It was announced earlier this week that NYS, under the jurisdiction of the National Federation of State High School Assocations, will be making some changes to the game's rules in preparation for the eventual 2014 spring season. There will be 19 overall rule changes.

So, what does this all boil down to? Essentially, it's making the game a heck of a lot faster and, most likely, a little more hectic when it comes to actually player.

Under the cut, check out some of the bigger changes now facing Section II lax teams. It may be only August, but next spring is going to be quite a bit more interesting.

"Horn please!"
No more of that. Previously, when a ball when out of bounds and the game was stopped, the horn would sound to give time for subs to run onto the field. No more. Now, we're subbing on the fly and there's a bit of a risk since players will be running to new positions while the game is still moving.

Rule 5-3-5
Basically, this adds another (fifth) example of an illegal body-check. Now, the rule reads as follows:
an illegal body-check is one that targets a player in a defenseless position. That includes but is not limited to: a) body-checking a player from his blind side; b) body-checking a player who has his head down in an attempt to play a loose ball; and c) body-checking a player whose head is turned away to receive a pass, even if that player turns toward the contact immediately before the body-check.
The penalty  now takes a minimum of two or three minutes non-releasable, at the discretion of the ref. 

Watch Your Head
A lot of the rule changes coming out of this summer's meeting focus on the safety of players and we've got a prime example here. An illegal check to the head or neck will no longer receive a one-minute penalty. It's now a minimum two or three minute, non-releasable, penalty.