The conference will consist of a minimum of seven member institutions including: Becker College, Bridgewater State College, Castleton State, Elms College, Fitchburg State College, Thomas College, Westfield State College and Worcester State College.

NAME:

The name shall be the New England Women's Lacrosse Alliance (NEWLA).

MEMBERSHIP:

1. An accredited four-year degree granting co-ed or single sex institution in New England. 
2. All members must be an active member of the NCAA Division III.
3. Member institutions shall comply with all NCAA Division III and conference rules and regulations.
4. Membership will be a minimum two-year commitment, and there shall be no compensation for institutions leaving the conference.  Notification to terminate membership must be in writing to the Commissioner by May 1^st, one year prior to the start of the playing year that the institution will depart. Failure to fulfill obligation will result in an assessment of twice the current dues effective immediately.

NEW MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION:

1. Applicants must be an accredited four-year degree granting co-ed or single sex institution in New England. 
2. Applicants must be active members of the NCAA Division III.
3. Applicants shall comply with all NCAA Division III, and conference rules and regulations.
4. An institution wishing to join the conference must apply in writing to the Commissioner by May 1^st, at least one year prior to the start of the playing year they wish to participate.
5. Recommendations and final approval will come from the Athletic Directors.  Final approval of new members requires a two-thirds majority vote of the Athletic Directors.

SCHEDULING AND CHAMPIONSHIPS:

Each team will play all schools within the conference in a single round-robin format.  A scheduling matrix will be provided to each Athletic Director for approval and adoption 18 months prior to the season.  

The regular season rain dates will be Sunday and Monday prior to Wednesday's semifinal games.  The conference championship will be conducted a week and a half prior to the NCAA tournament with the semifinals on the Wednesday (April 29, 2009) and the championship on the Saturday (May 2, 2009) prior to the NCAA tournament (May 6, 2009). 

Ties within the conference will be broken using the following criteria: 

• Conference head to head
• Results vs highest ranked conference opponents                 
• Results vs common opponents
• Overall winning percentage 
• Coin toss

Three-way ties will be determined by extracting the lowest team from the equation and deciding the remaining higher seeds based on head-to-head play. 

SUSPENDED/INTERRUPTED CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES:

The conference will follow the suspended/interrupted game rules as noted in the NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse handbook.  The rule states in Section 5 that once play begins, the umpires shall have the authority to interrupt or suspend the game due to dangerous weather or field conditions.  The umpire's decision is final.  A game is considered legal and complete if 80 percent (48 minutes) of playing time has elapsed.  If a suspended game (one in which less than 80 percent of playing time has elapsed) is replayed on another day, it must be played from the beginning.  An interrupted game continued on the same day shall be restarted from its point of interruption. 

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:

The executive committee is comprised of the commissioner and two representatives from member institutions.  (These individuals shall serve two-year terms.)  The commissioner will receive a $500.00 stipend per year.

OFFICIALS:

Member institutions will be responsible for the scheduling of all regular season officials.  The conference office will assign officials for all NEWLA championship games, and will contact the three assigning groups, Alison Risch, Debbie Martin and Mora Wagner in early February to supply conference championship officials.  Beginning with the 2008 season, all conference regular season and championship games must have three officials. 

SPORTS INFORMATION DIRECTOR:

The conference will hire a conference sports information director.  A $1,000 stipend will be paid to the sports information director.  This person will be responsible for picking the rookie, defensive and players of the week, disseminating all conference information, standings, honors, etc. to all conference media, producing weekly conference statistics, coordinating conference teleconference calls and updating the conference website.

STATISTICS:

All institutions must use Stat Crew to share game information with opponents within 24 hours of the completed game.  Further, Stat Crew must be used when sending weekly cumulative files to the Conference Sports Information Director.  All weekly reports are due on Monday by noon throughout the season.

AWARDS:

1. An offensive and defensive player of the week for five weeks (certificate).
2. An offensive and defensive player of the year (plaque).
3. Coach of the year (plaque).
4. Scholar-athlete of the year (plaque).
5. 12 on the First Team All-Conference (plaques) - comprised of 3 attack, 5 mid-fielders, 3 defenders, and one goalie.
6. 12 on the Second team All-Conference - comprised of 3 attack, 5 mid-fielders, 3 defenders, and one goalie (certificates).
7. Rookie of the Year (plaque)
8. Team Sportsmanship Award (plaque)

Each week, Monday by 12:00 Noon, each coach will nominate one player of the week, one defensive player and one rookie from their team and forward those nominations to the conference sports information director.  The SID will then pick the offensive, defensive, and rookie player of the week.  All players nominated will be a member of the weekly honor roll.

For the All-Conference ballot, coaches may submit a maximum of five names to be placed on the ballot.  Voting will be in rank order with attack and midfielders ranked (#1-8) and defenders and goalies ranked (#1-4).  The attack/midfielder with the most points will be the Offensive Player of the Year and the defender/goalie with the most points will be the Defensive Player of the Year.  The Rookie of the Year will be a separate ballot.  Schools may nominate a maximum of one first year player.  Transfers may not be nominated for Rookie of the Year.  The Rookie of the Year may or may not end up on the first or second all conference team since it is a separate ballot.  The All-Conference first team will consist of twelve players, which includes one player of the year.  The second team will also consist of twelve players.  Coaches may not vote for their own players.

Coaches will submit nominations for Scholar Athlete of the Year.  Nominations must be a junior or senior and have played at least two seasons for an alliance institution.  A minimum cumulative GPA of 3.3 is required and athletic contributions to the institution is included in the decision process.

All coaches and teams are eligible for Coach of the Year and the Team Sportsmanship Award.

BUDGET/DUES:

The NEWLA bill will be sent to all member institutions after July 1^st and will be payable before October 1^st.

Each institution shall pay $400.00 per year to be a member of the New England Women's Lacrosse Alliance. 

Dues will cover conference membership in the NCAA, awards, sports information director's salary, web site maintenance and conference certificates.  There is no intent to carry a reserve.  All expenses of championship play are the responsibility of the competing teams.