My thoughts on this fall squarely on the local house league being both the present and future strength of a lacrosse association. I say this based on a number of principles: participation, transfer of skills and knowledge, community inclusion, sustainable growth and placing “competition over winning”.  Invariably, these speak the values, mission and goals of the local association and its parenting or governing bodies. In simple terms, if you are a small association, or like us just starting out, you need to decide, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Is your goal to have a few really good teams for a few years that may or may not win in an “All-star” or “rep” environment? Or is your goal to “grow” good citizens who will attribute some of their success and good memories to the experience they had playing a game they (voluntarily) came to love and continue to pass on to the next generation. If your goal is the latter, then I believe you need to begin with a strong house league.

Participation

A good house league should strive to have as many people playing as possible
Parents bring the kids to the sport. For many, the activity must not only be fun for the child but it cannot be a burden for the parent. Cost, schedule, location of facilities all play into this. For parents, communication is essential. Your local association must be approachable and visibly active. Don’t stay in the office. Go to games; talk to folks – engage the parents. They are your stakeholders.

For the most part fun is tied to the equality in competition between teams and the consistency of that over every division. Whether or not its “fun” will depend very much on the product on the floor. The mood must be positive and not frustrating. Much depends on the ability to transfer skills and knowledge from experienced to new or novice players and building their confidence in the process.

Transferring Skill and Knowledge

Many believe that real competition can only be found at the senior levels. Not true, competition can be had at all levels if the players feel “challenged”. New players need to be encouraged to advance their skills, they need their successes to be noticed and appreciated (especially around their parents who may not understand the game). Experienced players need to be given the challenge of leadership. A ‘third stringer’ may go unnoticed on a rep team but with some guidance and encouragement he/she thrives as a leader on a house league team. With the leadership comes responsibility to teach and help your team. Too often emphasis to become a “rep player” has become more about “helping yourself” over helping the team. By pushing leadership and team values, you are bound to have a more supportive structure within each division with a greater potential for growth. This approach is not as apt to scare off the athletes who are new to the sport and have vast potential.

In some cases, the “rules” may need to be relaxed or adjusted to help players “grow”. A “three foot” line inside the boards to limit the game’s physical aspect until players develop confidence and stick skills, or eliminating the shot clock or phasing it in during the season can have great benefit. Throwing a new midget player with great athletic potential into a full scale midget game will likely teach that player to become adept at hitting and defending their body but it is doubtful they will ever reach their true potential to develop stick skills and the ability to effectively move the ball. Your game needs to create opportunities for success by removing some of the barriers in the initial stages of a player’s growth regardless of age. Add the “rules” back in as a means to promote a challenge not a failure.

Another means of challenging the potential “rep” player is to have them become active in the development of younger players. Whether they are referees, coaches or assist coaches with games or practices, the message is simple; to a little kid, YOU are the local hero, you are the expert and you will become a better player for doing so. In effect, you are building role models in your sport.

To ensure continued participation year after year you need to support the critical area of supporting those new to the sport. Support is more than handing out some balls and some diagrams of some drills. Experienced players and coaches are encouraged to help the newer ones. Paying attention that the drills are appropriate to the age group are things that need to be done – not just talked about. A few weeks spent at this early in the season helps everyone – player and coach feel more like a “local expert”.

The success at transferring knowledge needs to be acknowledged and appreciated.

Community Inclusion

You need to be seen in the community. You need to be a community sport, not an “elite” group that only wants the best. Be broad based; put the focus on getting kids active and promoting community values. Get in the local paper with kids having fun at the arena or out in the local park with a stick and ball – not just holding up the trophy. These ideas are usually consistent with the municipality’s recreation and sport programs. You need their help to survive. They can help you more if there is something in it for them. They need to show good participation rates and value for money. You can help them do that. Other community groups and private sources of funding are also more inclined to support you as they often want to be seen promoting these values.

Sustainable Growth

This is not about growing the best group of twenty kids from Novice through Midget with the hopes of them winning a provincial championship. It’s more about having everyone (players, parents and officials) involved in the local game and leaving it in 5-10 years in better shape than when they came. Keeping it fun, being broad based in the community and all of the things above are essential. A strong house league is the seed of a successful program. If you want to have a strong rep program, doesn’t it just make sense to have as many players to choose from as possible? Not just the richest or the ones that could make the practices and pay the price because their family situation allowed for it. I agree a strong rep is required in the lacrosse community and should be a goal, but it needs to have a solid foundation if it is truly to send its best representatives outside the community to play. That foundation is house league. The place where players learn skills in a fun environment and success is not only about the scoreboard. Check with the players of today. Was their love of the game and therefore the desire to succeed developed in a rep environment or was it more about the pick up games, the backyard skill competitions, the memories and pride of helping some other little kid get better? I suggest it is the latter, I believe – given the proper lacrosse environment, young players will strive to be into a rep program for the game, their team and their community – not just because they (or the parents and coaches) think they can win.

One more thing to add…

How you handle your association’s executive is important. This is not always easy where a community’s lacrosse culture does not already exist. You need to keep it fresh while still sustaining stability. Most important, if you are becoming a successful and respected organization, do not compromise on your core organizational values. Lacrosse is a unique sport; don’t allow other values or practices from other sports ‘creep’ in because it is convenient, this has been the detriment of many “solid” lacrosse communities. Open selection of the executive or endorsement by the members is important. “Executive member for life” attitudes should not exist. Younger parents should be encouraged into junior positions so they can understand and accept your core values/practices, why they are so important to our game and then eventually take over. Succession in the association should be somewhat seamless and not based on a crisis to replace people when they leave. Involve people early with smaller tasks so they can learn the ropes as they go.

You need experienced people to lay the foundation of the game; you need people with vision that keep the interests of all the players in all divisions in mind. Ex-players are needed to pass on their knowledge and enthusiasm, sharing some history can be a good thing, people with organizational skills are important too. These things are common to most sports associations. The goals, values or mission of the group must be written down. A code of conduct for the officials, coaches and the executive members may prove useful. It helps speak to your values and may enhance your integrity. People will get sidetracked and you need something to bring them back to. But most importantly the association must represent the community or municipality. I believe lacrosse groups that are conflicting or competing in one jurisdiction are doomed to fail. One will try to be better than the other, or boast the “most wins” or have the best schedule and so on. These things have very little to do with sport and growing a successful athlete and or a good citizen in your community. House league and rep can and should exist in the same organization. Players should also be involved in both. That way the values and goals of the two are consistent. House league should always be given primary consideration to keep the game alive. After all, minor lacrosse is about the game and sport; it should not be viewed as a business with the kids being the “product”.



Further Information:

Wayne Bennett or John Grant
Sudbury Rockhounds0 www.sudburyrockhounds.com