BIZARRE ACTIONS BY ADULTS AFFECTING PLAY IN SOME PLACES

By Al Mattei

Founder, TopOfTheCircle.com

It's hard to know whether to laugh or cry when adults get in the way of high-school field hockey. And that is especially true in 2003, where five bizarre on-field and off-the-field incidents have some pundits scratching their heads.

ITEM: In Dartmouth, Mass., the umpiring crew changed their call twice when it came to determining whether a late corner goal was legally struck after it had been allegedly controlled by the attacking team. The "control" was reportedly a deft lateral touch pass, which most umpires would agree is not control.

ITEM: In Alexandria, Va., a team, already reduced a player because of a red card, played an overtime period with a full complement of seven players for eight minutes before the umpires noticed and called a penalty stroke on the offending team, even though that specific penalty does not appear in the rule book.

ITEM: In Carlisle, Pa., a visiting team is awarded a penalty stroke when home fans did not heed warnings about their behavior, even though there was repored confusion to what was said, who said it, and to whom what was said was directed.

ITEM: In Worthington, Ohio, a sudden-death overtime period was continued to allow a team that had fallen behind to go ahead and win the game. The state sanctioning organization refused to award the game to the team that had scored what was supposed to have been the "golden goal."

ITEM: In West Long Branch, N.J., a conference tournament game that was ended by darkness after two overtimes was ordered replayed in its entirety instead of the game continuing with the penalty stroke shootout the next day.

In all five situations, what should not have been gray areas of various rules of the game, or administration thereof, were circumvented by human error and/or utter folly.

Let's take the examples in order.

Dartmouth, Mass.: The "controlling" of the ball was not supposed to have been a bone of contention at least for school hockey; the rule is still the same as before. It should have been gotten right the first time.

Alexandria, Va.: It is up to the umpiring crew to see to it that the teams are 7-on-6 if a player is sent off. And a penalty stroke is not the correct remedy for umpire error.

Carlisle, Pa.: Though the PIAA rule calls for a penalty stroke for a second fan behavior problem, there should have been more intervention after the first warning.

Worthington, Ohio: Were the umpires unaware of the rules before the game had even started?

West Long Branch, N.J.: Nowhere else in the country is a game replayed in its entirety after darkness falls. Most rulebooks say that the game is to be picked up the next day, or is official after 80 percent of the match is complete.

It is sad that, in 2003, in a era where the game of high-school field hockey is modernizing with high-tech sticks and protective equipment, the advent of artificial turf for many teams, and world-class skills and tactical instructions, that we are still discussing an almost Byzantine world of misconstrued and misapplied rules with little oversight or cohesion.

There are almost 30 states that have field hockey as a high-school sport. Most are run under rules set forth by the National Federation of State High-School Associations, but once state sanctioning bodies and umpiring boards get hold of the rules, and shape and twist them, you can get nearly 50 different sets of rules depending where and when you play.

A high ball in central New Jersey is a "play on" in Pennsylvania. A missed free hit in New York is a turnover in Washington, D.C. A stick tackle in Pennsylvania is a green card in Massachusetts. A team with one substitute player in Maryland cannot play a second overtime period with a full complement since all six players in the first period of extra time cannot play in the second period. And a team taking strokes in the Carolinas better put their best shooter first; it is sudden death from the first stroke-taker.

It is time, I believe, for a radical solution.

I believe the National Federation of State High School Associations should allow the U.S. Field Hockey Association to take over administration of the sport in the United States.

Just look at lacrosse -- especially on the girls' side. It has flourished under the steady hand of U.S. Lacrosse, and it is able to disseminate information through its membership quickly and easily.

It mandated a 35-yard restraining line a few years ago on the high-school level a few years back, and teams from the elite programs of Long Island and Baltimore to the developmental programs in non-traditional areas like Florida and Utah smoothly integrated the rule with little turbulence.

One set of rules governs girls' and women's lacrosse in this country. It is time for that to happen in field hockey.