Letter to the League - AYLL 2012 Youth / JHS Season Defined
The purpose of this letter is to summarize the discussion that took place at the AYLL Coaches and Team Administrators meeting this past Tuesday 10/25. We also would to provide more important details about our upcoming AYLL JHS/Youth Lacrosse season.
I. The AYLL has significantly restructured its JHS and Youth Lacrosse model.
A substantially amount of thought has gone into upgrading our JHS/Youth Lacrosse model in Arizona.
We believe our new JHS and Youth Lacrosse model we will achieve our four main goals:
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Increase the total number of JHS/Youth lacrosse participants.
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Improve the quality, and rate of development of our young lacrosse athletes.
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Create a much more family friendly and fun environment where all JHS and Youth lacrosse games have the feel of a special event.
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Eliminate excessive travel requirements.
II. The following bullet points outline our new AYLL JHS and Youth Lacrosse model. We think all of our AYLL parents and players are going to love our new and improved approach to youth lacrosse.
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JHS teams will play two games every Saturday during a ten week season that begins on February 4. This schedule will equal 20 regular season games.
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5th/6th and 3rd/4th teams will play two games every other Saturday. This schedule will equal 10 regular season games.
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Every AYLL JHS / Youth Team will be at the same venue for Saturday games.
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No weekday games. Teams will practice on their own, during the week and are free to set up scrimmages.
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Season concludes with the 7th Annual Cactus Cup Tournament, April 13th & 14th
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Each club has an optional “Bye” week for Spring Break.
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No travel to Tucson.
III. Discussion and more Details
Committed Teams
The AYLL already has firm commitments from the follow JHS/Youth Lacrosse programs. We expect to add another three to four programs shortly. Please note that each program represents multiple teams. For example, JHS A, JHS B, and 5
th/6
th.
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Arrowhead Warriors
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Awatukee Youth Lacrosse (Lightning, Storm and Dragons)
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Chandler Cannons
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East Valley Youth Lacrosse (Heat Elite, Heat and Heat u6th)
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North Valley Predators
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Phoenix Country Day School
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Phoenix Patriots
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Scottsdale Eagles
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Scottsdale Lacrosse Club (Mustangs and Outlaws)
Saturday Games
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JHS teams will play two games every Saturday for a total of 20 regular season games. For planning purposes JHS game times will typically fall between 9am and 12noon.
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The AYLL will provide Division I and Division II games to ensure proper competition and match-ups. Division I will also play by high school rules to enhance player development.
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Players will be able to move up or down divisions during the regular season to provide flexibility and more incentive for self improvement.
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5th/6th and 3rd/4th teams will play two games every other Saturday for a total of 10 games. The times of the 5th/6th games will typically be from 11am – 2pm.
Jamboree Format
Every AYLL JHS / Youth Team will be at the same venue for Saturday games. This helps ensure that every Saturday “game-day” will have a jamboree/special event atmosphere, which will help create a stronger sense of community among our players, parents, and coaches. This will also provide a big benefit for families with different kids playing for different teams (eg.JHS and 5
th/6
th).
Cactus Cup
The Cactus Cup tournament will represent the AZ JHS State Championship. Every AYLL JHS team will be invited to play in this tournament. No non-AYLL teams will be permitted. Teams will be seeded randomly (names pulled out of a hat), which reinforces player development throughout the regular season while diminishing the needs for wins and losses.
Geographic Boundaries
There are no geographic boundaries although the committed programs are run by good people who have agreed to not recruit each other's players. We believe that the traditional obsession with boundaries has promoted fragmentation much more than it has promoted growth in participation numbers.
The AYLL programs will welcome with open arms all non-AYLL players.
There is a home for every young lacrosse athlete in the AYLL. Whether it is just one player or a group of 20 plus players that want to play together, the AYLL will make it happen.
AYLL Team Contact Information
Provided below is contact information for the programs who have already committed to the AYLL. We will forward contact information for other programs as they commit.
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Arrowhead Warriors - Mark Haak ,
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Ahwatukee – Bill Kapler bkapler@msn.com , www.ahwatukeelax.com
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Chandler Cannons - Justin Lang justin.lang84@gmail.com , www.chandlercannons.com
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Mesa Heat - Geoff Larsen geoffsl@cox.net , www.heatlax.com
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North Valley Predators - Tim Hartmann ,
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PCDS - Susan Rethore skr@p-rlaw.com , www.pcdslax.com
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Patriots – Jim Fishman patriotlax08@yahoo.com , www.phxpatriotslax.com
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Scottsdale Lacrosse Club (Mustangs/Outlaws) – Ed Plotkin elplotkin@gmail.com, http://www.scottsdalelacrosseclub.com
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Eagles - Bobby Kelly bobby@resultsonly.com
IV. Important Dates and Fees
Team Registration Fees:
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$250 JHS – until Nov 15th ($350 after Nov 15th)
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$100 5/6th – from Nov 1.
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FREE 3/4th
Player Registration Fee:
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$30 for JHS players. Player registration starts on Nov 15th.
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There will be no player registration fee for 5th/6th or 3rd/4th
Referee fees:
Approximately $1350 for the season. Paid to the referees directly, 2 games per weekend.
Games Dates:
Every Saturday for 10 weeks. 2 games per day for JHS Div I & Div II.
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Feb 4,11,18,25,
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March 3,10,17,24,31,
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April 7
Cactus Cup: April 13,14
th
V. AYLL Board Elections
The AYLL is looking for energetic people who want to help Lacrosse continue to grow and improve in Arizona. If you are interested please submit an email to Geoff Larsen at geoffsl@cox.net that includes a brief resume.
VI. Conclusion
We want to make sure all JHS and Youth Lacrosse players and parents understand the benefits of playing in the AYLL as well as the implications of not playing in the AYLL. For example, if a JHS program has elected to not play in the AYLL the parents and players in that program have the right to ask at least three basic questions:
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Is the quality of competition appropriate vs what is available in the AYLL?
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What are the total number of games?
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What are the travel requirements?
The new AYLL model represents a major upgrade in youth Lacrosse in Arizona versus what has been done in the past. We believe that the AYLL JHS and Youth players, in general, will develop at a more rapid rate than players not participating in the AYLL. In addition to the new AYLL JHS/Youth model being more advanced, the top JHS programs in AZ are already committed to playing in the AYLL which ensures a higher overall level of competition (and, therefore, player development) versus any alternative.
We have built an unprecedented amount of flexibility into the new AYLL model so scheduling and other potential issues will be much easier to address and manage versus years past. Given the people and programs we already have committed, we expect to experience much less conflict than in previous years.
Any JHS or Youth player who has any longer term ambition in Lacrosse should play for an AYLL team. We know that young Lacrosse athletes love playing with their friends. If a large group of players from a non-AYLL team wants to play together in the new AYLL, we will find a convenient home for them within an AYLL program.
If this sounds good to you, GET REGISTERED TO PLAY FOR AN AYLL TEAM NOW!
