Amazing Things Happening Here - Women

First of all, I want to thank Jaacki McKinney for her efforts in getting the girls game off the ground in the metro. Jaacki has taken over for Robyn Crisp, whose family moved back to Delaware. Jaacki has made some impressive strides so far this fall.
There was a girls' lacrosse meeting in Waukee on Wednesday. Thirty-two girls showed up! That is impressive by itself, but the school advisor informed Jaacki that even more girls asked about lacrosse on Thursday morning. Unlike our boys' program (unfortunately), they have enough participants from one school to fill the team.
The girls' team will compete against Omaha teams, and possibly Kansas City teams, this spring. anyone interested in learning to play or coach the girls' game - regardless of age - can attend and participate in their practices. Jaacki is hopefully that the Waukee girls can lead to increased interest from girls at other schools. As the interest is growing, there is a strong possibility that another coach will spring from the local ranks to form a second team.
Jaacki is also spearheading a group of women to field a post-collegiate team. This team would play in regional tournaments and possibly scrimmage against the Waukee team. All of this information -and more- will be added to the Central Iowa Lacrosse Association website as soon as I get the chance!

Anyone Want to Take a Road Trip?

By now most of you know that the Minnesota Swarm of the National Lacrosse League are coming to Wells Fargo Arena on December 5, 2009. I have been working with the team and the arena to get on the turf for an intra-squad scrimmage and am awaiting that information.

The Swarm would also like for us to come up to the Twin Cities to take in a game at their home facility, the Excel Energy Center. They have offered let Valley play a local team - Minnesota officially sanctions lacrosse, by the way - before the Swarm game. To do this, we will have to meet some criteria.

1. Valley has been given the option of picking a Saturday home game. Our options are Feb 13 and Feb 20. The February dates will work better with Valley's spring schedule.
2. Valley can choose between playing at 2 pm or 4 pm. The Swarm games start at 7:35 pm.
3. Valley has to sell a specific number of tickets to play. 2 pm = 75 tickets; 4 pm = 100 tickets.
4. Tickets will be $17-24 each. Many teams use ticket sales as a fundraiser. If Valley does, we would put the money in the team account to cover tournament fees, extra equipment, uniforms, etc. I will have to put a deposit down for the tickets beforehand.
5. Valley's name will be announced on the scoreboard during the Swarm game.
6. Valley would get to play a Minnesota team on the turf.

I would like to know if this is something that enough people are interested in. Basically we would need 10-15 Valley guys to play. And we would need to sell at least 75 tickets total. Plus we will need to arrange transportation (car pool?) to and from the Twin Cities. This is all tentative as we weigh our options. Keep in mind that this would be a late night; we would not leave the Twin Cities until after 10:00 pm. Right now I am merely trying to determine interest.

Please respond as soon as you can. This is be a good opportunity for a road trip to watch Valley play non conference opponents and to catch a professional lacrosse game.

The information in this post pertains to playing in Minnesota email only! Wells Fargo Arena information is still being finalized.

Summer Is Over - SOLL Ends Soon

With the sunsets coming upon us earlier every night, I realize that my days of field lacrosse are nearing their completion. The Summer Open Lacrosse League was scheduled to allow working guys like myself to get out and play a game once a week. That system worked great until nature started workign against us. Now that it is dark by 8:00 pm, I recognize that playing all the way until 7:30 pm is becoming harder and harder.
To stretch things out as long as possible, I have decided that the SOLL will continue up to Valley's fall ball tournament in Lincoln on Saturday, October 10. That means that the final night of the Summer Open Lacrosse League will be Thursday, October 8. After that, Zach may decide to have Valley practices on Thursday nights, but nothing is certain.
This will give the casual laxers about a month off before the Open Box Lacrosse League starts up at the Soccer House. Registration for the OBLL is currently open and will remain open through Thursday, October 15 - one week from the final night of the outdoor league. The OBLL will feature rostered teams, scheduled teams, and a variety of competition. Unlike the summer league, the box league will not have pick up sessions!
Next year's summer league will most likely mirror the box league's structure. Our goal going forward is to have an organized, expanding, and stable league. Education and fun will always be at the center of our lacrosse programs. Let me know if you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions to further the growth of lacrosse in the metro and the state.