On the officials side, I was once again swamped and inundated by the amount of experience in the rooms. I got to attend Al Blau’s presentation on “How to Handle the Difficult Situation,” which was absolutely fantastic. He gave great advice for every official on how to handle difficult coaches, players, fans, and even fellow officials that may prove adversarial. I gained a lot of new techniques that will hopefully make me a better official this year.

Jerry Markbreit

The best part on the official’s side of things was the very first keynote address for officials. The keynote speaker was Jerry Markbreit a long-time NFL referee, who is now in charge of NFL officials training. He related hilarious story after hilarious story, including one where he nearly got into a fight on the field with a player! It was one of those speeches that you could hear 100 times and still be entertained by it. It was a great way to wrap up the day.

While the presentations and speeches ended, that was not the end of the second day. The coaches and I relaxed in the hotel for a bit, and then got together with a few other friends to one of the oldest family-owned restaurants in the United States – Ralph’s. I have never seen veal parmesan as large as a loaf of bread. I got a tremendous ziti with mushrooms and shrimp. Word of the day on the food? Strong! After the truly exceptional meal at Ralph’s we all headed back to the hotel lobby where we hung out with fellow coaches and officials. I went back to the room a little early to study, and prepare for the Level 1 training that I was going to teach on Sunday night.

For Day 3 there was not too much going on. The convention was winding down, and the Philadelphia Convention Center was being turned around to host another event. I did attend the “Train the Trainer” presentation, which detailed everything that US Lacrosse is working on to improve the development of new and experienced lacrosse officials. I gained a few useful bits of information before having to head back to the airport for our one o’clock flight. Only, thanks to Andy, we didn’t have to wait till one o’clock. We got through security so fast that Coach Andy asked the attendant if we could get on the 11:40am flight. They had plenty of room on the flight, and we were stoked that we did not have to wait in the airport lounge at all.

All of us made it back safely on an uneventful flight. Satisfied in a great weekend full of lacrosse and lacrosse knowledge. As I did last year I highly recommend attending the convention for any aspiring coach or official. On top of seeing a lot of cool lacrosse swag, there is an abundance of knowledge for everyone who attends the presentations. I would like to thank Coach Lou for taking Shaun Lux, Andy Halperin, and I to the convention, and I want to thank all three of those guys for making this year’s convention an absolute blast.

Cheers,
Gordon

After spending a little time on the Convention floor, it was time for me to go to a variety of officiating sessions. I will not bore you with the details, but I learned a tremendous amount of new techniques that will make me a better official, and hopefully, make our youth refs better as well.

Herm Edwards

After all of the classes were over it was time for the keynote address by Herm Edwards. I must say I was incredibly excited to listen to this man speak, and I was not disappointed. From my perspective, Mr. Edward’s address focused on three main things:

• How to coach
• How to let the kids play
• How to grow and honor the game

His entire presentation asked every coach and official in the building to ask ourselves – “When I leave this game, will I leave it better than I found it?” That was the center of his speech. What will we leave behind to our children as our legacy in this sport? Will we improve it for the better, or just go through the motions? Will we play and coach passionately, or will we be content to let someone else do that?

I believe Mr. Edwards hit the bullseye with his speech, when he said “it starts with the little ones.” Atlanta Youth Lacrosse is a great youth organization because we do our best to focus on the kids, and their development as stewards of the game. Mr. Edwards spoke about sports reflecting life, and how life will be both good and bad. Just like sports. He said he wants his own children to hear the word no from a coach. He wants his own children to get benched by a coach if necessary. Essentially, he wants his children to experience adversity through sports. So they can deal with adversity when it comes in life.

After his passionate speech came to an end, he opened things up for audience questions. We were very fortunate, as there were some excellent questions. One of the questions went along the lines of “how do you motivate players who feel they are entitled?” Mr. Edwards gave a brief chuckle at the question, but his response was poignant.

He said that sports is about inconvenience. I will repeat that. Sports is about inconvenience. He told a story where he got his entire team up at 3:00am, herded them onto the bus for a five hour drive to play the New York Giants in a practice. He had the entire sleepy team dress in a cold gym, and get taped up on a freezing floor. Then he huddled everyone up. He said “are you tired?” Yes, came a weary reply. Mr. Edwards said guess what? In ten minutes you are going outside to play the New York Giants, and they got to sleep in late in their comfortable dorms, eat a full breakfast, and dress in a warm locker room. They are comfortable, and if you go out and play the way you sound right now – you are going to get the bejeezus knocked out of you. Mr. Edwards said that he created some inconvenience because he wanted his players to experience unpleasantness, but play through it. He didn’t want any excuses or rationalizations – no. He wanted his players to deal with inconvenience. Here’s a short clip about excuses that I found while searching for some motivational videos. If this doesn’t make you realize that your inconveniences are not that great I don’t know what will.

