Snack and Drink Signup Link

www.SignUpGenius.com/go/10C0A4DA9A82EA6F58-snack 

Game fields.

General Game information

Format. Most of our games will be 7 on 7.  This was decided by the league since the league has a bunch of teams that wouldn’t have enough athletes at our age group for a standard 10 v 10 format. Since we have 19 players, this will mean that there will be a lot of kids on the bench at a time. That’s one of the reasons I scheduled this Saturday’s game as a split squad game so that we will have a 10 player team and a 9 player team which means very little bench time compared to most of our other games.

Referees.  The league decided that we'd have coaches/parents ref.  If you know the rules of lacrosse and would like to volunteer, please let me know, otherwise the coaches will be officiating.

Positions.   In 7 v 7, we will play a goalie, two defense, two middies and two attack. We are doing our best to make sure everyone gets to play all the positions and no one will sit out more than anyone else (over the course of the season). Most boys seem to want to play Middie most of the time but since there are only 2 middie positions at any given time, that is an issue. I also understand that goalie is not a desired position for most but it is a position we need and to be fair to everyone, it will be a position that everyone will play, though if there are serious issues with anyone playing it, it will be considered or minimized. I’ve actually changed my mind on the goalie thing a few times now so I’m sorry about mixed messages but once it came down to breaking down the roster and making things equitable there is just not another way to do it. I’m intending to make it so that the benefit of being a goalie for a game is that you will not have to be benched during that game. We’ll see how that works out.

Field. The league decided it would be a good idea to use shortened fields since the boys are 'so small'.  I don't personally agree with this one but it is what it is. Goals will be moved up to the restraining lines and we'll have to use makeshift lines and crease.

Extra Zeeland Specific lingo for parents: 

As noted above, there are 4 major positions (goal, defense, Midfield, Attack). In lacrosse, those positions can be further broken down and these are the terms you will hear as it pertains to our team.

Middie - Middies are usually the only ones who can go the whole field. For 7v7 there will be two middies: center and wing. We’ll tend to call the center the Face-Off Middie.  Sometimes you’ll hear us call the center a FOGO which in lacrosse slang means (Face Off/ Get Off) but that really doesn’t apply to our age group since we don’t have boys that only specialize in Face-offs then get off the field once possession is declared…. which is what FOGO technically means.  When Middies are playing defense, they will be playing man defense.

X Attack – Our X has the job to spend the majority of the time behind the net to stay open for feeds from the other offensive players and so that we are highly likely to get the ball if a shot on goal goes wide and out of bounds.  In lacrosse if a shot goes out of bounds, the closest team to the ball when it goes out, gets the ball. We don’t want X to be behind the goal until the ball is on our offensive side of the field.

Y Attack – we had to give the second attackman a designation and we resigned ourselves to call it Y. His job is to simply get open and get as close to the goal as possible for shots.

Center D – After a bit of experimentation we realized at this age that a standard man defense or a standard zone defense wasn’t going to be executed very well so we created a Center D position.  His job is to stand a few steps in front of the crease (crease is the circle around the goal) and always stay between the ball and the goal and be the last line of defense between an offensive player getting too close to the goal. Basically we are trying to avoid an opposing player having no one at all between him and the goalie.

On Ball D – As noted above we are trying to come up with the simplest defensive scheme that doesn’t leave the goalie all alone. The On Ball Defenseman will always be going after the offensive player with the ball. Since midfielders are playing man defense, if the midfielder is already ‘on-ball’ then the On Ball D will be the backup. We realize this has the potential to leave opposing players more open but this is about simplicity and the general idea that at this level a lot of passes aren’t getting completed too often… so cover the guy who has it.

Offsides- So… an offsides penalty is when you don’t have 3 players on your side of the field (usually goalie and two defense) and two players on your offensive side (two attack). In 10 v 10, you add one player per side. Unlike soccer, offsides has nothing to do with where the ball is and simply how many players are on each side of the midfield line. Technically, the position of the player doesn’t matter and defense can go to the offensive side of the field if a middie stays on the defensive side to compensate (usually called Middie Back) but this seems like a hard concept to grasp at the moment so we are telling our players that offense stays on their side, defense stays on their side and middies go where the ball is.

Lacrosse Vocabulary Link:

http://www.e-lacrosse.com/laxicon.html

April 17 All Sticks Up

JV game starts at 5:30pm.  Varsity game starts at 7:00pm

Athletes get in free if wearing their team jersey or pinnie (Coaches decision).  $5 per person for all others

Coaches, please gather with your teams on the track (home side) across from your assigned yard line with approximately 5 minutes to go in the 4^th quarter of the JV game (6:30ish).

Immediately after the JV game, we will start announcements to introduce the lacrosse teams.

When your team is announced, have them “run” to mid field on your assigned yard line and form an “All Sticks Up”.  Do an “All Out” chant and then stay together on the field as the remaining teams are introduced.

After the Varsity team has been introduced and have done their “All Stick’s Up”, the teams will be asked to gather at mid field on the “Z” for an “All Zeeland All Stick’s Up.”  Proceed with your team to mid field.

After the “All Zeeland All Sticks Up” – you are dismissed off the field so warm-ups can continue for the Varsity players.

Assigned yard lines:

We will be staying on the north side of the 50yd line to allow Grandville their space to warm up.

1^st/2^nd:  goal line

3^rd/4^th:  10 yard line

5^th/6^th:  20 yard line

7^th/8^th: 30 yard line

JV:  40 yard line

Varsity:  50 yard line

Schedule

Please be at the location 30 minutes before the game.

April 17, 2014 Zeeland Lacrosse All Sticks Up At the Stadium. Please be at stadium by 6:10pm at the latest if you aren't already watching the JV game.

April 19, 2014 at Creekside and Roosevelt in Zeeland! Two games vs Grandville starting at 1pm.  

April 26, 2014 at Muskegon. 1pm. Reeths Puffer Middle School Stadium 1911 W. Giles Rd, Muskegon, MI 49445.

May 3, 2014 at West Ottawa. 2pm. behind Harbor Lights Middles School, 1024 136th Ave.--entrance off Riley. Field is across from main lacrosse/football stadium.

May 10, 2014 at Creekside Middle School.  2 games vs Grandville teams. 1pm and 2pm. 

May 17, 2014 -Lighthouse Tournament at Holland Christian.  11:30 v Spring Lake. 1:30 v Grand Haven. 850 Ottawa Ave Holland, MI, 49423

May 21, 2014 at Creekside Middle School vs Holland Christian at 6pm.