Why WYL will be great for your son-.
Our goal is to make WYL a competitive lacrosse program, at all age levels, while giving any new players the skills they need to excel at the game of lacrosse. Players of all skill levels hone their skills in practice by getting a ton of reps, allowing them to show the skills they gained later that week in games. All coaches are trained on how to build a practice plan that is fast-paced and allows the boys to get a ton of touches on the ball. Players are all expected to give 100% in practice to help themselves as well as their teammates get better.
As Vince Lombardi says, “Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect”
Our goal for the season is to have a competitive Blue Team (described below) while providing a structured environment for White-level players to improve weekly.
If you are brand new to Lacrosse, you are going to love WYL. All coaches, at all levels, have access to the WYL Skills and Drills Training focused training materials. This ensures your son is getting the correct training on the needed individual skills of Lacrosse. Individual skills, especially stick skills, are vital to succeed as a Lacrosse player. Lacrosse is a team sport that builds off these individual skills. We are committed to getting your son the skills they need to become an effective team player for WYL.
WYL goal is to have a Blue Competitive Travel Team and at least one White Travel Team at each of the age-segmented levels: Bantam (U8) , Lightning (U10), Juniors (U12), and Seniors (U14).
All teams at each Age-Segmented Level will practice together at the same time on the same fields as one big group. This gives the coaches the ability to run multiple drill stations with smaller groups and allows the newer players the ability to visually see their peers doing the skills and learn from the more experienced players.
Our team structure
*Note* Bantam Level will have a minimum of 2 practices a week and games on the weekend. The remaining teams will follow the information below.
1) Blue-Competitive Travel Team:
Blue team size will be limited to 16-18 full-time Blue field players for the year based on a skills evaluation at the beginning of the season. Playing time is determined by the Blue Level Head Coach and isn't guaranteed to be equal. The Blue Team Head Coach always has the option to pull a player from the White team if needed to keep their team competitive that weekend. There will be 3 practices per week and 1-3 games per week on weekends and possibly weekday games. The goal of this team is to have a competitive team so we can schedule opponents accordingly. We want blue level teams to win every game they play and compete deep into the CONNY tournament.
* Blue Competitive Travel Team Commitment *
-All players selected for Blue Travel teams must agree to make lacrosse their priority sport for the entire course of the season. Given the limited roster spots on the Blue team, it is not fair to have roster spots go to players who are less than 100% committed to lacrosse in the spring. We expect and encourage all of our athletes to play other sports during the rest of the year, as it both increases athletic development and, more importantly, adds to players’ enthusiasm for all of the sports they play. But we do ask that during our relatively short lacrosse season, if there are conflicts, you choose lacrosse over other sporting events. If you are not prepared to make lacrosse your priority, please let us know ahead of time. The white teams are where players can develop their skills and have fun, and there is more flexibility regarding attendance.
2) White-Travel Team(s):
- With the flexibility in attendance of the white team, we have to ensure that there are enough players available to field teams for scheduled games throughout the season. If there are 24-40 players registered for the White level, they will be split into pods to limit the number of players on the sidelines or in games. If there are 40+ on the White level, they will be split evenly into two separate teams so all players get plenty of playing time in games. In both cases, the number of games scheduled will be increased to get plenty of games for your son
-Each White Team player will have 2-3 practices a week and 1-2 games per week, most likely weekend games. The white level will play as a team and travel and play games against other “white” level teams around the state. Our goal for the White level teams is to make sure all players are getting better at lacrosse and have equal opportunities to play during games. Winning is always the goal, but not at the expense of players not getting to have playing time in the games.
3) Playing up or playing down
No player will be able to play up or down. This means playing for a team they are not assigned to at the start of the season, unless the following situations.
-A white-level team has absent players to the point where they are below 12 players to field a team. Then an age-segmented Blue player can play down to help the White team.
-A blue-level team is short on players at a certain position can promote a player from either the age-segmented White level team and/or the next lower age-segmented Blue-level team.
-Any situation that doesn't fall into these categories has to be approved by the boy's coordinator.
4) What Level will your son be playing on for Wallingford Youth Lacrosse?
*note* for more information on the CONNY Guidelines, please feel free to view the appendix at the end of this document or check out their website http://www.connylacrosse.org/
-Bantam Teams will be U8, mostly Grades K/1/2
-Lightning Teams will be U10, mostly Grades 3/4
-Junior Teams will be U12, mostly Grades 5/6
-Senior Teams will be U14, mostly Grades 7/8
WYL conforms to the age, and unless the parent documents consent, the players will only be permitted to play at their age level. This applies to the following scenarios:
-2nd graders who are age-segmented may try out for the Lighting Blue team. If they don't make the Lightning Blue Team will not play the Lightning White team, they will play in the Bantam Level and have the ability to play for the Bantam Blue team.
-4th graders who are age-segmented may try out for the Junior Blue team. If they don't make the Junior Blue Team will not play the Junior White team, they will play in the Lighting Level and have the ability to try out for the Lighting Blue team.
-6th graders who are age-segmented may try out for the Senior Blue team. If they don't make the Senior Blue Team, they will not play the Senior White team; they will play in the Junior Level and have the ability to try out for the Junior Blue team.
-Age-segmented 8th graders born after March 1 of their previous grade year may play Senior Blue Competitive Travel Team for a second year (players born before March 1st may petition to CONNY to be allowed to play)
-Age-Segmented Blue players can play on their grade level White team only if the White team needs players to field a team of a minimum of 12 players due to absent player(s).
-Age-Segmented White or Blue players can play up to the next age bracket, to play on a White team, only if the White team needs players to field a team of a minimum of 12 players due to absent player(s).
-Any Player playing up to an older age bracket that isn’t covered by the above situations needs to be approved by the Boys Coordinator.