Category: Coaches

by WisconsinLacrosse

New Program Needs a Coach

Help us jump start our new program!

The Sussex Hamilton Charges Lacrosse Club is looking for both a JV head coach and assistant coach for the Boys JV team this Spring 2017.  Sussex Hamilton Charges Lacrosse Club is starting up a brand new lacrosse program in Spring 2017 and is looking for an enthusiastic head and assistant coach to help jump start our program.  These are both paid positions depending on experience.  A full board is in place to support the coaches in all areas of the club.

Please contact me for more information.

Tracy Dow

Phone number: (262) 893-4561

Email address: dow_tracy75@Hotmail.com

by WisconsinLacrosse

How did you miss that?

The following is a post written by Gordon Corsetti, Manager of Officials Education for US Lacrosse.

We say officials have the best seat in the house. While it’s true that we are the closest to the action we can’t watch the game the same way everyone else does, which is typically watching where the ball goes. I love being on the field officiating, but I only see one-half or one-third of the entire game depending on if I’m working in a two- or three-person crew. That’s because proper mechanics demand that at least one official watches the action that no one else is paying attention to away from the ball.

In a two-person game the field is split diagonally between the two officials in settled situations. The Trail Official is the furthest from the goal and takes a position just above the attack box. The Lead Official is near Goal Line Extended (GLE). Depending on where the ball is on the field, one official is responsible for the area immediately around the ball, while the other official scans the off ball action. They are known as the On or Off official.

The clearest distinction between the two officials’ responsibilities is on a shot. When a player shoots the only official responsible for watching that player is the Trail official. This official stays with the shooter watching for late hits. The Lead official tracks the ball as soon as it leaves the crosse, and often has no eyes on the shooter at any point after the shot. These separate responsibilities make it possible for one official to cover the goal, while having another official focused on the safety of the player. That’s an easy situation though, let’s do a tougher one.

In transition, a penalty could occur on the far side of the field opposite the new Lead Official (the official running to GLE during the clear), and the new Lead Official may call a personal or technical foul near the far sideline because that official has an unobstructed angle to the play. The new Trail Official coming up field may not even have eyes on the play if there are two players behind that need to be watched to make sure nothing bad occurs away from the play upfield. But even if the new Trail Official is running up he might have a lot of bodies in front of him and has no way to make the call even if he is closer than his partner.

If more coaches understood the basic mechanics of officiating (the Men’s Officials Rules and Penalty Course is available on learning.uslacrosse.org) and why we stand where we do, I think a lot of calls would make a lot more sense. For example, I officiated a tournament not too long ago where I was the Trail official in a settled play. The offensive player shot the ball near the crease, missed the goal, was pushed from behind, and landed in the crease. I put my hand into the air for a loose-ball push, and at the same time my partner as the Lead put his hand in the air and whistled the play dead for a crease violation. I asked what he had, and he said “White stepped in the crease.” I replied, “Yes, but he was pushed in first. The ball stays with White.”

Two coaches on the Blue team were not pleased with me and while my partner readied the ball for play they asked me what happened. I told them their defenseman pushed the shooter into the crease after he shot the ball, giving the ball to the White team. Then one coach told me that that call wasn’t my responsibility. He then told me that while in the Trail position all I was supposed to call was offside.

If I only had to call offside when the Trail Official then lacrosse officiating would be one of the easiest jobs I could think of! I’m only responsible for one thing? Great! I’m just going to stand on the midline and focus only on this four-inch line, and when a player gets destroyed on a late hit I’ll calmly inform the coach that I’m only supposed to call offside.

I’m being facetious here to drive home the point that the official furthest away from where the ball is may be in the best and only position to make the correct safety or fairness call for the situation. We have fundamental mechanics that are drilled into us in every training class and field evaluation because the referees that came before us experimented with a lot of different ways to officiate the game until they broke down the most effective ways to position officials to watch for safety and fairness.

Gordon Corsetti is manager of men’s officials education for US Lacrosse. You can support US Lacrosse officials education efforts through the US Lacrosse Foundation.

by Stephen Perez

View from the 3rd Team

I have just finished my 25th year as a high school and collegiate official. I wonder where the time has gone, and even though I have been working for a long time, I still want to be better.

After a season, I have found it to be helpful to think about what I did to improve myself over the last season – did I study the rules, more? did I attend a clinic? What did I do to become a better official?

If the answer is nothing, then, while experience helps, just working year after year, may not make you a better official. If you want to be better, you have to practice at being better, and to do that, one must educate him/herself.
Being an official is an incredibly difficult hobby. You invest your time away from family, and you invest money in all the accoutrements that are necessary to be prepared and play the role of an official.

We do that, why?

When people ask me, why, I say that it feels really good to be able to administer a highly competitive game, where the players, play, and the coaches are able to coach. In the best games, there is a sense of trust between the two teams and the officiating crew. The players, play. The coaches, coach.

Each of the three teams are able to do what each has prepared themselves for. Yet, those games do not happen by chance, they are the result of your willingness to be a constant learner.

