MLA Constituents Meeting Notes **REVISED - LeagueAthletics.com
MLA Constituents Meeting Notes **REVISED** 10:00am to 4:45pm Saturday August 5, 2017 in Butte at Best Western Plaza Inn 11 Attendees representing 7 programs ATTENDEES Chris Naumann Josh Hale Nick Laatsch Brooks Emeny Chris Kelley Chuck Reeves Brad Townsend Angela Terry Mike Flaherty Rich Searle Lyn Porterfield
MLA Board MLA Board & Billings Scorpions Lacrosse MLA Board & Missoula Lacrosse Bozeman Lacrosse Bozeman Lacrosse Northwest Lacrosse Northwest Lacrosse Helena Lacrosse Great Falls Lacrosse True Grit Lacrosse US Lacrosse
MLA Overview • What is a Chapter? o A USL Chapter administers the programs of the USL at a regional and local level. o 70 USL Chapters across the country. o Montana is the 5th smallest (West Virginia, Hawaii, Charlottesville, West New York) • 2017 Statistics o Total players (youth/adult) = 1416 o Number of programs (youth/HS) = 16 o Number of youth/HS players = 1200+ • Changes for 2018 season/year o Formation and inaugural season of the Montana High School Lacrosse Association. o MLA would like to begin the process of forming stand-alone Youth League. o Four of the nine current members of the MLA board will be cycling off in September. Eight applications to serve on the MLA board and will be considered at the August 10, 2017 meeting. o USL Coach’s Education Program is being revised as the Coach’s Development Program. The new on-line course (now 3-hours long versus the previous 7-hour version) will be available this fall. Part 1 will be called “Developing Individual Athletes” and the Part 2 will be called “Developing Team Players”. There will be an “on-field” component taught in two or three locations this spring and another two or three locations late winter or early spring. Blake Wahrlich has been trained and certified to
instruct the new CDP courses. Establishing Independent Leagues • MLA would like to begin the process of forming stand-alone Youth League to administer the 2019 boys and girls youth season. • A youth committee with one representative from each program will be formed and lead by the boys and girls commissioners. o Each program will designate their committee member by October 1, 2017. • The committee will begin to draft league bylaws and season rules during the 2018 season and will commence with incorporation following the completion of the 2018 season. Officials Update • Montana youth lacrosse still struggles to retain officials from year to year. Despite solid recruiting and training efforts prior to the 2016 and 2017 seasons, there will be an extreme shortage heading into the 2018 season. • The group discussed the reasons for poor retention including belated payment; inadequate training/experience; stress from disrespectful parents/coaches; travel requirements. • The MLA will issue a 2018 Call-to-Action similar to the ones from 2016 and 2017. • Mike from Great Falls suggested tapping into National Guard and other military personnel across the state. He offered to help facilitate a recruiting effort. • The MLA will be implementing a new officials payment policy by which programs will be invoiced approximately 75% of their previous year’s total officials fees to be paid no later than April 1st. • The MLA and MHSLA will also use Arbiter Pay for the 2018 season which will also facilitate timely payment of officials. LADM and Small Sided Competition • USL Overview by Lyn Porterfield, USL Regional Manager o Lyn commended the MLA for adopting the LAMD and SSC rules for the 2017 season. Said other areas experienced the same implementation challenges the MLA faced. • Lyn indicated that she does not anticipate any major youth game rule changes. But she said there would be a good deal of clarification regarding the confusing rules. Adopting USL Age Group Designations • The group agreed that MLA, programs and teams adopt the USL 8U, 10U, 12U, 14U age group designations for boys. See official 2018 USL age group chart below. o The group also agreed that players in 8th grade must play 14U (regardless of birthdate. Girls Age Group and Season Structure • The group agree to also implement USL age groups for girls 8U, 10U, 12U, 14U but recognized that there are still likely not enough players for programs to field teams in each age group. Therefore the age groups would possibly need to be combined as 8U+10U and 12U+14U or 8U+10U, 12U and 14U. The group agreed that no definitive combination of age groups could be determined until the early spring. • As in years past, it may not be possible to schedule girls games until right before the season. The group agreed that at the very least each weekend locations/hosts for girls games should be determined no later than April 1, 2018.
