Oct. 6th, 2003 - Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference Undergoes Major Changes

Formerly the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Lacrosse League (RMILL), the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference (RMLC) will make its debut in the 2004 season. Under the leadership of Conference President John Robinette, the RMLC expanded from thirteen teams to fourteen as Montana State University and the University of Wyoming were admitted after unanimous votes. The two schools will offset Northern Arizona University, who was removed. The meeting also discussed the dissolution of the 'A' and 'B' division structure within the conference and set the parameters for the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference Tournament.

The conference's name change was due mostly to the USL-MDIA's designation of "conferences" instead of "leagues" at the national meeting. The majority vote left the conference under the new designation, which it will be referred to from now on.

Montana State's admission to the conference followed a solid presentation to team representatives and will make for the northernmost team in the RMLC. With over thirty players already committed to the squad, MSU hopes to make a splash in their first season affiliated with the USL-MDIA. Wyoming also had a well-made presentation ready for the group and looks to provide a ready made rival for northern Colorado teams Colorado State University, the University of Colorado, and the University of Northern Colorado. The presence of UW will make for four teams within a one and a half hour drive of each other.

One of the most intriguing points of the meeting was the dissolution of the 'A' and 'B' divisions within the conference and the playoff structure. The conference unanimously voted to realign without designating an 'A' or a 'B' division. Instead, every RMLC team will need to play five games against RMLC opponents in order to qualify for the conference playoffs. Exceptions to this are "Geographically Remote" teams (Fort Lewis College, Boise State University, Montana State University, and Western State College), who can use two non-RMLC games to count towards their five conference contests.

Because there is no set designation for teams to play each other, the playoff structure will be based on LaxPower's ranking system (www.LaxPower.com). The top four teams in the conference according to LaxPower will play in a single elimination four team tournament. The winner of the tournament then gains the conference's Automatic Qualifier to the USL-MDIA national tournament. The next eight teams will be seeded into their own tournament, which has been dubbed the Rocky Mountain Shootout. The RMLC Championships and the Rocky Mountain Shootout will be played at the same location on the same dates if possible.

The RMLC will become the first USL-MDIA conference to use LaxPower's rankings as a deciding factor in conference standings. While LaxPower is a non-traditional approach to seeding the tournaments, the conference felt that it was the best way to get the top four teams in a bracket without forcing an inordinate amount of league games.

The University of Utah, located in Salt Lake City, was unanimously chosen as the site of the 2004 Conference Tournament, as well as the Rocky Mountain Shootout. In the event that the University of Utah is unable to hold a twelve team tournament, Brigham Young University will act as the back-up host.

The meeting also established criterion for teams that are in "Good Standing" and on "Probation," as well as regulations for "New Teams." The guidelines and consequences of these compliance issues were amended into the RMLC bylaws. The Executive Committee will have the final say on teams being moved between the designations. Montana State University and the University of Wyoming were placed on "New Team" status, while the Colorado School of Mines and Colorado State University-Pueblo were placed on probation. Northern Arizona University was removed from the conference.

In addition, clarifications as to what designates "forfeits" and "cancellations," as well as a league dues breakdown were also discussed and added to the bylaws as necessary.

The RMLC plans to have a new website and logo launched by January 1, 2004 in order to be ready for the spring season. The conference gave David Leach final authority on choosing a website provider that will best suit all teams involved.

RMLC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:

RMLC President - John Robinette
RMLC Vice President East - Mason Goodhand (University of Utah)
RMLC Vice President West - Flip Naumburg (Colorado State University)
RMLC Treasurer - David Leach
RMLC Administrative Assistant - Nathan Daniels (Utah State University)

www.rmill.org (moving soon to www.rmlax.com)