First, read the rule book. More importantly, develop a common sense and fair play understanding in how to apply the rules. Next, attend more trainings and clinics. I learn something at every clinic and because of that, I have more arrows in my quiver of experience, to draw out, when I’m in the middle of a game. Last, want to get better. None of this matters, if you do not want to improve.

One conclusion that I have come to after all these years is that the better I am, the easier my games will be. Simply put, It is to my benefit to improve.

 

Stephen Perez is the President of the Wisconsin Lacrosse Officials Association 

 

Read more: Become an Official

by Dave Wollin

WI Lax is looking for a Jamboree Director.

Wisconsin Lacrosse Lovers,
US Lacrosse Wisconsin is looking is  for an event director for the Spring Jamboree. 
The planning for the 2017 WLF Spring Jamboree is underway. March 25 and 26th  at Woodside Sports Complex, Wisconsin Dells. 
The Jamboree is a great event to kick off the 2017 season.It’s an opportunity to knock the winter rust off the players and train new officials.
The Jamboree director will manage a committee format with duties for each of the 7 members of the committee. In this way, it will not be an overwhelming amount of work for any one person. the attached document is that outline. The WLF will  train and update each new member of the committee with background information. 
The Spring Jamboree needs volunteers .  If you are interested and/or would like more information, fill out the form below. 
We need to fill this position by mid November.
Thank you for considering volunteering to keep this outstanding opportunity in existence for all Wisconsin Lacrosse players.

Secretary

form routed to the Secretary

by WisconsinLacrosse

Level 2 Coach Development Program
Upcoming Coach Development Clinic in Wauwatosa
We are pleased to announce a Level 2 Coach Development Program (CDP) Clinic being held in Wauwatosa. The instructional clinic is one of several components to obtain Level 2 Certification.

Level 2 Clinic
November 12, 2016 | 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. | Wauwatosa East High School
Cost: $95 (A 50% subsidy by the Wisconsin Chapter is available for state of Wisconsin residents) – includes lunch and clinic materials
Registration: Men’s Game | Women’s Game
Learn More

by Randy Kohn

The Crease – a note from the WLF President

Hello Lacrosse Enthusiasts!

The MLB Playoffs are starting, along with the Regular Season of the NHL.  The NBA is starting their preseason games and the NFL has completed its fourth week and we are under six months until the 2017 Lacrosse Season starts.  Don’t blink too long because it will be here before you know it.

One more year in the books and we (WLF) have experienced another double digit growth of our game.  THANK YOU to all who have done the “heavy lifting”!  Most of your efforts will never be recognized, but you should know that what you have done is very worthy.  None of us own the game because we are merely “renters” of the game until our time has come to pass it on to those behind us.  So, I say to you all… remember that we are the Ambassadors to the future of our game.

Whether you are an Administrator, Coach, Official, Umpire, Player (or the fee and equipment paying parent… been there, done that) we all have a mission to do to make sure that those who are playing today “fall in love” with the sport and carry on the game after we “retire”.  They are the next wave of Administrators, Coaches, Officials and Umpires.

We have more new Programs looking to join the WLF and are always looking for more Coaches, Officials and Umpires.  Also, a lot of local Programs need Board Members to help out.  Some folks wear so many hats in their area to make sure that the game is played, it sure would be nice to give them some help.  We are Wisconsin residents; we know how to get things done!

I wish you all a fun filled Fall Season.  In all honesty… Can any State hold a candle to Wisconsin in the Fall?

See you on the field,

Randy Kohn

On Wisconsin!

by WisconsinLacrosse

Building a Team Offense

What do you do first? Plan your strategy and try to make it work or evaluate your players and determine what your strategy should be?

There’s an old saying something along the lines of “You can’t make chicken salad without chicken.” Keeping that in mind consider the following as you begin to plan for your next season:

Who are my players?
What skills do they possess?
Basically, you need to know if you have “the chicken” needed to make the salad you want.

Once you have determined who your players are and what skills they bring to the field, it’s time to plan your strategy. This is what great coaches do. At the college level, many coaches go out and look for players with certain skill sets that fit the mold of the program. Most coaches are not lucky enough to be able to recruit kids to their program and as such have to “do the best they can with what they have.” The following is a list of skills you may observe as a coach, and how you can use them within your greater team strategy:

Skill — If the player… Ideal Position — Play team at … Strategy — using this strategy
Speed Midfield Play fast in transition and try to capitalize on odd number situations.
Feeding Attack Use off-ball movement to create scoring opportunities with passes into high-percentage shooting areas.
Dodging/Change of Direction Midfield or Attack Use dodging and change of direction to create defensive rotations and move the ball to open players for high-percentage scoring opportunities.
Outside Shooting Midfield Use offensive strategies such as fades and pops away from the defensive rotations to get the ball into the sticks of your outside shooters.
Field Awareness Midfield or Attack Use this player as a distributor. Put them into a position where they can read the defense and the ball movement accordingly.
By carefully evaluating your players, you can begin to build groups of players that complement each other and put them into systems that will work for them. Ideally, all your players would have all the noted skills, but as we know that’s not always possible. Having a mixture of these skills, organized into a system, will give your team the best chances for success on the offensive side of the field.