Welcome to Grayson Athletic Association Lacrosse. We are very passionate about our program and want to do everything we can to provide a fun, safe, and productive Lacrosse experience for our players. In order to assure that everyone involved with our Lacrosse program is on the same page we have developed a set of policies and expectations for our players, coaches, and parents. None of these policies and expectations is intended to replace or pre-empt policies and rules set forth by the Gwinnett Lacrosse League or any other league in which Grayson Lacrosse participate. Our policies and expectations are simply items that, in addition to the League policies, will help to foster a positive experience for all players involved in Grayson Lacrosse. If at any time during the season you have questions or concerns (either regarding theses expectations and policies or any other issues) we encourage you to first make every effort to resolve your questions or concerns with your Head Coach. If you feel that your issue has not been resolved after working with your head coach then please feel free to contact either of us.
Grayson Lacrosse
Policies and Expectations
General:
1) Boys are to have helmets on anytime they are on the playing field and Girls are to have Goggles on anytime they are on the playing field.
Parents, we need your help with this. Anyone associated with Lacrosse in Atlanta in 2012 will remember Bret Hundredmark. Bottom line, Bret was just practicing with a teammate when an errant ball struck him in the back of the head sending him into a coma for weeks and years of rehabilitation. We are very serious about the safety of our players so please help.
a) At no time should a male player be on the field without a helmet on.
b) As girls do not wear helmets, anytime a boys practice is in progress girls should make every effort to enter the field as far from the boys practice as practical.
2) Players may not be dropped off unattended at any practice or game.
a) There must be an adult with responsibility for every player (separate from the coach unless related) present at practices.
b) Parents may make arrangements to have another parent be responsible for their child, but someone must be responsible for every player.
c) In the event of inclement weather practices may be cut short and it is not acceptable to expect coaches to wait for a parent to return to pick up their child.
d) This is to protect the safety and well being of every player.
e) Every year this happens, and often it involves parents that have been involved in the program for years. We have to put a stop to this, let’s just forget that in the past there HAVE had attempted abductions at Bay Creek and many other parks in Gwinnett County. Our coaches make a tremendous commitment to Grayson Lacrosse it is unfair to expect them to wait for someone to pick up their players.
3) Players should not be throwing balls, passing, etc outside of the playing field. This is another one we are asking for the parents help. Practice nights or gameday people are walking around unprotected, hard balls only on turf, and helmets on turf. It’s easy.
a) Lacrosse balls are very hard and hurt when they hit an unprotected or unsuspecting individual.
b) Players throwing hard lacrosse balls outside of the playing field will have the ball confiscated.
c) Grayson Lacrosse will do everything we can to supply soft balls for activity off the playing field, but there are a limited number of these balls available and unfortunately when they are gone there are no more to replace them.
Game Play and Playing Time:
1) It is the expectation that coaches will make every possible effort to ensure that each player plays a minimum of 2 to 2.5 minutes of every quarter of every game.
a) Time spent inside the penalty box counts toward this minimum.
b) There may be situations where coaches will not be able to meet this expectation fully but it is the expectation of Grayson Lacrosse that coaches will make every reasonable effort to ensure this minimum amount of play time for every player.
c) Minimum playing time assumes that players are on-time and present for practices and games and assumes that players are following coaches instructions and making every effort to play their best. Players who are late or miss practices or players who do not follow coaches instructions or do not pay attention or hustle may have play time reduced.
2) No player will play an entire game.
a) No player is to play an entire game without leaving the playing field for a substitution.
b) Exception to this would be the situation where a team does not have enough players to avoid having some or all players play the entire game.
3) Any player who receives 2 or more conduct related penalties within one game will be benched for the remainder of that game.
a) Conduct related penalties include Unsportsmanlike Conduct, Unnecessary Roughness, and at the discretion of the coach will include any penalty related to aggressive checks to the Head/Neck Area or body checks leading with the head.
b) The head coach may, in rare circumstances, determine that the nature of the conduct related penalties do not warrant benching the offending player.
c) Coaches will maintain records within their team scorebook of all penalties received.
d) The Directors of Grayson Lacrosse will review with the head coach (and the player/player’s parents) any instance where a player is benched as a result of this rule.
e) Players who have repeated instances of conduct related penalties and resulting disciplinary action will, at the discretion of the Grayson Lacrosse Directors, be benched for subsequent games up to the remainder of the season in extreme circumstances.
Parent’s Concerns/Complaints with Coaches
1) It is the request of the Directors of Grayson Lacrosse that anytime a parent has a complaint or issue that they wish to raise with their head coach or the directors that the parent observes a 24 hour “cooling off” period before initiating contact with their coach.
a) This request is especially important with regards to games. In the event that parents have concerns/issues/frustrations that arise during the course of a game, it is very important that they do not initiate communication with the coach just after the completion of the game. In the event that a parent does not observe the 24 hour rule and elects to approach a coach after a game it is entirely up to the coach as to whether they will discuss the issue at that time. Otherwise the coach has been asked to convey the 24 hour rule to the parent and inform them that they will be happy to speak with them the next day via phone or before or after their next team practice. Please respect the coaches wishes, our coaches are hard enough on themselves following games (even wins) and they need some time to absorb the events before receiving further details of their poor performance!
b) This request also applies to anytime a parent wishes to voice concerns/issues/frustrations via e-mail.