Well, I hope you are enjoying the Convention live blogging, as I am having a blast writing about these experiences. Stay tuned later today or early tomorrow for Day 2!

Cheers,
Gordon

Pat's King Of Steaks

Upon arriving in Phillly, Coach Lou made good on his promise and had our cab driver make a beeline to Pat’s King of Steaks. An unbelievably good spot for an authentic Philly cheesesteak. I had a Pepper Cheesesteak. The first, last, and middle bites were all heaven. I’m hoping that we have a few more opportunities for quality cheesesteaks while we’re here.

After our cheesesteak excursion, we checked into our hotel and proceeded towards the Convention registration. Here we all got the goodie bag, which included a myriad of lacrosse publications, a lanyard for our ID tag, gloves, and, for some reason, a frisbee.

With our registration complete we headed towards the hotel lobby to share drinks and hilarious story after hilarious story. As usual, Coach Lou had all of us dying with some clever jokes. Being in the lobby, we ran into a lot of friends and acquaintances. That is by far the best thing about the lacrosse community, it is so close knit. We couldn’t go ten minutes without someone going “Louie!, Shaun!”

Eventually though, your trusty blogger had to call it a night and get some studying done. Make sure to tune in tomorrow night for a write up on the first official day of the convention!

Cheers,
Gordon

As Jimmy V said; if you can laugh, think, and cry – you’ve had a full day. With that, here’s Jimmy V’s speech:

If you would like to donate to the Jimmy V Foundation, you may do so here: http://www.jimmyv.org/index.php. 100% of your donation will go towards cancer research.

“Don’t give up … Don’t ever give up,”
Jim Valvano

Rule #1 – Hustle Everywhere

• Coaches and evaluators are looking for the players who hustle all the time. I don’t care if you are the bomb-diggity player of your lacrosse team. If you do not hustle you will not make a select team. So how do you show hustle everywhere? Simple – do not let a coach see you walking. Jog from your car to the sideline. Move with purpose from drill-to-drill. Run at a million-miles per hour when you need to slide or get open. I kid you not, there will be evaluators who write down: “Great player but does not run anywhere.” Prepare yourself for two hours of exertion – if you are not tired at the end of a tryout something is amiss.

Rule #2 – Preparation, Preparation, Preparation

• This should go without saying, but you need to be prepared for a tryout. That means waking up on time, eating a solid breakfast, drinking water well before the tryout to stay hydrated, and having all of your required gear. Do not be the one player who comes up to a coach without a glove. That tells me two things. One, this player does not care about his equipment. Two, this player wants the coach to bail them out of trouble. Check your lacrosse bag when you pack it at night for all your gear. Then check it again before you leave the house in the afternoon.

Rule #3 – Pay Attention

• The tryout moves with or without you. Coaches are going to explain a drill one time, then they will start the drill. Coaches will not waste time because one player out of fifty was not paying attention and needs them to repeat the instruction. Every time I see a player with wandering eyes while I give out instruction, I make mental note of their number, and it is not a positive mental note. Each player at a tryout should give their supreme effort to pay attention at all times. If you do that, you will not get left behind.

Rule #4 – Caution, Fast Objects

• Coaches want players who can play fast. That means running hard, passing the ball quickly, and sliding with speed. They want Attack players who will V-cut as quickly as they can. They want midfielders to fly off the wing lines on a face-off. They want defenders to slide aggressively, and they want Goalies to get the ball upfield quickly. However, above all of this, coaches want the ball passed fast. I guarantee you they will not care if you drop the ball occasionally, so long as you are firing that ball out of your stick like a clown out of a circus cannon.

Rule #5 – Talk!

• I hate silence at a tryout. As a coach, I am going to be completely hoarse by the end of the day, and players should be tired from moving their mouths throughout the practice. Coaches want to hear players talk constantly. That means saying “I’ve got your help,” “One more,” I’ve got your left,” “Fire, Fire, Fire!” The only time you should not be talking is when the coach is talking. When you are in a drill, make it your mission to be the best communicator out there.

