2010 CILA Summer League - What I Learned Part 4

Click Here for Part Three

Reflecting on the 2010 CILA Summer League:
10. The league was missing something
I can't quite put my finger on it, but it just kind of felt like something was missing from the summer league. We had four teams - four competitive teams (despite Mi Casa Rustic Furniture losing every game). We had great players. We had officials, a horn, face offs, long poles, etc.
So what was missing?
*A scoreboard for one. Sure we brought out a white board, but it was not exactly the most efficient system. Between now and next summer I will be looking into proper scoreboard system and possibly a table to place it on.
*We could also use a better system for assigning referees. This is something I have struggled with since last year's box league. This is the biggest issue plaguing this year's box league. What usually happens is that Zach, Tyler, Jim, and myself end up reffing every game that we are not playing in. Alec and Cam also did a lot of reffing, but both are off to college now. Often times all of us are split between two teams, which means that finding officials for our games can be tricky. Complicating things is the carpooling of the Iowa State and Drake teams. It's hard to keep one or two guys to ref when two or three more are depending on them for a ride. If anyone has suggestions for fixing this problem - especially before the box league starts - I am all ears...
*Something else? During the Championship Weekend, I was inspired to post a poll about which of the two Major League Lacrosse rules people would like to see incorporated into our summer league - the two point shot arch or the 60 second shot clock. The response was fairly overwhelming with 24 votes - a little under 1/4 of our league participation.
Even more surprising was that the vast majority actually voted for both rule changes! I figured that there would be an overwhelming wave of negative responses since most laxers here (and across the country) complain about the MLL's rules. Then again, we are a new area and a lot of players here really only have access to MLL games. We have grown accustomed to the rules (which I find more entertaining at the pro level). I don't disagree that they might add an element of fun and excitement to our league.
The tricky part will be implementing them. The two point arch is fairly easy as it more or less replaces the box. Having both officials in a place were they can judge whether or not the player's feet were outside the arch on release will be a bit harder. Still, I think this is doable.
The shot clock presents a problem as we do not have a way to present the time to the field via an electronic score board. Maybe we can have the refs count it down somehow. If this is something that people really want, we can certainly look at low cost/low tech ways to implement it next season. Again, I am open to suggestions. This would also eliminate the offensive box and its related penalties.

I am interested to know if anybody else has anything they want to share about the summer league experience. My desire is to create the best experience possible at the lowest cost to everybody involved. Although I "run things," I really care about what the players think. This league is as much yours as it is mine.