By Jay Watts | @gamedayeveryday

I have been fortunate over the last eight years to be a part of the National Federation of High Schools (NFHS) Girls’ Lacrosse Rules Committee, as well as the US Lacrosse Women’s Game Rules Committee. Both groups do a remarkable job of keeping the game on the right track for responsible growth and for the safety of those that play the sport.

Lacrosse has never been as popular as it is currently at the high school level. Ohio is the latest state to announcesanctioning of the sport, starting with the 2016-17 school year. Additionally, despite growing awareness and concern over youth sports injuries, studies show that the injury rate in girls’ lacrosse remains steady and, in fact, is declining in some areas.

The National High School Sports-Related Injury Surveillance Study has been tracking injuries in girls’ lacrosse since the 2009 high school season, and injury rates for participants in the sport have been on a steady decline over the last six years. While this is great news for our game, we are aware and committed to the need for continued focus on safety issues.

The US Lacrosse Women’s Game Rules Committee annually conducts an open call for rules suggestions from all of its constituents, and I can say, having been on this committee for numerous years, every submission is considered. From uniform designs to field markings to rules of play, no stone is left unturned.

One of the more frequent suggestions received by the committee refers to one of the more unique rules of the women’s game – obstruction of free space to goal (or “shooting space,” as it is often called).

Every year, the committee receives questions regarding why a goal by the attacker is disallowed when obstruction of free space is called on the defender. Why penalize the offense for an accurate shot? Why reward the defense for committing a foul?

Coaches, parents, and fans groan when a goal appears to strike the back of the net only to be pulled out to make the offensive player shoot again when the penalty for the foul is administered.

Some may be disappointed to hear that of all the submissions that the committee receives, this is one that draws little, if any, new discussion. The enforcement for the penalty for obstruction of free space is one that is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future.

There are two significant reasons why a goal scored after a shooting space violation is called should not, and frankly, cannot be counted.

1. Safety of the Defenders

When a player shoots while a defender is in shooting space, the defender is at risk for injury. Allowing the goal to count when shooting space has occurred would encourage more frequent, harder-paced shots from offensive players who are trying to get the ball in the cage before a call is made. The shooter would have nothing to lose. It is always the responsibility of the shooter to shoot safely. In some cases, when an attacker takes a shot while a defender is clearly obstructing free space to goal, a foul could be called on the shooter herself for dangerous propelling. In order to keep the game safe, we must have rules in place that discourage unsafe shots.

2. Fairness to the Goalkeeper

Allowing the goal to count would put the goalkeeper at a competitive disadvantage because she would be trying to focus on the ball in midair while hearing a whistle. In every instance when a whistle is heard, it instructs players to stop play immediately. The whistle for obstruction of free space is supposed to be instantaneous, before the shot has taken place. More often than not, however, the whistle blows while the shot is in the air. Because the goalkeeper did not have the same fair opportunity to save the shot as she would with other shots during play, the goal cannot be allowed.

As a member of the rules committees, I am proud to be a part of the safe growth of the game over the last decade. Admittedly, the rules of women’s lacrosse can be quite challenging to understand, especially to those who are new to the game or for those who live in areas without a long history with lacrosse. But rest assured, the continued enforcement of a rule such as shooting space has fairness and player safety at its core.

Jay Watts is the chair of the NFHS Girls Lacrosse Rules Committee, as well as a member of the US Lacrosse Women’s Game Rules Committee. He is the assistant director of athletics at the Westminster Schools in Atlanta, Ga., where he has coached the varsity girls’ lacrosse team for 16 years.