Youth Boys Season Structure • The idea of establishing East and West Divisions for the youth boys was unanimously rejected by the group. • The group agreed that programs/teams could decide how much travel was reasonable for their 8U and 10U. • There was a lengthy discussion to reach a consensus about how to roster multiple teams in the same age group within the same program. The options considered were to divide rosters either by geography/school or ability or equally by ability. The group agreed that rostering multiple teams in the same age groups 8U, 10U and 12U to achieve parity. As an example, if a program has enough player in 10U to form two teams then the players would be divided between the teams equally according to skill level. For 14U, the group decided to split multiple teams according to ability to form an “A” team and a “B” team, analogous to how HS teams are split between JV and Varsity. Youth Scheduling Process • Despite the inordinate amount of rescheduled games in 2017, the group decided to follow the same process for 2018: scheduling survey (host dates, number of fields, number of teams, blackout dates, etc); Commissioner created draft schedule; schedule finalized at inperson meeting during the first week of March. • The group discussed and established the following hosting schedule: o April 7th Billings o April 14th Helena st o April 21 Bozeman o April 28th Missoula th o May 5 Great Falls o May 12th Kalispell th o May 19 Helena or Bozeman o May 26th No Games nd o June 2 Year-End Youth Tournament • The representatives from Billings, Bozeman and Missoula indicated that they are interested in hosting the youth tournament. The MLA will call for applications. • The group discussed and agreed that there would be no championship for 8U or 10U. Most liked the idea of making the 12U and 14U tournament format include pool play on Saturday and then bracket play on Sunday. Rostering of Multiple Youth Teams in Same Age Group **Revised** There was a lengthy discussion to reach a consensus about how to roster multiple teams in the same age group within the same program. The options considered were to divide rosters either by geography/school or ability or equally by ability. • The group agreed to roster multiple teams in the same age groups 8U, 10U and 12U to achieve parity. As an example, if a program has enough player in 10U to form two teams then the players would be divided between the teams equally according to skill level. • For 14U, the group decided to split multiple teams according to ability to form an “A” team and a “B” team, analogous to how HS teams are split between JV and Varsity. Second Youth Program Policy • There was a lengthy discussion about True Grit and the challenges associated with allowing a second program from a particular town join the MLA.
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The MLA’s primary concern is while a second program might very well work numerically in Bozeman, it would set a precedent for second programs and would not work in any other lacrosse town in the state. The MLA pointed out that every year they get player petitions to move kids up or down so particular programs can field a team at certain age groups. The MLA has discussed this at several meetings last winter and this spring. The MLA has drafted some policy provisions including: existing program must have had multiple teams in an age group for consecutive seasons; new program must have a team in more than one age group; new program must be a 501c3; new program must have secured new field space (not compete with existing program’s field space); new program may not be affiliated with a high school team/program. Other policy provisions discussed included: if multiple programs exist in same town then geographical program boundaries must be established (using existing school district boundaries); existing program must be in support of allowing second program to join the league. Some of the concerns raised included: second program will result in recruiting players; will result in programs becoming more like select travel teams; will possibly result in escalating costs for players/families; will only be dividing the pie into smaller pieces (rather than actually growing the game); will “blow up” the existing program; True Grit was a select team and they won most of their games by a very large margin (lack of parity). There was some discussion about this the exact kind of issue the new league would have to govern with representation from all the existing programs. The MLA suggested that True Grit reapply for the 2018 and the MLA will reconsider.
2017-18 US Lacrosse Player Age Group Segments 1 For play occurring between September 1, 2017 - August 31, 2018 Youth Date of Birth
Age Group 2
Grade Affiliation 3
HS Graduation Year
Born 9/1/2010 through 8/31/2011
7U
1st
N/A
Born 9/1/2009 through 8/31/2010
8U
2nd
N/A
Born 9/1/2008 through 8/31/2009
9U
3rd
N/A
Born 9/1/2007 through 8/31/2008
10U
4th
N/A
Born 9/1/2006 through 8/31/2007
11U
5th
N/A
Born 9/1/2005 through 8/31/2006
12U
6th
N/A
Born 9/1/2004 through 8/31/2005
13U
7th
N/A
Born 9/1/2003 through 8/31/2004
14U
8th
N/A
1. For paired segments, the even year age group is the maximum: 7U/8U, 9U/10U, 11U/12U, 13U/14U. 2. Age Group reflects the maximum age of a player during the playing year. For example, 7U means that players 7 years and under are eligible. 3. Grade Affiliation reflects the grade for majority of players in that age group. Birth date will be the final determinant of eligibility.
