Sportsmanship is an integral part to the growth of the game both on and off the field. The MLA has identified educating, promoting and encouraging of good sportsmanship as a priority, in an effort to continue the development of the proper culture and spirit of the game.

As the sport continues to grow throughout our region, the MLA believes it is important to always instill the best values in and set positive goals for players. In doing so, our lacrosse community must reward those that “Compete with Class and Honor the Game” as well as enforce the rules and promote sportsmanship; otherwise, the integrity of the game will suffer.

The MLA welcomes reports of incidents which honor the game of lacrosse such as players and coaches extending a helping hand, spectators at a host venue making an extra effort to welcome opposing fans, etc. These positive incidents can serve as an inspiration to all of us.

We also strongly encourage anyone—player, coach, parent, spectator, official—to submit reports of inappropriate sportsmanship.

The MLA will respond to serious claims of inappropriate sportsmanship in a timely manner and in some cases may take action against individual(s) including penalties ranging from verification of a signed Code of Conduct, to suspension from a game, to expulsion from the league.

The claims of inappropriate sportsmanship in this policy are independent of the ejection of a player, coach, or fan by an official during a lacrosse game. The consequences for an ejection by an official are covered in Section 14, Code of Conduct, in the MLA Operations Guide and are separate from this MLA process.

Any report regarding inappropriate sportsmanship of a coach, player, official, or fan should be submitted to the MLA by the Monday evening following the date the incident occurred.

Click here for the Sportsmanship Incident Report (SIR) form. The MLA cannot respond until an SIR has been submitted. SIRs may be filed by anyone participating in or observing an MLA game, including players, parents, coaches, club officers, MLA board members, or spectators.

Once submitted, the SIR will be read and acknowledged by the MLA by Tuesday.

Depending on the nature of the SIR, the MLA may ask for further clarification from the person reporting the incident before bringing the SIR to the attention of the accused club. The MLA may require additional witness reports to confirm the nature and details of the incident.

If the MLA deems that action against the reported individual is warranted, the president and MLA delegate of the involved program will be informed of the incident report and pending decision. This communication will occur by both phone and email. The program president, along with other witnesses with first-hand experience, will be given an opportunity to respond in writing to the filed SIR, within a specified amount of time.

After a response is received from the program, the MLA will evaluate all collected responses and may go back to the original SIR reporter to confirm that he or she still adheres to their original statement.

Once the MLA is satisfied that it has gathered all of the facts and relevant information necessary to make a decision regarding the appropriate action(s) to be taken, the MLA will inform the program of any actions taken or further steps required before the player, coach, parent, or fan can return to MLA lacrosse.

The program president may appeal the action to the MLA board. An appeal must be formally submitted in writing via e-mail to the MLA president no later than 6pm on the Friday of the week in which the SIR was filed. The MLA strongly recommends the program president also call the MLA president to inform them of a formal appeal. In these situations the MLA board will consider and rule on the appeal within five calendar days. The MLA board may vote to uphold, reject, or modify the appeal. Any decision by the MLA board is final.

The following schedule will be adhered to as closely as possible. The exact times of indicated may vary in consideration that the members of the MLA board are volunteers. Judgements will be communicated to all parties no later than 12:00pm on Friday.
 

The following are types of Inappropriate Sportsmanship with typical penalties from the MLA (irrespective of any actions by officials):

• Player Sportsmanship (conduct, handshake issues, taunting etc) – produce signed and dated Player Code of Conduct form; coach to address behavior with player
• Coach Sportsmanship (conduct towards players, opponents, spectators or official)– present signed and dated Coach Code of Conduct form; program president to address behavior with coach
• Spectator Sportsmanship (conduct toward players, opponents, officials, or other spectators) – A variety of consequences, up to and including requiring the offending program to pay for additional officials, or barring specific individuals from attending future games
• Offensive Language (confirmed ethnic, gender, hate speech, or other slurs; profanity; threats of violence) – minimum 1-game suspension
• Fighting by player before, during or after an MLA game– minimum 1-game suspension
• False Representation (lying, changing jerseys to avoid suspensions, impersonating another player, etc.) – minimum 2-game suspension
• Intentional dangerous play on the field (multiple incidents regarding the same player or coach) – minimum 2-game suspension
• Intentional dangerous play on the field (multiple incidents involving a team) – minimum 2-game forfeiture