These camps are deigned to provide young athletes with an opportunity to become better lacrosse players. The goal is to help you keep improving, no matter what your ability level.
Key concepts: shooting, ground balls, offense, defense, face-off, and dodging.
Grades 3-6, July 6-10. Time 9:00am-3:00pm.
Grades 7-9, July 13-17. Time 9:00am-3:00pm.
The cost of the camp is $165. Registration through Longmeadow Parks and Recreation Department, 413.565.4166.
Director: John Rauseo, LHS Varsity Lacrosse Coach
This camp is not affiliated with the Longmeadow Boys Lacrosse Association.
Longmeadow Boys Lacrosse Association, Inc. The Longmeadow Boys Youth Lacrosse Program is coordinated by the Longmeadow Boys Lacrosse Association, Inc., a nonprofit corporation that is a recognized sponsored sports association of the Longmeadow Parks and Recreation Department. The members of the Board of Directors of Longmeadow Boys Lacrosse Association, Inc. are: Dave Wheaton, Chris Gagne, Bret Leveillee, Jeff Novak, MaryAnn Spencer, Bill Togneri, Burt Dietz, Andy Goldberg and Craig Brown.
Boys Youth Lacrosse Coordinators. The overall Program Coordinator is Dave Wheaton, President of the Longmeadow Boys Lacrosse Association, Inc. (567-2293). Any and all questions, comments, concerns or other issues relating to the Boys Youth Lacrosse Program should be directed to Dave. Additional coordinators at the Senior, Junior and Bantam levels will be identified and we will also furnish to you contact information for these individuals.
Program Structure. We will continue to select Junior and Senior teams based upon ability. All seventh and eighth grade boys will be divided into one Senior A team, which will play at the highest competitive level, and two Senior B teams, which will have players with substantially equivalent skill levels. Similarly, all 5th and 6th grade boys will be divided into one Junior A team and two Junior B teams. This program structure is designed to insure that all boys participating in the program are provided with equivalent opportunities for playing time at appropriate competitive levels. At the Bantam level, all participants will be divided into teams of equal strength. We anticipate that there will be 4 Bantam teams.
Coaches and Increased Parental Involvement. We are continuing our attempt to involve more parents in the Boys Youth Lacrosse Program as coaches. We will teach you all you need to know about the game of lacrosse, and it represents a great opportunity to learn about the game with your son. We have a large group of boys who have signed up for lacrosse, and the more parents we can involve in practices and games the better the overall experience will be for the players. We encourage anyone interested in volunteering to coach to contact Dave Wheaton as soon as possible.
Each boy participating in the youth lacrosse program must have the following mandatory equipment:
(a) A lacrosse stick. Lacrosse sticks are available at most local sporting goods stores. Lacrosse sticks come in two sizes, attack/midfielder sticks (short sticks) and defenseman's sticks (long sticks). It is more difficult to acquire the basic throwing and catching skills with a defenseman's stick, and if your son is interested in playing defense it is not absolutely necessary that he use a defensemen's stick.
(b) A helmet and gloves.
(c) Shoulder pads, arm pads, a mouth guard and protective cup, all of which constitute mandatory equipment at the youth, high school and college levels.
If you have any questions regarding the equipment required to participate in the lacrosse program, please contact Dave Wheaton (dwheaton@gsvenue.com).
Overall Objective of the Program. Lacrosse is a game of skill, and the objective of our program will be to instill and improve the basic skills of lacrosse. Emphasis will be placed on drills designed to improve basic lacrosse skills and basic offensive and defensive strategies. Each of you should work on basic stick skills as much as possible outside of practice. We will also provide you with a working knowledge of the rules of lacrosse. Like any other team sport, we also intend to build individual and team skills and to instill in our players a sense of discipline. We expect each player to follow the rules of sportsmanship, and we expect each player to have fun through personal and team improvement.
Practices. You are strongly encouraged to attend all practices. Lacrosse is a game of skill, and practice and repetition are necessary in order to improve. Your attendance at practice will be taken into account in providing playing time during games unless you are notified otherwise. Unless you are notified otherwise, the first practice will be Monday, March 30, 2009 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. We will distribute a practice schedule at that time. We anticipate that we will practice at least two or three times per week on weekdays and once each weekend. At present, we anticipate that the practices for the 3rd and 4th grade boys will be at the Jewish Community Center fields, practices for the 5th and 6th grade boys will be at the Wolf Swamp Road fields, and all practices for the 7th and 8th grade boys are tentatively scheduled for the Williams Middle School. Any change in the location and/or times of boys practices will be communicated at the parents meeting.
Roster and Game Schedule. We are in the process of finalizing the game schedule and you will be provided with a game schedule as soon as it has been finalized. We currently anticipate that all games will be played at the High School fields, Williams Middle School, the Wolf Swamp Road fields or Jewish Community Center fields.
Practice Times. Practices will start promptly at the designated time. Please arrive at the practice site at least ten minutes prior to the start of practice in order to insure that you are fully equipped and ready to practice at the designated time.
Names on Helmets. Each of you should have your first and last name written on white tape on the front of your helmet.
Balls. You are not permitted to bring your own ball to practice. We will have a sufficient number of balls available at each practice, and we will not end practice without retrieving all balls.
Water. Please bring your own water to practice and games.
Weather. Please Check your Team Website for weather cancellations
Website. The main website for the Longmeadow Boys Youth Lacrosse Program is www.longmeadowlacrosse.com. This site will provide you access to individual pages for each Longmeadow Boys Youth Lacrosse team. These team pages will provide you with additional information with respect to practices and games.
