Arlington Youth Lacrosse Association

Arlington Youth Lacrosse subscribes to the philosophy of its parent organization, the Patriot Youth Lacrosse League, that all players will be played as equally as possible without regard to physical ability.

Putting this philosophy into practice hinges on an important assumption: a player demonstrates a certain minimum level of physical and emotional commitment to the team he plays on. Among other things,  we require that:

1. A player must regularly attend practices and games, subject to realistic and legitimate competing demands on their time.  If a player does not attend at least one (1) practice in a week, he will sit out the first half of that week's game.
2. If a player does not communicate to a coach that he will miss practice or a game, he will sit out the first half of the next week game.
3. A player must arrive at practice and games ready to play lacrosse both physically and mentally, meaning that he shows up on time, with all his equipment, with an appropriate meal on board, and participates to the best of his ability.

Chronic failure to meet these expectations could result in player being removed from a team and  replaced by someone from the waiting list.

One of the biggest challenges we face is the boy who wants to play multiple sports, take cello lessons, learn how to paint, and go to religious school, all at the same time. We support the notion that young boys reach their full potential when they explore life’s opportunities to their fullest. But another important lesson is that if you try to do too many things, you may not do any of them well. They must also understand that if they commit to join a team but then don't show for half the practices and one-third of the games, then they have, in effect, reneged on the contract made with themselves and with the team.

Our expectations vary by age. At the U-9 level, lacrosse is all about exploration and exposure to a great new experience. At the other end of the spectrum, we expect the U-15 boys to make lacrosse their primary sport for that season, and to not have their participation substantially diminished by other sports and extracurricular activities.

For several reasons, we believe these standards are essential to produce the highest level of experience for the greatest number of players. First, lacrosse is physically demanding sport with skills, rules, and strategy that are new to many players. Players have to go to practice to learn them. Second, lacrosse is a true team sport in that success depends on every player on the field having a minimum level of skill and knowledge of what to do and where to be in certain situations. This also minimizes the risk of injury to themselves and other players. Third, the satisfaction of being a true team is only realized when everyone spends a lot of time together working diligently on commonly held goals. Finally, the importance of delivering on a contract you make with yourself and with the team is an invaluable life lesson.

We will make these expectations clear to your sons, and we will do as much as we can as coaches to help them meet these expectations. It is important that as parents, you support and reinforce this message. If we work together, chances are your son will have a great experience playing youth lacrosse in Arlington.

We encourage anyone who is interested in exploring lacrosse at any age to join  AYL—this includes 7th and 8th graders.  At the same time, many players at the U15 level intend to try and play lacrosse in high school, and some have identified lacrosse as their “primary” sport. To accommodate everyone in a reasonable way, you should consider the following guidelines we have established for U15:

• You will not miss more than one lacrosse game due to a game for another sport.
• You will make at least one lacrosse practice per week for every week of the season.
• You come to practice on time.  A 5:30 practice time means you arrive in time to prepare and step on the field, ready to play at 5:30.
• You come to practice mentally ready to work hard and focus on lacrosse. We make sure that practice is fun, but we also maintain an atmosphere that enables boys to learn to play as a team and to improve individual skills.
• You are physically able to perform. Expecting to opt out of conditioning or resting for significant portions of practice are not options at the U15 level.
• History shows that for most kids, playing three sports is a daunting task—please take this into consideration when planning your spring.