Our philosophy is a bit unique and may be different from what you are used to. First, the job of our coaches is to care for each and every player on the team.

That means a coach should be willing to teach the skills, be patient and make sure the players are having fun and maturing as young men. Second, the job of our players is to care for each other.

That means they should encourage, work together, listen to the coach and be willing to put the team's interests ahead of his own.

POSITIVE COACHING GOALS

How do we achieve this philosophy? The best way to practice this philosophy is by using the methods of the Positive Coaching Alliance to:

1. Redefine "winner." Yes, winning is a goal. But it's not the only goal. There is a second goal: to produce young people who will be winner's in life by learning the value of giving their best effort, continuing to learn, and to bounce back from mistakes.
2. Fill the Emotional Tank. We believe that players (especially 9 and 10 year olds!) will want to try harder, will have more fun and will have a better chance of success if we can encourage them rather than criticize. We want to "fill" players' emotional tanks just like a gas tank with positive comments and only offer advice when we can put it into context of how they can be more successful.
3. Honor the game. We want to follow the spirit of the rules, respect our opponents and the officials, not do anything that would embarrass our team and live up to our own standards.

You can help us achieve these goals. Please refer to your  Parents' Letter you received at the beginning of the year. If you don't have one I would be glad to give you a copy.

"GAMES APPROACH" TO TEACHING

Our approach to teaching may also be different. We are very opposed to line drills. Instead, we use a games-approach to teaching lacrosse. We often start practices with live action 3 v. 2 or 4 v. 3 game situations. It's a blast! It's why kids have come out. They want to have fun. (Important: You will want to make sure your son arrives to practice on time dressed and ready to play because the beginning of practices is usually the most fun).

From there, we will break the game down into tactics such as throwing, catching, scooping, dodging, etc. and will then teach the skill. In this way players see why the drills are important. And even there we often turn the drills into games.

If you think back to how you learned to play lacrosse or any other sport, you probably remember endless hours of drills while everyone was looking forward to whether there would be a scrimmage. We call that the traditional approach to teaching sports:

Learn the skill . Learn the tactics . Play the game

But if you played with friends after school or on weekends, you played a game and had lots more fun and probably learned more about how to play properly. Then, you practiced the skills you needed to improve. It's that approach that is desperately needed in youth sports. It's called the games approach to teaching sports.

Play the game . Learn the tactics . Learn the skill

Here is a 4-step process to the games approach of coaching lacrosse we use.

1. Play a modified lacrosse game.
2. Help the players discover what they need to do to play the game successfully.
3. Teach the skills of the game.
4. Practice the skills in another game.

Step 1: Play a modified lacrosse game

It's the first day of practice and some children haven't even taken the price tag off their stick yet while others already have their sticks broken in and are catching and throwing with each other. In the traditional approach, and perhaps this is how you were taught, the players would form lines and begin to learn how to scoop, cradle, catch and throw.

With the games approach, you begin by playing a modified game that is appropriate for the players' ability level. This way you can guide your players to discover the skills needed to play. You may start with a game of 4 on 3 or 3 on 2. The objective is to pass the ball 4 times before they can score. This forces the players to think about what they need to do (scoop, cradle, throw and catch) to keep possession of the ball.

Step 2: Help the players discover what they need to do to play the game successfully

As your players are playing the game, look for spots (not too often!) to freeze the game and hold a brief Q&A to discuss problems they have in carrying out the game. You really want to just focus on the one or two mental or physical challenges the children are having in the game. For example, they may be having troubles making 4 complete passes.

Coach: What's the objective of the game?

Players: Score!

Coach: What do we need to do before we score?

Players: Pass the ball four times.

Coach: Yes. And what else?

Players: Catch the ball.

Coach: That's right. Why don't we practice catching the ball and throwing the ball?

The players realize how important it is to practice the fundamentals so they can catch and throw and keep possession of the ball. Just as importantly, they are discovering this important lesson for themselves. Asking the right question, is an important method to successful teaching. We want to resist the temptation to give the answers.

Step 3: Teach the skills of the game

Following the Q&A we want to immediately follow with a skill practice -- a drill, which is where we use the more traditional methods of teaching. Only when the players realize how important the skill is to be successful do we want to focus on the skill. Here, we use the IDEA approach.

IDEA approach to teaching

I ntroduce the skill

D emonstrate the skill

E xplain the skill

A ttend to players practicing the skill