The Southern Lacrosse Officials Association (SLOA) "The Oldest in the Nation" celebrates 85th year
The year 2008 marks the 85th year of the Southern Lacrosse Officials Association (SLOA), presumably
"The Oldest in the Nation." Our organization has served the sport of lacrosse these many decades across
every level of boys' and men's programs here in the "Hotbed of Lacrosse": the Baltimore metropolitan
area and surrounding areas (including parts of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington D.C.) and also
nationally and internationally. The SLOA not only considers itself "The Oldest in the Nation,"
but is viewed by U.S. Lacrosse, the MPSSAA, the MIAA, the American Lacrosse League, and other club
organizations as the national model in terms of the most highly trained lacrosse officials group.
Many of our 175 plus members have consistently worked the highest level of competition and are
regular selectees at the NCAA tournament and World amateur events.
We feel we have a successful model and have the respect of our customers and associates because of
our annual training programs. These SLOA training practices result in appropriate application of the
rules and mechanics by our officials (at the given game level), which makes the customers, coaches,
players and fans more content through out the game.
Each year, we start our 15 to 20 new applicants with our 16-week new applicant training course, which
begins in early January, in advance of our regular series of training classes for returning members.
Each week, there are sessions ranging from youth, high school, college, and club rules clinics to open
meeting topics, and the training cycle concludes with testing for all officials at each levels they work.
The weekly classroom sessions average two and a half hours.
Once the weather breaks, we are out on the fields in the pre-season, practicing our two- and three-man
mechanics and signals. Three-man mechanics were developed by SLOA and are recognized as an NCAA standard.
The SLOA is also linked to the pro leagues as primary developer of the four-man mechanics (with the concept
designed by current SLOA President Martin Ensey in 1999), which the MLL has modified for use today.
As the season evolves, to reinforce and strengthen our officials' on field training experience, our assignors
not only collect numerous assessment reports and customer feedback data but also arrange for many paid external
expert assessors to make game evaluations our officials. Most of our assignors provide timely feedback to our
officials with performance evaluation ratings so that they can gain a sense of where improvement is
needed in the future.
But that's just the regular season! The SLOA provides lacrosse officiating services (indoor and outdoor) across
the region all year long.
Article by Martin Ensey