Rule #6 – Don’t Wallow In Your Mistakes

• You are going to make mistakes at the tryout. No one has ever had a perfect tryout, and no one ever will. Tryouts are meant to challenge a player, and challenge means adversity. You will drop a pass, miss a shot, or get beat on a dodge. Do not make a big deal out of it. The coaches are looking for a player who makes a mistake on one play, and then comes roaring back with a vengeance. They want a player who cares enough about a mistake to change their game to fix it, but does not concern themselves with a past mistake. Coaches want forward-thinking players. If you screw up, accept your mistake, and then fix it. Players who can do that prove to coaches that they deserve a shot.

Rule #7 – Do You Want It? (Also known as “fire in the belly”)

• Some players try out, but they don’t really want to try out. Maybe their friends were on last year’s team. Perhaps their parents want them to play on a travel team. You need to have the fire to be on an elite team. I’ve been doing this for so long I can look at a player for five minutes in a scrimmage and tell if they have the fire in the belly to be on the team. These are the players who follow Rules 1-6. They hustle, they talk, they move fast, but above all they want to be at that tryout, and they show that through their actions.

Rule #8 – Leave Everything On The Field

• While I do not guarantee that following Rules 1-7 will earn you a spot on a travel team. I do guarantee that if you leave everything on the field, you will have a successful tryout. Remember, if you put your heart into your game a coach will notice you. They may decide to wait a year, but you will be on their minds as a player who puts all the effort they have into the game of lacrosse.

I hope all of the players reading this are as excited about tryouts as I am. The other coaches and I will give you our very best, will you give us yours?

Cheers,
Gordon

P.S. – I will be resuming a regular blogging schedule next week. Every Tuesday and Friday you may expect a post. As always, topic suggestions may be emailed to: rules@ayllax.com 

The September Beginner Clinics will focus on building basic skills that each player needs to be successful at lacrosse. We will teach: cradling, ground balls, catching, passing, dodging, and shooting. These skills will build on one another each clinic and each week. The goal is to make each player who shows up feel confident in the fundamental skills of lacrosse.

The SBCs are free-of-charge and will be taught to any beginner player that wants to show up at the appointed times below. We recommend players show up 10-15 minutes early for introductions and to get their gear on. Any questions about the SBCs may be sent to info@ayllax.com.

NOTE - These clinics are only open to 3rd-6th graders. We have limited weekly field space, and players under third grade will learn a basic skill during group warm-ups each weekend.

Clinics will run on the following Tuesdays and Thursdays:

• 9/13 and 9/15
• 9/20 and 9/22
• 9/27 and 9/29

The times and groups are as follows:

• 3rd & 4th grade: 4:30-5:25pm
• 5th & 6th grade: 5:30-6:25pm

Players will need to bring:

• All gear required for a game (equipment page)
• Personal water bottle (we will have a cooler at the field just in case)
• Enthusiasm (nothing beats a player who is willing to learn)

Once the September Beginner Clinics conclude on the 29th, Atlanta Youth Lacrosse will offer position-specific clinics in October. Information on those clinics including price and how to register will come out in later posts and newsletter communications. Again, all questions may be sent to info@ayllax.com.

Cheers,
Gordon

Because this criticism ranked highest among the things AYL could improve on, I set out to find a quality program that would allow us to provide all members with a Master Game Schedule. Well, I lucked out tremendously with League Toolbox. This company creates and continually improves upon a host of league management software tools. On top of ridiculously good and timely customer support, League Toolbox knew more about creating schedules than I thought possible.

Because of League Toolbox’s tools, this season we offer three distinct methods of viewing the Fall Ball Schedule:

• Download the Master Game Schedule
  • Perfect if you want to cross out games as we move through the season.
• Dynamic Master Game Schedule: http://ayllax.leaguetoolbox.com/league/schedule.php
  • This schedule allows you to select “division” and “team”
  • For example, select “3/4th Grade” and “Outlaws,” and you will be directed to the Outlaw’s Individual Team Schedule
• Individual Team Websites Next Game Banner
  • Get familiar with your team’s website. Every time you visit the homepage you will see a list of upcoming games on the left, and a large banner displaying your team’s next game, opponent, location, and time.

Remember, all of this information is accessible at: www.ayllax.com/master-game-schedule. If you forget when to show up for a game just check the schedule, and it will be there waiting for you.

Finally, I put together a short video tutorial. This video details how to access the Master Game Schedule, and all the different formats it is presented in.

As always, if you have comments or questions, please post them below in the comment section.

