Dear
Parents,
This
is a follow up to the 2/25/09 email that outlined the WCLL 2009 Instructional Lacrosse
Program. I still am missing a few email
addresses, so please forward this to anyone that may not have received the
first email. Our season runs from April
4th through June 6th.
There are no make up days for cancellations due to inclement weather and
we do not meet over Memorial Weekend (Saturday, May 23rd).
Opening Day
Opening
Day will be held on Saturday, April 4th, on the turf at Kelly Field
located at Route 202 and
U9
age group: 8:00 AM check in
8:30
– 9:45 AM on the field in full gear
U11
age group: 9:30 AM check in
10:00
– 11:15 AM on the field in full gear
At
check in, you will receive
WCLL
logo sweatshirts, T-shirts, and practice shorts will be on sale at Opening Day
near the check in station. WCLL logo
gear is not required for practice or scrimmage but is only available at the
beginning of the season and in limited quantity.
Schedule After Opening Day
Both
age groups meet at the
U9
age group
Wednesdays from 5:30 – 6:30
PM and Saturdays from 8:30 – 10:00 AM. Wednesday
will be a skills night and will consist of introducing new concepts, reviewing
and practicing previously learned skills, and participating in drills or games
designed to reinforce the concepts/skills taught. Saturday will be a
combination of skills and scrimmages, although scrimmages will not start until
a few weeks into the season. All U9 scrimmages take place at the same
time during the 8:30 – 10:00 am time slot.
U11
age group
Wednesdays from 6:45 – 7:45
PM. All U11 boys will meet from 10:30 AM – noon
on the first couple of Saturdays. We
plan to start intramural games on the third or fourth Saturday of the season
with the first scrimmage from 10:30 – 11:30 AM and the second scrimmage from
11:30 AM – 12:30 PM. Each team will
scrimmage once per Saturday and a schedule will be posted on the WCLL website
before the scrimmages begin.
Both
age groups
It is imperative that your son arrive at least 15
minutes prior to each session and be in full gear ready to play at the start of
his session. Please be aware that we do
not have extra equipment or sticks at the field and the boys must be in full
protective gear to participate. The
required equipment is listed below.
Equipment
Each
player must have a lacrosse stick, 36-42" in length (no goalie sticks or
defense/a.k.a. "long poles” permitted), helmet, gloves, shoulder pads, and
elbow pads. Equipment can be purchased at Lacrosse International, Kelly's
Sports, and major sporting goods stores. The boys will be given a mouth
guard and a numbered, reversible nylon tank top when they check in on Opening
Day. A protective cup is strongly recommended for all boys although it is
not a requirement for the Instructional Program. Please dress the boys appropriately for the
weather and be sure they bring a water bottle to the field.
Parent Coaches
We are still very
much in need of 1 or 2 U9 parent coaches and 4-6 U11 parent coaches. The parent "coaches" allow us to
break out into small groups of 10-15 boys to give the boys more individualized
attention and to break into scrimmage teams on Saturdays. Ideally the
parent coaches should have played lacrosse in high school or college, but
novices that can commit to most Wednesdays and Saturdays are welcome. We need a sufficient number of parent
coaches in order to hold scrimmages on Saturdays! Please send me an email if you want to
volunteer as a parent coach and include your lacrosse experience so I can pair
up more experienced with less experienced coaches. Please also indicate which age group your son
plays in.
Scrimmage Teams
Scrimmage
teams will be formed based on a combination of factors including experience and
age. We try to group boys from the same school together and balance the
teams with both experienced and inexperienced players. Initial team
assignments may change to keep the teams fairly equal for scrimmages.
Likewise, on any given Saturday, some players may be asked to play for the
other team if one team has 15 boys show up and the other team only has 9
players. All boys within their respective age group meet at the same time
on Wednesdays and either at the same time or back to back on Saturdays, so car
pooling issues should be minimal to non-existent. We want returning
players to experience working and playing with different kids and/or
coaches. As a parent, I can appreciate your desire to pair your son with a
specific friend and/or coach. As the Administrator
of the Instructional Program that has seen a steady increase in
registrations over the past 5 years, I cannot accommodate the numerous requests
to pair groups of kids together . . . so please do not ask. Your son will
most likely be on a scrimmage team with other boys from his school, but
likely will not be grouped with everyone he knows. Thanks in advance for
your understanding.
Turf Field Night
Later
in the season, we’ll schedule a time for each age group to get on the new turf
at Kelly Field. Most likely we’ll hold a
scrimmage on a Friday evening rather than a Saturday morning sometime in May. We haven’t finalized the day as the Travel
Program schedule is still being determined.
We’ll send out details later in the season.
Please
contact me if you have additional questions.
Looking forward to a fun season!
Dave
WCLL
Instructional Program Administrator
March 16, 2009