You can read the page below for details, but at a minimum, the following list has all the things you need to do before the season starts.
All girls will need a stick, goggles and mouthguard at every practice. If you don't have your mouthguard and goggles you will not be allowed to play.
If your daughter has been playing for a few years and is still using a beginners stick, (or even if your daughter is just starting out), you will want to get her a halfway decent stick. It's MUCH EASIER to catch the ball and pick up ground balls if you have a decent stick. If you spend at least $100 bucks on a stick you're probably getting something that's pretty good. If you're wondering if a stick is any good before you buy it ask me and I can tell you. If you look at the three pictures below you will notice how "flat" the first stick is, (it's a crappy stick), and how much more curved the other two sticks are. You want a stick with some curve to it.
The pictures below also show you what a good pocket looks like. By rule, you must be able to see the top of the ball above the sidewall of the stick. Notice how far above the the sidewall the ball is in the first stick and how low the ball sits in each of the other two sticks. You want your stick to look like the last two. Depending on your stick, creating a good pocket might take some work. You can jam a ball in the pocket and hold it in there with a knife or screwdriver overnight and you can pound on the pocket with something heavy like a bat or guilt. If you love your kid and want her to love lacrosse, the do what it takes to get her a good pocket on her stick.
Bad stick with no pocket. It's very difficult to learn on this stick.
Good stick, good pocket.
High end stick, perfect pocket.
Whether or not girls lacrosse players should wear helmets has been a point of debate for a number of years. The proponents argue that helmets make the game safer for the girls and the purists point out that wearing helmets will allow the girls to be more aggressive and thus make the game more dangerous. They call this the "Gladiator Effect." There is likely some truth to both arguments, but there is definitely a trend towards girls wearing helmets.(Click here to watch US Lacrosse discuss the latest research.) Our team is no different. Last year we had one girl in a helmet and I would expect we'll have more this year. There aren't that many companies producing girls lacrosse helmets, but one of them is Hummingbird Sports. They are a newer company and one of the founders ( a Jersey guy no less) reached out to me last year and sent me some samples to try. While I haven't been able to convince my own stubborn daughter to wear a helmet, I'll bring their samples to our practices for you and your daughter to try out if you're interested. You can click here to go to the Hummingbird Sports website and check them out. Use the code LADYWOLFPACK fo 20% off your order, they also have gloves and other accessories. There are also some links to the science related to girls lacrosse helmets at "The Brain Safety Alliance" that you can check out by clicking here.
At this point it's too late to order a uniform. If you don't have a uniform it's not that big a deal, a dark blue/white pinnie will be fine.
I'm the self proclaimed King of e-mail. I write too many and they're all too long but I like to keep my parents informed. I will mainly use e-mail and the website to communicate with you, but I will also use the Remind App to sent out messages such as last minute game cancellations. To sign up for the text notifications text @kgaea4 to 81010. If you don't understand how to sign up for the Remind app ask your kid to do it for you. I would also recommend that if your daughter has a cell phone that she signs up for the app as well.
I check my e-mail many times throughout the day so you can always e-mail me at mcnuttb@gmail.com or call or text me at 973-619-4649.
I've made a bunch of videos that your daughter (and you) can watch to learn lacrosse and they're posted at the bottom of the main page of our main website, but if you're daughter really likes lacrosse and wants to get good she needs to get on the wall. In lacrosse, throwing and catching off the wall is called "wall ball" and it is by far the best way to learn to catch and throw. Catching a lacrosse ball with a girls stick is not an easy skill and I still remember the time I was at the wall with my twins when they finally "got it" and now they're both better than me. If your daughter doesn't work on the wall then don't expect her to have a lot of early success. Go to the main page and watch the wall ball videos, especially this one to learn how to do it.
The practice and game schedule will be located on our main page. The schedule of who's playing in each game is also on that page. We'll typically have practice on Mondays, InterSquad games on Tuesdays, a game on Wednesday and a game on Saturday. Playing time may be reflective of practice time, ability, and dedication to the sport. Everyone will play in a bunch of rec games and/or travel games but not everyone will play in the same number of games. I know that kids now-a-days are involved in an incredible number of activities so I don't have a problem if any of our players miss a practice every once in a while, but if a player is never at a practice she may not play as much in the games. I believe equal playing time to a girl who never shows up to practice is not fair to the girls who show up to every practice and we will adjust accordingly.
As to the schedule, you must notify me if your daughter will not be at a game that she's scheduled to play as soon as you know she can't make it. I will put a lot of time into coaching this team, and I love doing it, but you gotta help me out and let me know if your daughter can't make a game that she's scheduled to play. If your daughter does not show up to a game she was scheduled for you'll be hearing from me. Please do not notify me if you're daughter will not be at a practice, only games.
Our practices will start and end on time. Nothing makes parents (including me) more aggravated than having to sit in the parking lot for a half hour waiting for a practice to end. That will not happen here. We may run over a few minutes a couple times through the course of the season but for the most part, if the schedule says practice ends at 7:30 then practice will end at 7:30 and your kid will be at the car by 7:35. Barring a hurricane we will never end practice early and some early practices will be cold so dress for it.
We will have three types of games this year, Rec Games, Inter-Town Games, and Select Games. Our rec games are intersquad games and will be played every Tuesday evening at the Alps Rd fields. In my opinion, these games are the best thing we've ever done as a program. These games are usually officiated by high school players and the coaches will be on the field coaching the girls. Historically, we've split these games by ability so the better players play against the better players and the more developing players will play against each other. Please make an effort to clear your Tuesday schedule so you can make these games. The rec games will be played 9-v-9 on a smaller field so everyone has the opportunity to get more touches on the ball. In our regular Inter-town games, the best players usually have the ball about 90% of the time and some girls rarely if ever touch the ball, so the idea of the rec games is to get everyone more touches and allow for better in-game coaching. Our Inter-town games make up the bulk of our season and these are games that we play against other towns. We will only bring about 20 girls to each game and since we have 40+ girls on the team, not all girls will go to every Inter-Town game. Furthermore, all girls will not necessarily play in the same number of Inter-Town games. The number of games each girl plays will be based on a number of things including commitment to the program, work ethic, skill level, experience, attitude etc, but all girls will get to play in at least some Inter-Town games. Every player will play in every rec game so there will be no shortage of lacrosse for your daughter. We also scheduled some Select Games for this season. These games pit our best players against another town’s best players and allows the girls to improve their play by playing against better competition. The girls selected to the Select Team will again be based on skill, experience effort etc.
Between all our practices, Rec Games, Inter-Town games and Select Games, I'm confident all the girls will get plenty of lacrosse this year.
We will be entering the team in at least a couple tournaments this year. The tournaments are not required and there is no reward if you go or punishment if you don't. They usually work out to be a really fun way to play a lot of lacrosse and spend time as a team. They are typically on Sundays later in the season. Keep an eye out for details. We may also play in a Select Tournament or two and obviously those tournaments will be for the Select Team girls.