The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) has announced that it will hold a free educational event for potential lacrosse officials at Glenbard West High School’s fieldhouse on Sunday, January 15, 2017 from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The free event will feature IHSA boys’ lacrosse clinicians and girls’ lacrosse clinicians providing an overview on the basics of officiating their respective sports. The event hopes to attract new officials, as well as current IHSA officials in other sports, to consider officiating lacrosse as the IHSA prepares for its inaugural state series tournament in the spring of 2018.

“High School lacrosse is growing substantially at both the state and national level,” said IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson. “However, its roots in the Midwest are still comparatively young. There is a lot of intrigue surrounding high school lacrosse in the state’s officiating communities and we want to provide a pressure-free atmosphere for potential officials to learn and evaluate if officiating lacrosse might be something they have interest in.”

The event will feature a general overview on IHSA officiating requirements, as well an explanation on some of the key differences between officiating the boys’ and girls’ lacrosse games. Then a group of IHSA officials will present on each sport independently. The presentations will be interactive and questions from attendees will be encouraged. The event will close with a controlled boys’ lacrosse scrimmage and a girls’ lacrosse scrimmage, so attendees can see the game up-close, watch technique and ask questions of current officials.

In addition, representatives from the IHSA and various officials’ associations will also be on-site to help provide guidance on next steps for individuals who may want to pursue officiating lacrosse.

While the event is free and open to any potential officials, the IHSA is asking that interested attendees RSVP via the IHSA’s Facebook Page Event (or via email at mtroha@ihsa.org) to help appropriately prepare materials for the event.

Current IHSA officials in lacrosse, or any other sport, will not receive clinic credit for attending this free educational event.