Is body checking allowed in youth lacrosse?
Not at 10U or 12U. Some body contact happens, but body checking is illegal at those levels. Body checking becomes legal at 14U — with one hard limit: no take-out checks.
What stick checks can my son use at 10U and 12U?
Stick checking is limited. Only lift checks, poke checks and checks below the opponent's shoulders are allowed. One-handed checks are a penalty at 10U and below. At 14U, full stick checking is legal.
What happens on a hit to the head or neck?
Targeting the head or neck is an automatic ejection. At 14U, targeting fouls carry three minutes of non-releasable penalty time plus that ejection — the strictest penalty in the youth rulebook.
How many penalties before a player fouls out?
A player fouls out after three personal fouls, or after accumulating five minutes of personal foul penalty time — whichever comes first.
What's the difference between a personal foul and a technical foul?
Personal fouls are the dangerous ones — slashing, illegal body check, illegal crosse, cross-check and conduct fouls — and they put a player in the penalty box. Technical fouls are procedural, like warding or an offside, and usually cost possession or 30 seconds.
How long is a youth lacrosse game?
Full-field play at 10U, 12U and 14U runs four 10-minute running-time quarters. Small-sided play is shorter — two 12-minute running halves.
Is there overtime, and how does it work?
Full-field games use a four-minute sudden-victory overtime — first goal wins. Small-sided games don't play overtime.
How many timeouts does each team get?
Two per half in full-field play, plus one in each overtime period. In small-sided play there are no team timeouts — only officials can stop the clock.
What are the shot-clock style counts parents hear officials call?
In full-field play the goalie has four seconds with the ball in the crease, the defense has 20 seconds to clear its zone and the offense has 10 seconds to get the ball into the attack zone. A goalie outside the crease gets five seconds to return, and no four-second count applies out there.
What stick lengths are legal at 14U?
Field players and goalies use sticks from 40 to 72 inches. Long poles run 52 to 72 inches, and a team may have a maximum of four on the field.
How close can players get to a loose ball before contact is legal?
At 14U, player contact is legal within three yards of a loose ball. Youth rules use three yards where the high school game uses five.
What changed in the rules for 2026?
Time-serving penalties are now non-releasable, targeting the head or neck is an automatic ejection, fouling out is three personal fouls or five minutes of penalty time, and on a flag-down or slow-whistle play the ball hitting the ground ends the play — unless it was a shot.
What happens when the ball gets buried in a pile?
Officials restart it. A scrum with three or more players is broken up and restarted using alternate possession, and all players must be five yards from the ball carrier on the restart.
Do youth games have faceoffs?
Full-field play does — one faceoff man, the goalie in the cage and two players behind each goal. In some small-sided formats there are no faceoffs at all: a coin flip decides the first possession and the other team starts the second half.
What does the rulebook say about lightning, blood and concussions?
Each has its own mandatory policy: play stops for lightning until the required all-clear, any bleeding must be stopped and covered before a player returns, and a player with signs of a concussion is removed and cannot return without clearance.
What gets a coach or parent ejected?
USA Lacrosse has zero tolerance for derogatory, discriminatory or hateful language and actions. Officials are required to penalize that conduct with a game ejection or red card — for players, coaches and spectators alike.
