ATLANTA – The Board of Directors of the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA) participated on video call on Tuesday, Dec. 1, and established that it will continue to reconvene on a bi-weekly basis to determine the fate of the 2021 season.
As the membership is currently broken down, 10 percent of programs have declared that they will not have a schedule in 2021, another 10 percent are ready to play with the remaining 80 percent still uncertain of their status within university and local health guidelines.
“There’s a level of uncertainty right now about how the 2021 season and how our championships are going to play out,” said MCLA president Ken Lovic. “However, we still feel here in early December that we can take steps to make the season more feasible as we wait and see what exactly what the spring holds.”
As a way to mitigate the current landscape, the MCLA has instituted alterations to its normal operating policy to allow for play.
Regular Season
Currently, MCLA teams are required to play a minimum of eight games, with six being divisional. Please note this will be relaxed for the 2021 season. Programs are encouraged to play the most games possible within whatever limitations may be faced. It is also acceptable to play an opponent multiple times. The MCLA wants to facilitate any program to play as much lacrosse as possible.
Out of Conference Games
The MCLA will be relaxing the OOC minimums required, as we know travel may be more difficult for the 2021 season. The competition committee will be releasing its new guidelines for postseason eligibility at a later date when more is known.
Postseason
The current plan is to run conference tournaments as well as the 2021 MCLA National Championships presented by New Balance, but future events may impact the MCLA’s ability to hold the championship or what exactly the conference tournaments will look like.
The Board of Directors has established March 1 date to make a final decision as to the 2021 season. The MCLA will keep its membership up to date as to the decisions that are made related to the national tournament.
Game Changes
Check with your conference director, but the MCLA is working with the conference assignors to eliminate or, at a minimum, reduce the fees involved with game changes/additions. It is a fluid situation and NILOA is willing to work with us.
Dues
At this time, the MCLA is not issuing dues statements to conferences for their member teams. The MCLA will address the dues question after Jan. 1 when more information and data will be available to the Board of Directors.
The MCLA appreciates our program’s patience. Conference dues should be addressed directly with the conference. Credits from the 2020 season will be applied to any dues being initiated for the 2021 season or next dues-charging season.
Off-Campus Team
The MCLA highly recommends that if a school does not allow play for the 2021 season, a program does not try to organize a non-school endorsed team. That program will be risking the reputation of its team and possible expulsion of the program for future seasons.
New Rules
Starting this year, teams are to have their goalies in the new NOCSAE goalie EKG chest protectors.
If a program needs any help with schedule changes on the MCLA.us site, coach updates, or any other questions, please reach out to MCLA Executive Director Jac Coyne for assistance at coyne@mcla.us.
https://mcla.us/news/2020/12/mcla-institutes-changes-for-2021
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