League Overview
Welcome to the 6th season of West LA Lacrosse. We started with a handful of children at Canfield Elementary School and in 2010-2011 winter season, our 5th season, we had over 400 players participating. We will may double that amount this coming winter season. Last summer, West LA Lacrosse had an enjoyable summer league with 150 players signed up. Our summer league registration fee was $75. In June 2012 we will start registration again for summer 2012.
We continue to see new local players signing up, plus this year our league will have many new teams from areas like Hollywood, El Segundo and the South Bay. We believe that the growth of lacrosse is due to the inherent fun of the game. The existing players enjoy themselves and spread the word. We welcome new players (no experience is necessary).
Parents play a key role in supporting the efforts of the players, coaches, refs and league administrators. To view the US Lacrosse publication, The Role of a Lacrosse Parent, please click here. Click here for a great intro to Boys Lacrosse from US Lacrosse for the parents unfamiliar with the game.
West LA Lacrosse regular season is in winter: Boys and Youth Girls start in early December and end in late February or early March; Middle School Girls start in January and play through to April/May. We are able to keep lacrosse affordable through the contributions of parents and community volunteers. The registration fee is $190. If you call Cheviot Hills, Beverly Hills or Culver City your home team, you are at the right place. If you are uncertain if this is the right place to register for lacrosse, look at the chart on the REGISTRATION page.
The opening day for regulat season games is January 7, 2012. The schedule is posted on SCHEDULE page of this website.
West LA Lacrosse seeks out quality coaches who teach the skills and strategies associated with our great game, all while emphasizing sportsmanship and teamwork - the hallmarks of lacrosse. Many West LA Lacrosse coaches are members of the local college teams at UCLA and LMU. The coaches from local HS programs at Brentwood, Culver City, Beverly Hills, Harvard-Westlake and Palisades have served as youth coaches in our league over the years. Many of our coaches are former NCAA players. We were also very excited to see high school players earn community service by coaching and we thank Beverly Hills HS, Culver City HS, Loyola and Palisades HS for the energetic and effective coaches who worked the sidelines in past years and we expect similar volunteerism this coming season.
Our coaches emphasize sportsmanship in a competitive environment. West LA Lacrosse expects all players, coaches, referees and parents continue to exhibit respect for each other. Sportsmanship is our highest priority.
West LA Lacrosse is a volunteer organization, completely non-profit. We are incorporated as a California 501(c)3 non-profit Public Benefit Corporation (under the name West Los Angeles Lacrosse). Our Board and officers are comprised of volunteer parents and coaches. Every parent in the league is expected to volunteer in one form or another during the course of the season - from timekeeper to field set-up to team parent, and more. Working together, we are able to offer a quality experience at a low cost and we all get the feeling that we are contributing to the effort.
In the past, our winter league teams were grouped by the players' GRADE level. NOT SO THIS YEAR WITH BOYS. Consistent with the new US Lacrosse guidelines - and mirroring the new movement by all area Boys leagues and tournaments - our winter league now groups teams by AGES. We have done this because in a physical sport like Boys Lacrosse, we want to do everything we can to make sure that children of similar sizes are playing against eachother. Using dates of birth presents no ambiguities.
Boys:
U15: All players must be 14 years old or younger on the August 31st preceding competition.
U13: All players must be 12 years old or younger on the August 31st preceding competition.
U11: All players must be 10 years old or younger on the August 31st preceding competition.
U9: All players must be 8 years old or younger on the August 31st preceding competition.
Use the date of birth formula below to determine your child's age grouping for the coming season:
Born on or after 9/1/1996 = U15
Born on or after 9/1/1998 = U13
Born on or after 9/1/2000 = U11
Born on or after 9/1/2002 = U9
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As the other girls programs in the area still identify teams as "youth" or "middle school" our girls teams will remain in thes groupings:
Girls:
5th grade and under
6th - 8th grade
All teams began regular weekday practices on Dec 5, 2011. The younger teams practice one time per week. The older teams practice two times per week. Practices are scheduled for late afternoon or early evening, depending on the availability of the coach and the field. We do our very best to honor the practice day requests identified in registration, but we cannot make guarantees. I am sure you can appreciate the balancing act when we have to consider field and coach availability.
Our first games of the season were played on Jan 7, 2012. In our regular season we strive to create a schedule with approximately 10 games for each team, played mostly on Saturdays in January/February. The games will predominantly be played at Cheviot Hills Rec Center, Westchester Rec Center and Mar Vista Rec Center. The Jan/Feb game schedule is found on SCHEDULE page of this website. The times of the games depend to some degree on the availability of the coaches (we are fortunate that several coaches are members of the college lacrosse teams at UCLA and LMU). At the end of the season, we will conduct playoffs and a championship game for each level except Chumash and U9.
Practice philosophy: attendance at practices is important. Players and parents must recognize that lacrosse is a new sport. It's not like playing on a soccer or basketball team, where the rules and strategies may already be well understood by the players from years of exposure in PE classes and television. In teaching the game of lacrosse to a new audience, it is a step-by-step process. Players are urged to get to the practice field 15 minutes early, especially for boys who need a few minutes to put on gear. Parents: please do not be late in picking up the players after practice (safety and courtesy issue).
For insurance and liability purposes, all players and coaches must be current members of US Lacrosse. The US Lacrosse web address is http://www.uslacrosse.org and the annual cost for player membership is $25.
For Further Information: League President
Mitch Fenton fenton@lbbslaw.com 310.993.1426