The boys coaches council has released the new division alignments and conference pairings for the 2013 season. American Fork and Skyline have been moved to Division II with Spanish Fork moving up to Division I. Only four teams will compete in the Division I Salt Lake Conference. 19 teams will compete for the Division I Championship while 23 will fight for the Division II title. The Summit Academy will also be fielding a team in 2013 and will compete in the D-II South.

“My players are very excited,” said Spanish Fork Head Coach Phil Dunn. “We have been working for this since I began coaching at Spanish Fork, so to be Division I is extra special for me. The biggest difference I think we’ll see is the athleticism from each player we face and as a team as a whole. Not having a good day in D-II was acceptable against some teams. Now if we have a bad day we will for sure lose. To be the best we have to play the best. This move will increase the level of lacrosse at Spanish Fork beginning this year and continuing on.”

The new addition to the competition layout is the conference pairings during the regular season. In 2013, for both Division I and II, pairings will be North & South, Salt Lake & Sandy (Davis in D-II). This will give teams in the Division I North & South nine conference games and the Division I Salt Lake & Sandy it will give them eight conference games. In Division II, the North & South will play 11 conference games and the Salt Lake & Davis will play 10.

“The coaches wanted to make a system where it meant something to win conference games,” said ULA Boys Commissioner Josh Elder. “This makes it so you have to play well consistently to get a good seed for the playoffs.”

The playoffs will continue to be a 16 team bracket. The seeds will be determined by the overall standings in each paired conference. In 2013, the North/South conference will take on the Salt Lake/Sandy conference. The No. 1 seed will play the No. 8 seed, No. 2 seed will play No. 7 seed and so on.

Additional Notes from the ULA:

The ULA will adopt the below format for the next three seasons;

1. Teams must play every team in their conference and their cross conference prior to the finish of the season
   a. NOTE – Cross conference parings and playoff pairings have already been approved for a 3 year cycle.
   b. NOTE – The council will publish the conference and cross conference schedules each fall.
2. Teams will be seeded each year based on their combined conference and cross conference win/loss record.
   a. NOTE – Tie breakers are still being worked on and will be announced shortly.
3. No change to the post season awards process (All Conference and All State). It will still be based on your individual conference and not your combined conference and cross conference
4. Conferences and Divisions can be rebalanced each year, but no major alignment changes till the end of the 3 year rotation
   a. For example if a D-II team wants to move up or a D-I team wants to move down, the conferences can be rebalanced, but we will maintain the same 2 division, 4 conference format with the establish cross conference in season and post season pairings

Here are the conferences:

Division I

Division II