Tips on covering lacrosse

I just did a search of past posts and didn't find anything on the topic. I'm covering lacrosse for the first time and am looking for any tips as far as things to look for, odd rules etc.

Thanks

 

Can you fake an illness convincingly?

 

Take the arrogance of any professional athlete you have ever encountered and multiply it by 10.

 

He said lacrosse, not soccer.

 

Is it a one-time thing? If so, think about writing a feature-gamer on a player who stands out. If not, ask questions. I've found lacrosse players to be, on the whole, pretty well-spoken and patient.

In addition, if this is prep lacrosse, get to the field a little early and talk to the coaches and players. Explain your ignorance and show interest in knowing what to expect. People should appreciate that.

 

One rule that's different from other sports is that three players (usually three defenseman or three attackers on defense) have to stay on their side of the field.

Also, terminology is a bit different. You might hear middies for midfielders, the forward players are known as the attack.

Really though it can be boiled to a sport similar to soccer, only most hitting isn't a foul. And a normal score is also more like 12-11 or 15-10. In other words, a goalie allowing five goals is a very good performance.

Are you covering high school, college, or pro?

 

A simple thing to watch for is style of play. Some teams play a real slow-down style, a lot of set plays, a lot of passing around the outside trying to keep things in front of them. Others play fast in transition and sort of freelance, quick passes to keep the other team off guard. When you get the two against each other, usually low-scoring team vs. high-scoring, it makes it interesting.

Watch the faceoffs... See if there's a dominant player on one team, usually a specialist. If they're winning a majority of the faceoffs and getting the offense started, that could be the story.

If you're covering college, there are plenty of stats recorded to give a good indication of how the game went (ground balls, clears, shots, etc.), and you can beef up the story with those, especially if coach brings something up after the game. Not sure how many stats are kept with high school games. Most coaches, from what I've noticed, really pay attention to lax stats because they give a pretty good indication of how each phase of the team is doing.

Not sure if that helps a little. I recently picked up a lax beat and covered a little in college, so I'm still learning a bit here and there.

 

An important question: men's or women's?

 

Thanks everyone for the help. Tonight I'm on boys high school lacrosse, but will be doing girls coverage as well this season. It's a pretty big sport in our area so I expect to be assigned a fair amount of game stories.

 

Well, that's basically two sports you'll need to learn, then. Boys and girls lax are very different games.

 

I suppose just do what we all do: Learn on the job. It will get easier each time.

By next month, you'll be an expert!

 

Yes. They. Are.