Question: In the NCAA Lacrosse 2008 Men's Rules and Interpretations book there's a rule:

"A.R. 16. The mesh weaving of a crosse must be of one color. Any attempt to mislead
an opponent, such as painting a ball, etc., into the weaving is illegal. RULING:
Unsportsmanlike conduct, three-minute nonreleasable penalty."

Now my teammates and I were wondering if this also means that it's NOT allowed to use
colored shooting strings other than the mesh color? Thanks for your time... E-Lacrosse Rules! - Den Haag Lacrosse

Answer: For those who don't know, Den Haag is Dutch for The Hague, which is the seat of administrative government for the Netherlands, while Amsterdam is the constitutional capital. The Hague is also the home of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN). If you follow current events -- and you should -- you already know that war criminals from Serbia were tried there recently. The Hague is the third largest city in Holland and a lacrosse town now! Holland is just returning from the European Lacrosse Championships where they stunned the continent with a silver medal. You can see by the question that the Dutch are trying to follow NCAA rules. They are avid followers of NCAA lacrosse and I'd give them a few years, but we will see homegrown Dutch players on NCAA teams soon enough. The Dutch team was bolstered this year by North Carolina goalie Grant Zimmerman, who is a Baltimore kid (Gilman) with Dutch parents.

To answer the question, I have to be honest. This rule was put in place because of me. That's right. Well, me and a few other guys I knew who were selling mesh a few years back that was dyed red and blue with a ball-sized white dot on them, so it looked like every player had the ball all the time. We thought it was clever and figured we’d rule the world. We were congratulated by everyone we knew as they told us we could no longer play with the pockets. We got a big pat on the back and a kick in the... . I was actually close to a deal with a big retailer to sell the pockets when I got a call from the actual NCAA rules committee chairman, who was very pleasant but explained the spirit of the new rule and I understood. So I am perhaps the expert on this topic. But, just to be sure, I enlisted help from longtime referee, Mike Ventura. Mike officiated for the Canada vs. Iroquois world indoor final last year and has been a quality official for as long as I can remember. He’s not that old. I just have a fading memory.

Mike agrees with me that the rule only applies to the mesh or pocket material itself and really only in the case where deception is attempted. Many white mesh pockets become a combination of white, brown and black after some tough use and muddy games. No one is examining pockets for that type of color difference. Bleach a ball-sized white spot in the middle and see if they don’t toss that stick immediately. It’s about the intent to deceive. It does not limit stringing creativity. Many college players have colored shooters or sidewalls and this is also not illegal. But Mike also says to check the ILF (FIL, as of last week) rulebook for international play, but a colored shooter or sidewall is fine in the NCAA. Mike also said that the new stick check rule in the NCAA makes these types of deceptions impossible to get away with. He says that loose string length is the big infraction now and keeping those strings under the two-inch limit is the key to not running afoul of him in a game.

The best deceptive stringing tactic is perfectly legal and is well-known. Goalies will tell you it makes a difference. The trick is shooting a white ball out of an all-white mesh with white stringing. It's just bit harder to see who has the ball when the whole team carries a white pocket and it's harder to read the shot out of a white pocket than it is from a pocket with brown leathers or a red mesh. If you are playing with a red mesh, you are not a deceptive shooter.