Who writes the US college and high school rules.

Who writes which rules

The women's and girls' column follows USA Lacrosse's own description of the split on its girls' and women's rules page (read 23 October 2026). The NFHS says it writes playing rules for 18 sports at high school level, through its 50 member state associations and the District of Columbia. The NCAA's men's and women's rule books are maintained by the Division I rules subcommittee and oversight committee and, for Divisions II and III, a rules committee and the Playing Rules Oversight Panel. Every cell in the table is a separate code: no figure from one applies to another, and none of them is a World Lacrosse rule.

What was and was not read

The current NCAA men's and women's rule books and the NFHS boys' and girls' rule books were not read for this site. The NFHS books are sold rather than posted, and the NCAA rule book files did not appear in any search. Everything below comes from the bodies' own published change summaries, news releases and rules pages, or from USA Lacrosse Magazine reports of NCAA decisions, and is named as such. Basic figures that only the rule books hold, such as NCAA men's players per side or NFHS girls' period length, are not given. All USA Lacrosse PDFs, including the 2026 youth rule books, returned errors on the research date, so the youth rules are not described here.

The NFHS change summaries used here are PDFs on the document service that the NFHS website uses; the NFHS story pages describe the same changes.

NCAA men's lacrosse

The NCAA's men's playing rules page (read 23 October 2026) links the current rule book, a field diagram, a 2027-28 major rules changes document, 2026 video-review parameters and the 2025 changes and interpretations.

• Shot clock. A USA Lacrosse Magazine report of July 2021, republishing NCAA.org, says a visible 80-second shot clock on every possession was introduced in spring 2019, because the committee's preferred design, a 20-second clear and then a reset to 60 seconds, was not financially or technically feasible at the time. The Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved on 21 July 2021, for 2021-22, a reset to 60 seconds when the offence keeps the ball after a valid shot and in some other offensive-half situations.
• 2025 season. On 17 July 2024 the panel approved a revised faceoff procedure in which the official stands over the players, adjusts them and backs out before the whistle; barred a player who commits a faceoff violation from the next faceoff; dropped the 30-second penalty for three faceoff violations in a half; let coaches use their challenges at any point in the game; limited officials' own reviews to the last four minutes of regulation and overtime; and permitted clear mouthguards (NCAA release).
• 2027 season. The NCAA's release of 28 July 2026 says the Division I Men's Lacrosse Oversight Committee and the Divisions II and III Playing Rules Oversight Panel expanded video review. Coaches may challenge a goal that may have followed offside, too many players, or a player in possession stepping on a boundary line, if it came within 15 seconds of the violation with no whistle in between. Officials may review possible contact to the head or neck without first making a call, and rescind such a call if video shows no illegal contact. Overtime changes from 4-minute periods to 15-minute periods played until a goal.
• Ball colour. The NCAA's July 2026 release says fluorescent green or yellow game balls are recommended for 2026-27 and required for 2027-28. A Divisions II and III change summary hosted by the NAIA puts it as allowable for the 2027 season and required by the 2028 season (Rule 1-16), allows other colours if both coaches agree, and says the ball must meet the current NOCSAE lacrosse ball standard. College lacrosse is a spring sport, so the two describe the same timing in different terms.
• Fall 2026 experiment. A shot released below the defensive restraining line counts as a shot only if it scores or hits the pipes (NCAA, 28 July 2026).

NCAA women's lacrosse

The NCAA's women's playing rules page links the official rule book, 2026 video-review guidelines, a 2026 timing and scoring reference sheet, the 2026 stick card and a 2027 rules changes document.

