Now that lacrosse really seems to be picking up steam in the Des Moines metro, I think it is time that we get a proper website. Sure this blog is fine and I can access it at work, but it is not overly user friendly.
After making several compromises in an attempt to make it easier to navigate, I grown frustrated with the blog's layout. I have been searching for a suitable replacement for about a month when it occurred to me that the Microsoft Office Live site I previously created for Valley has pretty much everything I could want (except message boards). Once I figured out how to obtain another site through Office Live, I knew I could set up a better Central Iowa Lacrosse site.
Making matters worse, some participants are still using the old Group-o-Matic "Des Moines Lacrosse League" site. Although, it might have some effectiveness as a communication tool and served us well in our initial drive to get new participants, that site is bulky, slow, and inefficient. Replacing it with a new system is vital as part of the relaunch. Hopefully a replacement for the GoM site will allow participants to interact more effectively and keep us more organized. As a result of the relaunch, the GoM site will go dark within a week to give people plenty of time to migrate to the new boards.
Ideally the replacement would also allow us to conduct polls more efficiently than in the past. Whereas anybody can respond to polls here, the new member message boards should restrict responses to registered participants only. Valley's website will also be linked directly to the new message boards.
Now all of our programs -current and planned- will be organized under a single site. Easy to use links will categorize various topics ranging from our Open Leagues to the Demons to youth lacrosse. A calendar on the home page will help keep everybody up to date on the Summer Open Lacrosse League and other events. Take a peak and let me know what you think!
Without further ado, presenting the Official New CILA site & New Message Boards!!!!!
