Last week concluded the MCLA summer meetings. I'm sure there will be more coming out of the meetings, but we did catch wind of one big change.

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Division III

Without a doubt the biggest news coming from summer meetings was the rumor that the MCLA would be introducing a third division in 2020. Division III will be a place for teams to develop that reduces some of the burdens placed on full membership MCLA teams.

We are still waiting on all the details, but here is what we do know.

• Teams in Division III will pay reduced MCLA league fees.
• Division III teams will only be required to play 5 MCLA contests
• No national post-season for DIII teams
• No post-season awards

It sounds like there is going to be a lot of latitude afforded to conferences in regards to Division III. There is no requirement to even sponsor DIII. As it currently stands, the MCLA has no provisions to allow for an "independent" team without conference affiliation, so some teams that may want to play in DIII in their current conference may be out of luck.

The conferences will also have flexibility on how much they charge for conference dues. There isn't an obligation to lower them, but I'd imagine most will.

From what we've heard, this won't change anything for Division I or II right now. Meaning traditional DI schools (UNLV, Utah State, Baylor, etc) that are playing in Division II won't be forced to Division III.

So, what does this mean?

This is a really good first step. The long term viability of the MCLA depends on having teams not only join, but stick around. Paying higher league fees with a heavy game requirement is tough as is, but if you are losing all those games by 15-20 goals, it's tough to keep kids motivated to keep paying dues year after year.

Personally, I wish this would also clarify the DI/DII situation. We have talked a lot about the weird space that DII occupies.  Clearly the top teams in DII aren’t there for development, but a portion of the teams in DII have “dropped down” to develop and play lesser competition. In an ideal world, the lines would be clear of who goes in DI and DII and DIII would be an option for any school that needs some time to develop.

I like the set up from everything I’ve heard. Not having a post-season or post-season awards provides some incentive for teams to not “camp out” in DIII.  Reducing the number of MCLA games required leaves space for teams to schedule games with competition that is closer, but not MCLA, further reducing the financial burden on those teams.

Twitter had some good thoughts on the change:

Looking forward to the official press release to get all the details.

Quick Hits

🥍 In June, Coach Tim Murray of Grand Valley State took on a new coaching gig. This time as the coach of the Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital Wheelchair Lacrosse team in Grand Rapids. Last week he organized a scrimmage against the Michigan State lacrosse team. You should watch the video below and then read this article. It’s pretty cool.

🥍 Speaking of Michigan State, they are looking for a head coach again. Per Dave Franklin Coach Lubs took a position with DII Florida Southern.

🥍 In the middle of the summer meetings the MCLA sent out a cryptic tweet.

It was followed up by this announcement which linked to an article on the MCLA website, which has since been removed.

So there may or may not be a new deal with New Balance, which makes things tough for the Rabil fans in the league.

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