• 2021-22. Four 15-minute quarters replaced two 30-minute halves, with teams changing ends after each quarter; the possession clock reset to 60 seconds in some situations, such as after a save and offensive rebound or a shot off the pipe; pregame stick checks ended; and up to 12 eligible players were allowed on the field at the draw (NCAA.com article of 23 July 2021, republished by USA Lacrosse).
• 2025-26 (approved and reported 14 August 2025). One-minute releasable penalties apply across the field except the critical scoring area; the clock keeps running on 8-metre free positions except in the last minute of a period; dangerous contact becomes a non-releasable yellow card; and draws are limited to the start of the game, the second half, overtime and after goals (USA Lacrosse Magazine).
• 2026-27 (NCAA, 12 August 2026). All yellow cards become two-minute non-releasable penalties; stick and body contact fouls are consolidated into illegal check and illegal contact; targeting is added as a flagrant foul with a red card; flopping and embellishment merge into one flagrant flopping foul with a yellow card; the automatic next-game suspension after a red card is removed, though the player is still ejected; a team on a power play at the end of a quarter or overtime may again keep possession into the next period; officials must stick-check draw players at least once per quarter and before each overtime; and equipment that needs certification must be commercially available to all schools by 1 January before the spring season.
• Fall 2026 experiments. A 60-second possession clock after a draw, and 10 players a side instead of 12, with six below the restraining line instead of seven (NCAA, 12 August 2026). That wording is the basis for stating that the standard NCAA women's game is 12 a side; the rule book itself was not read.

NFHS boys' lacrosse

• 2026 changes (twelve, as the Tennessee state association reported on 19 August 2025). From the NFHS summary: a game interrupted and not resumable the same day counts as complete if 75 percent of playing time has passed (Rules 3-5-1, 3-5-2); a player other than a properly equipped goalkeeper who enters the crease to block a shot commits a personal foul for illegal equipment (4-18-4 penalty, 5-6-2); the goalkeeper's five seconds to re-enter the crease on restarts is removed (4-22-1c); losing a helmet is an illegal procedure (6-5-2y); colour limits on mouthguards are lifted (1-9-1b); a working horn is required at the sideline table (1-12); and officials may call delay of game for repeated faceoff adjustment (4-3-3e).
• 2027 changes (sixteen, announced 13 August 2026). From the NFHS summary: state associations may adopt a shot clock requiring a shot within 70 seconds of clearing the defensive half or gaining possession in the offensive half (4-13); a team gaining possession in its defensive half has 20 seconds to get the ball over the centre line, replacing a separate 10-second count (4-14, 4-15); from 2029 the ball must be fluorescent green or yellow, ending white and orange balls (1-5); and a helmet counts as lost once the chin strap is off the chin, with play suspended at once (4-24-8). The points of emphasis are player safety, properly worn equipment, the second flag down and the NFHS authenticating mark on game balls.
• Timer guidelines. The NFHS's undated Boys Lacrosse Official Timer Guidelines describe four 12-minute stop-time quarters, a 10-minute half-time unless specified otherwise, 4-minute overtime periods, and a running clock once the second-half goal difference reaches 12. They say officials signal penalties of 1, 2 or 3 minutes or 30 seconds, and that releasable penalties end on an opposing goal while non-releasable ones run their full time.

NFHS boys' players per side were not confirmed from an NFHS document.

NFHS girls' lacrosse

• 2026 changes (announced 11 July 2025). Among them, Rule 2-4-5 limits when a stick check may be requested to quarter breaks, half-time, team time-outs, before overtime, before a draw and straight after goals.
• 2027 changes. The NFHS Girls Lacrosse Rules Committee approved 10 changes at its meeting of 15 to 17 June 2026 in Indianapolis, later approved by the NFHS Board of Directors (NFHS release, 10 July 2026). State associations may adopt a 90-second possession clock from the 2027 season, a change the committee linked to two years of a New York State Public High School Athletic Association experiment. Home teams must wear white jerseys from 1 January 2031. Players may not switch sticks on the field or take one from the bench during live play except through the substitution area. The NFHS said the 2027 rule book would be on sale in print in October 2026.

Where the US codes differ from each other

• Stick exchanges. The NFHS 2027 girls' Rule 9-1h bars switching sticks with other players on the field during play, while the NCAA's 2026-27 women's change lets players exchange sticks with a teammate or an opponent when they do not have the ball. Each applies only to its own level.
• Shot clocks. NCAA men's play has used a visible 80-second clock since 2019; NFHS boys' play may use a 70-second clock from 2027 where a state adopts it; NFHS girls' play may use a 90-second possession clock from 2027 where a state adopts it.
• Ball colour. NCAA men's play requires fluorescent green or yellow balls from 2027-28; NFHS boys' play from 2029.

How widely each is played

USA Lacrosse's chief executive said in March 2026 that 24 states give high school lacrosse full state championship status and two more give partial recognition. Participation and programme counts are on the how many people play page, and every dated change is gathered on the rule changes page.