Lacrosse rule reference
NFHS / USA Lacrosse girls high school lacrosse rules
RuleCrosse checks your diagram against 20 positional rules from this book and shows the rule behind each verdict. Lay out any set, restart or draw on the free board and see, under this book, whether it is legal.
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RuleCrosse is a coaching aid, not an official ruling. Not affiliated with, or endorsed by, NFHS or NCAA.
Positional rules we check
- Every player stands inside the boundary lines when play starts or restarts.
Rule NFHS girls rule 1 / out of bounds - At most 12 players per team (World Lacrosse 10; USA Lacrosse 10U up to 8), counting players in the penalty area.
Rule NFHS girls 3-1 (12 per team; USAL 12U/14U "12 v 12") - At most one goalkeeper per team (a team may play without one).
Rule NFHS 3-1 - Offside: no more than 7 players on or over the offensive restraining line (World Lacrosse 6; 10U: no more than 5 field players past the midfield line).
Rule NFHS girls offside rule (number unverified)Unverified — confirm against the current official book - Offside: no more than 8 players on or over the defensive restraining line (World Lacrosse 7; 10U: no more than 5 field players in the defensive end).
Rule NFHS girls offside rule (number unverified)Unverified — confirm against the current official book - One player per team takes the draw at the centre, one foot toeing the centre line on her own side; a dressed goalkeeper may not take the draw.
Rule NFHS 5-2 - At most three players per team, the draw taker included, are between the restraining lines at the draw; everyone else is below a restraining line.
Rule 5-2-5d (NFHS interpretation 2026-04-08, situation 2) - Only the two draw takers may be on or inside the centre circle before the whistle.
Rule NFHS 5-2 (early entry) - Each dressed goalkeeper is below (behind) her restraining line at the draw.
Rule NFHS 5-2 (unverified number)Unverified — confirm against the current official book - No attacking player may be on or inside the opponent's goal circle (a shooter's follow-through stick may cross it).
Rule NFHS goal-circle rule (7-1 per 2026 interp.) - NCAA/World Lacrosse: apart from the goalkeeper, only the defender marking the ball carrier within a stick's length may stay in the goal circle; others may only run through it. NFHS is stricter: only one player total (goalkeeper or deputy) may be in the goal circle at any time.
Rule 7-1-1 (one player — GK or deputy — in the goal circle at a time); 7-3 penaltiesUnverified — confirm against the current official book - The fouled player takes the 8-m free position on an allowed hash: NCAA only the two hashes next to the centre hash (2026 change); NFHS an 8-m hash; World Lacrosse the centre, first or second hash of the 11-m marking area.
Rule NFHS (youth definition "free position ... on an 8 meter hash"; exact hash rule unverified)Unverified — confirm against the current official book - Every body except the taker (her stick may be inside), the goalkeeper in her circle and the two hash defenders is outside the 8-m zone above the goal line extended and outside the restricted area (World Lacrosse: the whole 11-m marking area is cleared).
Rule NFHS "penalty zone" definition (youth book appendix) - No player is within 4 m of the free-position taker, except the two defenders entitled to the hashes next to hers.
Rule NFHS 4-m free-position spacing (2026 interp.) - The offending player stands 4 m directly behind the taker (on the 12-m fan; World Lacrosse on the 15-m line).
Rule NFHS (weekly interpretation 2026-04-01, via search summary)Unverified — confirm against the current official book - At most two defenders may take the hashes directly next to the taker's hash.
Rule NFHS (unverified)Unverified — confirm against the current official book - A minor-foul free position in the critical scoring area: NCAA/World Lacrosse take it at the top centre of the 12-m fan (WL: top of the 15-m marking area); NFHS takes it at the point on the 12-m fan nearest the foul.
Rule 9-1 PEN (minor foul: nearest spot on the 12-m fan) / 10-1 PEN (major foul between 8-m and 12-m: 12-m fan nearest the foul)Unverified — confirm against the current official book - No player stands directly in front of the free position, in the lane between the ball and the goal circle.
Rule "penalty lane" definition - No player within 2 m (NCAA) or 4 m (NFHS, World Lacrosse, 10U) of the player taking a free position.
Rule 5-2 PENALTIES (2026 interp. situation 3) - A defender who is not marking an opponent within a stick-and-arm length should not stand in the free space to goal (between the ball and the goal-circle edges) when the ball carrier can shoot.
Rule NFHS shooting space (unverified number)
Judgement calls the board does not check
- Movement before the whistle at a face-off or draw ("set"/"ready", motionless)
- Early release from the wing areas or across restraining lines before possession / "free ball"
- Face-off technique: kicking through, carrying the ball on the back of the crosse, withholding, hands on the ball
- Illegal draw: ball not rising above the heads, drawing too soon, not drawing upward
- Shot clock / possession clock (NCAA men 80/60 s, NCAA women 90 s, NFHS boys optional 70 s from 2027, NFHS girls optional 90 s from 2027)
- Clearing counts and over-and-back (NCAA: ball over midline by 60 s on the shot clock; NFHS 2027: 20 s anywhere)
- Crease counts (goalkeeper/defender 4 s men NCAA, 5 s WL; women 10 s NCAA, 5 s WL)
- Three seconds in the 8-m arc (women)
Key terms
- Goal circle
- Women: circle of 2.6-m radius (WL 3 m) around the goal.
- Restricted area
- Women (NCAA): rectangle from the top of the goal circle back to the line through the dots, as wide as the dots; cleared at 8-m free positions.
- Centre circle (draw circle)
- Women: circle of 9-m (NFHS 30-ft) radius where the draw is taken.
- Hash marks (8 m)
- Marks on the 8-m arc 4, 8 and 12 m from the centre hash; free positions are set on them.
- Draw taker (centre)
- Women: player who takes the draw at the centre line.
- 8-m free position
- After a major foul in the critical scoring area: shooter on an 8-m hash, arc cleared, offender 4 m behind.
- 12-m free position
- After a minor foul in the critical scoring area: taken at the top centre of the 12-m fan.
- Players on the field (women)
- At most 12 (WL 10; 10U up to 8), counting the penalty area.
- One goalkeeper (women)
- At most one goalkeeper; a team may play without one.
- Offside (women, offensive end)
- More than seven over the offensive restraining line (WL six; 10U five field players past the midline).
- Offside (women, defensive end)
- More than eight over the defensive restraining line (WL seven).
- Draw set-up
- One taker per team toeing the centre line on her own side; the goalkeeper may not take it.
- Three between the restraining lines
- At most three per team, draw taker included, between the restraining lines at the draw.
- Early entry (circle)
- Only the draw takers may be on or in the centre circle before the whistle.
- Goalkeeper below the line at the draw
- Each goalkeeper stays below her restraining line during the draw.
- Goal-circle foul (attack)
- An attacker on or inside the goal circle.
- Defender in the goal circle
- Apart from the goalkeeper, only the defender marking the ball carrier may stay in the circle.
- 8-m hash
- NCAA 2026: 8-m free positions only from the hashes next to the centre hash.
- Clearing the arc
- All bodies out of the 8-m zone above the GLE and the restricted area (WL: the 11-m area).
- Four-metre spacing
- No one within 4 m of the 8-m shooter except the two hash defenders.