MLA Board MLA Board & Billings Scorpions Lacrosse MLA Board & Missoula Lacrosse Bozeman Lacrosse Bozeman Lacrosse Northwest Lacrosse Northwest Lacrosse Helena Lacrosse Great Falls Lacrosse True Grit Lacrosse US Lacrosse
MLA Overview • What is a Chapter? o A USL Chapter administers the programs of the USL at a regional and local level. o 70 USL Chapters across the country. o Montana is the 5th smallest (West Virginia, Hawaii, Charlottesville, West New York) • 2017 Statistics o Total players (youth/adult) = 1416 o Number of programs (youth/HS) = 16 o Number of youth/HS players = 1200+ • Changes for 2018 season/year o Formation and inaugural season of the Montana High School Lacrosse Association. o MLA would like to begin the process of forming stand-alone Youth League. o Four of the nine current members of the MLA board will be cycling off in September. Eight applications to serve on the MLA board and will be considered at the August 10, 2017 meeting. o USL Coach’s Education Program is being revised as the Coach’s Development Program. The new on-line course (now 3-hours long versus the previous 7-hour version) will be available this fall. Part 1 will be called “Developing Individual Athletes” and the Part 2 will be called “Developing Team Players”. There will be an “on-field” component taught in two or three locations this spring and another two or three locations late winter or early spring. Blake Wahrlich has been trained and certified to
instruct the new CDP courses. Establishing Independent Leagues • MLA would like to begin the process of forming stand-alone Youth League to administer the 2019 boys and girls youth season. • A youth committee with one representative from each program will be formed and lead by the boys and girls commissioners. o Each program will designate their committee member by October 1, 2017. • The committee will begin to draft league bylaws and season rules during the 2018 season and will commence with incorporation following the completion of the 2018 season. Officials Update • Montana youth lacrosse still struggles to retain officials from year to year. Despite solid recruiting and training efforts prior to the 2016 and 2017 seasons, there will be an extreme shortage heading into the 2018 season. • The group discussed the reasons for poor retention including belated payment; inadequate training/experience; stress from disrespectful parents/coaches; travel requirements. • The MLA will issue a 2018 Call-to-Action similar to the ones from 2016 and 2017. • Mike from Great Falls suggested tapping into National Guard and other military personnel across the state. He offered to help facilitate a recruiting effort. • The MLA will be implementing a new officials payment policy by which programs will be invoiced approximately 75% of their previous year’s total officials fees to be paid no later than April 1st. • The MLA and MHSLA will also use Arbiter Pay for the 2018 season which will also facilitate timely payment of officials. LADM and Small Sided Competition • USL Overview by Lyn Porterfield, USL Regional Manager o Lyn commended the MLA for adopting the LAMD and SSC rules for the 2017 season. Said other areas experienced the same implementation challenges the MLA faced. • Lyn indicated that she does not anticipate any major youth game rule changes. But she said there would be a good deal of clarification regarding the confusing rules. Adopting USL Age Group Designations • The group agreed that MLA, programs and teams adopt the USL 8U, 10U, 12U, 14U age group designations for boys. See official 2018 USL age group chart below. o The group also agreed that players in 8th grade must play 14U (regardless of birthdate. Girls Age Group and Season Structure • The group agree to also implement USL age groups for girls 8U, 10U, 12U, 14U but recognized that there are still likely not enough players for programs to field teams in each age group. Therefore the age groups would possibly need to be combined as 8U+10U and 12U+14U or 8U+10U, 12U and 14U. The group agreed that no definitive combination of age groups could be determined until the early spring. • As in years past, it may not be possible to schedule girls games until right before the season. The group agreed that at the very least each weekend locations/hosts for girls games should be determined no later than April 1, 2018.
