Lacrosse and Legal Responsibilities

Lacrosse is full of rules. We have the box lacrosse rules that we follow when we are playing box, we have our standard field lacrosse rules that we play by when we play tournament games, we have our rules this weekend when we play the Noxgear Invitational, then we have the rules that apply when we play at home for Forest at Home Games. All of these rules serve a very important purpose as part of the development of our players and of our program, and they work because everyone abides by them. Sometimes you just don’t have the choice.

Within the last five years, several of our players have received a notice from local law enforcement (or the State Attorney or a Judge) ordering them to appear in court. So what does it mean when someone says “I have a court date” or gives you a legal notice to appear in court? This is Part 3 of our ongoing series on lacrosse and the law.

What is a Notice to Appear?

A Notice to Appear is a legal document ordering you to appear in court, typically about 30 to 60 days from the date that the Notice is given. The type of offense, amount of the fine, and who issued it will determine how the Notice to Appear is issued.

Responsible Lacrosse Players

Obviously, this does not happen to everyone that decides to forego practice or reach out to the other team at the end of a bad loss. As with everything, you need to be responsible for your own actions and your team’s image. As long as you can say that you are making good decisions, then you should have nothing to worry about with the law.

Help the Team Keep Both of These Rules

Many people have said they had a Notice to Appear while as a student at FSU. We have had players that have graduated and moved on, and a few that were close to graduating before getting hit with an unexpected fine.

Help and Resources

There are many resources available when lacrosse players get in trouble, and I have found that in particular these organizations have people in the area that can be of assistance if you find yourself in trouble: Holt Lacrosse shares many of these same contacts, and I personally have dealt with these issues successfully with the help of these organizations. If you need help, reach out to them, reach out to me, anyone that plays lacrosse or is involved with lacrosse – they will all be able to point you in the right direction.