In the fall of 2023, it was announced that lacrosse would be added to the Olympic games beginning with the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles. This is an exciting development for the sport and the culmination of a lot of hard work and effort from the international lacrosse community. The version of lacrosse that was approved for the Olympics is a smaller field version called Sixes, instead of the full field 10v10 men's version played at our high school, NCAA, and pro levels or the full-field women's version played at various levels - 10v10 (international rules) or 12v12 (current HS and NCAA rules). This modified Sixes version requires fewer players and less space and is designed to allow more countries to be competitive against the juggernauts of the USA and Canada. 

For the 805 Lacrosse regular spring season, we plan on continuing to use standard lacrosse rules that are the same ones used at the high school and collegiate levels. We plan on arranging specific dates during the off-season where players can participate in a Sixes game and get a sense of the fast pace and quickness of this modified version of lacrosse. 


Basic Rules and Key Rule Differences Between Sixes Lacrosse and Standard Lacrosse:

• Five field players and one goalie.
• Smaller field - approx. 70 yards long by 40 yards wide. About the same size as our 805 Lacrosse rec league game field but much smaller than an official high school or college level field. 
• There are no restrictions on where the field players can go (e.g. defensemen are not required to stay on their half of the midline).
• No longpoles allowed in the boys' Sixes version. 
• Shot clock: the Olympics will be using a 30 second visible shot clock much like basketball. In our 805 Lacrosse version, we will have the referees keep the shot clock on the field and will likely experiment with slightly different times (60 seconds or 45 seconds).  Thirty seconds is probably a bit too fast for the lower youth levels to get a quality shot. 
• Face-offs only at the beginning of each quarter. No face-offs after goals, the goalie retrieves the ball and immediately puts it back into play.
• No retaining possession after a shot even if your teammate is closest. If the ball goes out of bounds, it’s a turnover.
• Equipment requirements: same as the rec league and standard lacrosse, with the exception that the boys could play a non-contact version of sixes (with sticks only and modified shooting rules) if we don’t have enough players with full equipment.

MORE DETAILS ON SIXES LACROSSE FROM THE WORLD LACROSSE WEBSITE