The following information should provide families with everything they need to know for the upcoming season. Please take the time to read everything. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to reach out.

Download The SportsEngine App- In the offseason we transitioned web services to SportsEngine. The main reason for this was to make communication between our families and coaches easier. Please take the time to download the SportsEngine application on your mobile device. Once downloaded and logged in you will be able to view your players schedule and access the apps communication functions such as email and chat. Being a spring sport this will be especially important in times of last minute weather related changed and cancellations.

Adding Guardians to Accounts- One of the main requests that I field early in the season is about adding other guardians to the account. This can be done while logged into your own account or by a program admin. If you need me or another program admins assistance there is a very important requirement. This request MUST come from the person who, owns the account and registered the participants. It is simply a matter of the safety of your child. We cannot and will not add someone to an account without that appropriate level of verification from the registering guardian. Visit the link below if you need to add a guardian and want to give it a shot on your own.

Information on how to add guardians

Indoor practice schedules are loaded into the system and can be viewed on the app. These sessions will be basic skill and agility-based sessions; and used as a means for new players to gain some basic experience or for experienced players to get back into the swing of lacrosse. Early next week outdoor practices will be confirmed and loaded into the app for the entire season as well.

Practice attendance is as important, if not more important than game attendance. Please make your best effort to ensure your participant is committed to maximizing their attendance. The coaches work hard to compile a deliberate development plan for the teams and the best way to support that is to show up and work hard!

Lastly, please use the RSVP function to note your availability on the app. This helps the coaches tremendously with planning.

Other than the 1st/2nd grade girls’ team we expect every group to have multiple teams per age group. The construct of the teams will be predicated on the idea that they will be devised to be as equally competitive as possible. If there is an obvious imbalance the coaching coordinators will work with the coaches to address the problem. Consequently, rosters could change as we go. For those of you who know our approach, know our preference would be a rolling roster that changed weekly. Problem is, it is a massive undertaking to shuffle teams weekly and ensure everyone is properly notified. More to come on this if any of the coaches would prefer to go that route. We also do not consider personal requests for friends to be on teams together. 

Game schedules will begin to take shape in early March. Our 1st thru 4th graders will likely have games during the last week of indoor practice. Portsmouth is slated to host gameplay for all Seacoast area teams during the weekend of April 8 and 15th. We do not expect any game play to occur for 5th/6th grade teams until around April vacation. Once these schedules are confirmed they will be loaded into the website. Most games for 1st thru 4th grade teams will occur on Saturdays, but, there may be occasional weekday or Sunday games added as well. 5th/6th grade games will be tailored to the coach of that team’s specific request through Main Youth Lacrosse.

Lacrosse equipment not as readily available as other sports and there are a few key points to consider. Our most passionate suggestion is that your players stick matters. The way that the stick is strung will profoundly affect your player's experience and success in their development. Players should use “real” sticks and not the “fiddle” or “mini” sticks that you can purchase for short money to play around with. For the most part all East Coast Dyes and StringKing sticks are strung well off the shelf. The one other piece of equipment to be careful of is the chest protector for boys, it must meet the new NOCSAE requirements. All newly sold equipment should be good but you should have someone check out a hand me down set or verify before purchasing used.

 Equipment Purchase Options - There are several immediately local options for equipment purchase. Play It Again Sports and Dick’s Sporting Goods are immediately local. After this there is Lacrosse Unlimited in Danvers, MA – Monkey Sports Super Store in Derry, NH and LaxPros in Portland, ME. We strongly suggest going to the stores to try stuff on as sizing gets funky.  

We are working on another 20% off at Dick’s Sporting Goods day so keep an eye out for details on that. Full equipment will not be required until closer to April during our indoor sessions so there is time to get your hands on the equipment you may need.

The Marshwood Youth Lacrosse Uniform store is now open. This store consists of jerseys, shorts, and practice pinnies and is intended for players in Grades 1-6. There will be a separate store for Pre-K and Kindergarten players to order their shirts, although you are welcome to order shorts from the link below if you would like.

This year players will order uniforms directly from the vendor, Mercury Screen Printing. If you order a jersey you MUST order your assigned number. This number can be found on our website, www.marshwoodyouthlacrosse.com, by viewing your team's roster and by viewing the attached document. We work hard to ensure there will not be duplicate numbers on teams each year and appreciate your help with this matter.

All players need a jersey and shorts for games. While pinnies are optional, they are recommended. 

Returning Players: Uniforms are the same as last year. If your uniform fits there is no need to order another.

Boys Reminder: Jerseys and pinnies need to fit over pads.

https://marshwoodlaxspring2023.itemorder.com/

* The deadline for ordering will be Friday, February 17th, 2023 at 12:59 am. The store will promptly close and move into production so orders may be delivered in a timely manner! Additional orders will NOT be accepted after the deadline.

*For any questions pertaining to the store, please reach out to Jeff Serge at: jeff@mercuryprinting.net | Phone: (518) 669-4796

We are very excited to offer this opportunity to our families this season. The response has been tremendous! The target start date for this program will be the weekend of March 18-19. To date no items have been added to the schedule but, please download the SportsEngine app as this will allow for communication to begin to occur through this source. Once the schedule is confirmed it will be added to our website and subsequently the SportsEngine app. We will be opening a special t-shirt store with these participants. No game uniform or equipment will be required for this program. The only suggestion is that cleats may be helpful, especially for the older participants in this group once we get going outside. For this program, any cleats would do, no need for lacrosse specific cleats.

Ultimately, even with the best intentions conflicts do arise. Therefore, we must prepare. The standing rule for MYL participants is that barring an immediate player safety concern we operate under a strict 24 hour rule policy. What this means is that if anyone has taken issue with someone or something that has occurred we require that you wait 24 hours to address the issue. The preferred communication hierarchy is as follows: you should start with the party whom conflict occurred, then a coach, then a coaching coordinator (Jason Gori, girls and Eric Hanson, boys), then the Vice President Jamie Watters, then the President Craig Estes. 

We have had a tremendous increase in turnout this season. Based on this we have a definite need for more coaches on each team. We understand that lacrosse is a sport that not many parents experienced to the extent that they feel they can contribute appropriately. We are here to tell you that you are wrong and we would like you help if you are interested. Many sports translate well to lacrosse. Additionally, sometimes, your contribution could simply be from the perspective of understanding how to read each player individually and working to get the best out of them. Regardless, if you can help we definitely need a few more coaches on each and every team. Please email us at marshwoodyouthlacrosse@gmail.com if you are interested and able to help. Fees for coach registration are reimbursable.

Our board of directors is also full of parents of 6th grades. Our turnover to the next season begins in June. It would be great to get some younger families involved by maybe attending a few board meetings prior to June. In the same respect please message us with interest.