NLL Insider

Thanks for the email questions about the Canadian Lacrosse Association (CLA). I posed some of them to Joey Harris, CLA President. This quick five question Q&A is largely centered around rule structures and the marketing presence of the CLA.

What are some specific things the CLA is helping with to increase player registration and fan attendance at CLA events?

“Exposure to CLA at national championships, however individual fan attendance is the responsibility of the Member Associations and their own respective leagues,” said Joey Harris. “The CLA does not get involved at an individual level or grassroots level.”

Is there talk of unifying WLA and MSL rules?

“The CLA has no jurisdiction on those leagues. However when they play at the national level, they must adhere to CLA rules. It would be nice to have the same rules nationally and we are working towards that by implementing a rules Review committee to bring more consistency of rule application within the provinces. Most of the provinces do follow the CLA rules as written without modifications.”

It seems that players can’t switch teams within a league, but they can jump between leagues (ie. go from WLA to MSL). Is there talk of placing penalties on the movement of players between coasts?

“The CLA does not have jurisdiction over movement within a league itself, that is for the specific league and MA to administer. The CLA has jurisdiction over movement between provinces and which is governed by an Inter-Member Transfer Policy,” said Harris.

“This policy sets conditions on how players can move from one provincial or territorial member to another,” added David Miriguay, CLA General Manager. Policy 18.4 states “the CLA recognizes that all players wishing to play lacrosse in Canada have the privilege to do so provided certain conditions are met.”

Some of those conditions include being a free agent and ensuring “an agreement to release the player has been reached between the team holding the rights to the individual.. and the team wishing to acquire those rights.” There are tampering rules, deadlines and several restrictions that must first be met before a transfer will be approved.

What communication does the CLA have with the NLL in terms of cross-promotions, player or referee development, etc?

“None at this time. Attempts were made years back to start up joint initiatives but due to various reasons they never happened,” stated Harris. ”Recently a summit meeting was held between CLA and NLL which we hope will open the door for such initiatives. However, it is in the early stages.”

This is for the ‘B’ guys. Why does Sr. B continue to compete with the smaller nets and is there talks to change to a larger size?

“Rule changes are done every two years and are generated via the Box Sector of the CLA. Moving to larger nets in the past never got out of that sector,” said Miriguay. “Recently rules were passed to increase the nets for both Senior A and Junior A… The Sr. B’s just passed to increase to larger nets this past year effective next year.”

“The Box Sector is made up of individuals from each province. There is a weighted voting structure based on the size of the organization.”

If you have other questions you’re interested in hearing answers to, please feel free to continue to post them on the NLL Forums or drop us an email.

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