Youth Boys Season Structure • The idea of establishing East and West Divisions for the youth boys was unanimously rejected by the group. • The group agreed that programs/teams could decide how much travel was reasonable for their 8U and 10U. • There was a lengthy discussion to reach a consensus about how to roster multiple teams in the same age group within the same program. The options considered were to divide rosters either by geography/school or ability or equally by ability. The group agreed that rostering multiple teams in the same age groups 8U, 10U and 12U to achieve parity. As an example, if a program has enough player in 10U to form two teams then the players would be divided between the teams equally according to skill level. For 14U, the group decided to split multiple teams according to ability to form an “A” team and a “B” team, analogous to how HS teams are split between JV and Varsity. Youth Scheduling Process • Despite the inordinate amount of rescheduled games in 2017, the group decided to follow the same process for 2018: scheduling survey (host dates, number of fields, number of teams, blackout dates, etc); Commissioner created draft schedule; schedule finalized at inperson meeting during the first week of March. • The group discussed and established the following hosting schedule: o April 7th Billings o April 14th Helena st o April 21 Bozeman o April 28th Missoula th o May 5 Great Falls o May 12th Kalispell th o May 19 Helena or Bozeman o May 26th No Games nd o June 2 Year-End Youth Tournament • The representatives from Billings, Bozeman and Missoula indicated that they are interested in hosting the youth tournament. The MLA will call for applications. • The group discussed and agreed that there would be no championship for 8U or 10U. Most liked the idea of making the 12U and 14U tournament format include pool play on Saturday and then bracket play on Sunday. Rostering of Multiple Youth Teams in Same Age Group **Revised** There was a lengthy discussion to reach a consensus about how to roster multiple teams in the same age group within the same program. The options considered were to divide rosters either by geography/school or ability or equally by ability. • The group agreed to roster multiple teams in the same age groups 8U, 10U and 12U to achieve parity. As an example, if a program has enough player in 10U to form two teams then the players would be divided between the teams equally according to skill level. • For 14U, the group decided to split multiple teams according to ability to form an “A” team and a “B” team, analogous to how HS teams are split between JV and Varsity. Second Youth Program Policy • There was a lengthy discussion about True Grit and the challenges associated with allowing a second program from a particular town join the MLA.
•
•
•
•
• •
The MLA’s primary concern is while a second program might very well work numerically in Bozeman, it would set a precedent for second programs and would not work in any other lacrosse town in the state. The MLA pointed out that every year they get player petitions to move kids up or down so particular programs can field a team at certain age groups. The MLA has discussed this at several meetings last winter and this spring. The MLA has drafted some policy provisions including: existing program must have had multiple teams in an age group for consecutive seasons; new program must have a team in more than one age group; new program must be a 501c3; new program must have secured new field space (not compete with existing program’s field space); new program may not be affiliated with a high school team/program. Other policy provisions discussed included: if multiple programs exist in same town then geographical program boundaries must be established (using existing school district boundaries); existing program must be in support of allowing second program to join the league. Some of the concerns raised included: second program will result in recruiting players; will result in programs becoming more like select travel teams; will possibly result in escalating costs for players/families; will only be dividing the pie into smaller pieces (rather than actually growing the game); will “blow up” the existing program; True Grit was a select team and they won most of their games by a very large margin (lack of parity). There was some discussion about this the exact kind of issue the new league would have to govern with representation from all the existing programs. The MLA suggested that True Grit reapply for the 2018 and the MLA will reconsider.
2017-18 US Lacrosse Player Age Group Segments 1 For play occurring between September 1, 2017 - August 31, 2018 Youth Date of Birth
Age Group 2
Grade Affiliation 3
HS Graduation Year
Born 9/1/2010 through 8/31/2011
7U
1st
N/A
Born 9/1/2009 through 8/31/2010
8U
2nd
N/A
Born 9/1/2008 through 8/31/2009
9U
3rd
N/A
Born 9/1/2007 through 8/31/2008
10U
4th
N/A
Born 9/1/2006 through 8/31/2007
11U
5th
N/A
Born 9/1/2005 through 8/31/2006
12U
6th
N/A
Born 9/1/2004 through 8/31/2005
13U
7th
N/A
Born 9/1/2003 through 8/31/2004
14U
8th
N/A
1. For paired segments, the even year age group is the maximum: 7U/8U, 9U/10U, 11U/12U, 13U/14U. 2. Age Group reflects the maximum age of a player during the playing year. For example, 7U means that players 7 years and under are eligible. 3. Grade Affiliation reflects the grade for majority of players in that age group. Birth date will be the final determinant of eligibility.
