perfect as we can get at the youth levels.
PQ: [Laughs] I think there's too many rules for the faceoff. I'd like to see us eliminate a bunch. Say down, stay out of the neutral zone, and say "go."
DB: [Laughs] Mayhem.
The Scoop: I want to thank you both for your time and insight, wish you both a great 2016 season, filled with few face off violations, and I look forward to speaking with you again in future issues.