GOALS AND OBJECTIVES FOR EACH AGE GROUP
Lake Travis Youth Lacrosse’s primary goal is to make sure each athlete is developing a life-long love for the sport of lacrosse and developing into a proficient lacrosse player. We accomplish this by making sure each child is performing and practicing age appropriate skills and drills with an emphasis on touches and quick repetition.

Below you will see just some of our main objectives for each age group, and how we plan on developing their game.

1-2ND GRADE

• Our main goal is to have the kids walking away feeling excited about lacrosse and hungry to play more.
• Focus on basic athletic movements that can translate to any sport they choose to play. We want these youngsters to feel more comfortable and confident stepping into any athletic arena.
• Focus on the most basic skills (catching, Throwing, cradling, scooping, and shooting) and introduction to the rules of the game.
• Focus on small group work and small teams so they can get more instruction and repetition. Put them in positions to succeed building their confidence in the lacrosse.
• Also, we want to get parents engaged in the sport both learning and coaching the sport. Parent involvement is critical in the enjoyment and continued play of each child.

3-4TH GRADE

• Similar to 1-2nd grade we are still focused on the enjoyment and continued interest in the sport. Often players start to see vast improvement and are pushed to try and do more than they are able to. So we want to make sure they are only being asked to do what they can process.
• Start to introduce the idea of game IQ: How to use space, how to move with your teammates, how to create space for teammates. These are just some of the concepts we start to emphasize. These are best learned in small sided drills.
• We continue to focus on the player development in the small sided games and small sided drills. While we do start to introduce full field concepts, these are still beyond the average player so we want them looking at the game in smaller pieces that eventually build into the whole.
• With many new players coming to the sport at these ages we still put the primary focus on developing the basic skills, but now with full padding.
• We start to teach the players the individual positions, and make sure to rotate players through all positions so they can try them and learn them for later years when they will specify their position.

5-6TH GRADE

• Continued focus on the basic skills, but now with an emphasis on speed and being able to do these skills at a faster pace. Also, making sure they can perform all skills while on the run as this is a very kinetic sport, and all skills need to be performed in high speed motion.
• Start drilling in the half field and full field game and team concepts. Working on taking the smaller parts of the game and building them into the larger full field game.
• Start to specialize positions a little more but still with the flexibility to let players try new positions.
• Strong emphasis on using stick skills and passing as a way to move the ball and create offense. As well as off ball movement to help create ball movement.
• Both games and practices should have a better flow to them as players play together through more passing and less running by people.

7-8TH GRADE

• Focus on getting players ready for high school level lacrosse
• Start to work on more advanced team concepts, similar to what high school JV players are running
• Even bigger focus on pace of play and being able to play at a high tempo and on the move.
• We still focus on skill development and small sided games/drills. Continued focus on developing the parts of the whole, for both team play and skills.
• Start to stratify players into A and B teams to make sure they can develop with the proper players and skill set. So, those who are more advanced can push themselves and those that are newer can spend time developing their skills.

Our common goal across all age groups is that for our players we strive for equal time on the field. We want our players to develop their skills, as the more skill they have the more fun the game is to play. They can’t develop by sitting on the bench. So, whether you are in 1st grade or 8th or on the B team or A team in 7th grade. We strive to make sure all players are getting quality time on the field so they can develop and enjoy the sport.