Cheers,
Gordon

Each newsletter will have:

• Coach Lou’s Corner – A message about lacrosse coaching, life lessons, and how to best enjoy the game.
• Director Messages – Important information regarding new signups, roster postings, and schedules
• Zebra Knowledge – I give a short explanation about officiating and lacrosse rules
• Weekend Game Scores – Once games get going we will post the scores and direct everyone to team standings within their division
• Important Dates - A small calendar of upcoming events, camps, and clinics
• Final Thoughts & Expectations - Thoughts about the past weekend’s games, and what we expect from everyone for the upcoming weekend.

If you have any suggestions about what we can include in the newsletter to make it more useful, or if you are having any problems reading the newsletter, please email rules@ayllax.com. Or, you may comment below.

Cheers,
Gordon

Additionally, any AYL parents are welcome to attend the clinic. Either to learn the basics of officiating, or to become an AYL official themselves.

All attending AYL members will receive a:

• 2011 NFHS Boys Lacrosse Rulebook
• Copy of AYL rule differences
• Fox 40 whistle & lanyard
• AYL Zebra shirt

The officiating camp will consist of:

One Hour – Station Drills

• 15 minutes – flag throwing and whistle blowing
• 15 minutes – conducting faceoffs
• 15 minutes – penalty reporting
• 15 minutes – goal/crease play

One Hour – Rules Discussion

• 30 minutes – must know youth and safety rules
• 30 minutes – situations and tips/tricks

After the two hour camp, each potential official will receive a link to take an online test (open-book) of twenty rules questions. This is to ensure that the youth referees understand the rules and when they should be applied.

The online test will be available for five days starting at the end of the camp. A passing score of 80% (B) is required to officiate at any age level at Atlanta Youth Lacrosse. Any player that does not make the grade may take the test again at my discretion. Players that forget or do not take the test at all may not take a retest. Since five days is more than enough time to take a twenty-question test.

Finally, all officials who pass the test will be shadowed by an experienced adult official for one half of a game. Andy and I watch each official during their “practice-half.” If they do well, they are allowed to officiate without a shadow for the remainder of the season. If they still need work, they are assigned further shadowing until they are competent on their own.

It is my hope that this officiating camp, test, and final shadowing will produce youth officials that are excited about officiating. Also, this will greatly improve the fundamental knowledge of each youth official. Making them more capable of officiating a good game.

Featured Image Credit – en.gtwallpaper.com

Cheers,
Gordon

Atlanta Youth Lacrosse upgraded to League Toolbox over the offseason. Here are a few of the many services League Toolbox allows AYL to give to our members:

1. Register your family only once – and enter information only once – Once a parent has registered, they register their children with ease. Family discounts and price breaks for multiple children can be setup and are automatically applied.
2. Individual Team Websites  - Each team in each division gets their own website! For example, gorillas-ayllax.leaguetoolbox.com
   
3. Master Schedule, Team schedule, and Family schedule - View the schedule in three different ways. A complete master schedule will always be available, but the individual team websites lists the dates and times for your team’s games. Also, you can login to your League Toolbox profile and view your personalized family schedule, which lists every game that your children are playing in!
4. Communication - if a game gets canceled, or a field is rained out only those affected team players, coaches, and parents get an email.
5. Team Standings and Scores - we’re keeping better track of scores and standings than ever before. By Monday afternoon, all of the weekend games’ scores will be entered into the system. You can see how well your team is doing compared to other teams in the 3/4, 5/6, 7/8, and HS leagues!
6. Your Profile - here you can view:
1. Your username and password
2. Your family schedule
3. Your children. Plus what division they are in and what team they are on
4. Your information. Change your personal information
5. Invoices from everything you ever registered for at Atlanta Youth Lacrosse, starting with Spring 2012 Registration (wink, wink)

To register, click the Large Green “Spring 2012″ Registration Button at the top of our website www.ayllax.com. From that registration link you will be able to login and register for a season, camp, clinic, or AYL event. We even streamlined the registration process so you don’t have to click as often or as much! If you are prompted, please click allow or trust, when directed to registration page for the first time.

We hope everyone likes the new registration system, but we realize this change may cause confusion and more than a few questions. If you are having trouble with registration, would like to know more about it, or want to discuss the benefits of the new system, please contact our Head Official and registration director, Gordon Corsetti at rules@ayllax.com.

Featured Image Credit – www.hd-wallpapers-widescreen.com

Cheers,
Gordon