ST. IGNATIUS

ATHLETICS

2012 BOYS’ LACROSSE

SYLLABUS

COACHING STAFF & EMAIL CONTACT

Chris H. Packard, Head Coach –

Michael Abou Jaoude, Assistant Varsity Coach –

Scott Brittain, Assistant Varsity Coach –

David Bowe, Head JV Coach –

Ryan Carter, JV Assistant Coach –

Michael O’Mahoney, JV Assistant Coach –

A.M.D.G.

ST. IGNATIUS ATHLETICS MISSION STATEMENT

An interscholastic athletic program as a co-curricular activity is an integral part of the total educational and growth experience at St. Ignatius. Athletics is designed to affirm and promote the Ignatian values as stated in the Graduate-at-Graduation document and engage student-athletes fully in mind, body, and spirit. Student-athletes, coaches, and parents are called upon to work together in a true spirit of sportsmanship to assist in creating an environment in which those Ignatian values can be revealed, tested, and proven relevant both to participants and the entire school community. Through participation in athletics at St. Ignatius, students will mature physically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually. They will learn to take responsibility for personal growth by developing loyalty, pride, integrity, and commitment. Athletics provides the opportunity for the student-athlete to exhibit a progression of physical skills and knowledge of a particular sport, enabling him/her to apply these skills and knowledge to new situations and a variety of learning formats. Through participation in athletics the student-athlete learns that God is active in all things and that individual and liturgical prayer will bring him/her closer to God. The student-athlete comes to trust that he/she is known and loved by God, and that this invites a personal response, which is an expression of movement within the individual beyond self-interest or self-centeredness. The student-athlete is called to be conscious of the call to be a leader in service and to acknowledge his/her active commitment toward fostering fairness and justice in society. Every member of the St. Ignatius school community must seek to encourage, instill, and foster such growth and development in all student-athletes.

OVERVIEW

Lacrosse is a team sport played on a football or soccer field. Two teams with 10 players each, 3 attack, 3 defense, 3 midfielders and a goalie are on the field at any given time. The sport combines attributes of football, soccer, basketball and hockey and is played with sticks of different sizes depending on position and a hard rubber ball.

Lacrosse is a contact sport and caution and care must be used to ensure the safety of players. Helmets, shoulder pads, elbow pads, gloves, a mouthpiece and in some cases rib pads and chest protectors (Goalies only) are worn at all times during practice & game play. It is imperative that all players wear a mouth piece while wearing their helmet & helmets should worn whenever players are on or near the field. St Ignatius recently purchased new helmets for the program, which are available for sale to the young men that make the team. These helmets offer the best possible protection from concussions and all players who make the team are encouraged to purchase the new helmet.

POSITIONS

There are 4 basic positions in lacrosse. They are: attack, midfield, defense, & goalie.

Goalie – The goalie represents the last line of defense and is solely responsible for stopping the ball from going into the goal.

Attack – These are typically your quickest players and best goal scorers. They are confined to the offensive half of the field and are responsible for creating scoring opportunities and scoring goals.

Midfielders – These are generally your best overall athletes and the fittest players on your team. Middies play both offense and defense and are responsible for playing on both the offensive and defensive side of the field. They generally are substituted the most during the game, on the fly through the substitution box near the benches, as their position requires the most running.

Defense – They are responsible for covering attackman and used sticks up to 6’ in length. Their primary job is to defend, keep the attacker from dodging to the goal, and limiting the number of shots the goalie must save. They are allowed to play with longer sticks but are confined to the defensive side of the field for most of the game.

TRYOUTS

Varsity tryouts begin on Monday, January, 30th 2012. Every player trying out will be given 1 week to tryout for the varsity lacrosse team, 5 total days. Tryouts will consist of a variety of activities ranging from an athletic fitness exams to full field scrimmages. While we do not have a pre-determined set number of roster spots, we will likely limit our roster to 28-30 players.

Junior Varsity tryouts begin on Monday, January 30th, 2012. All players will be given at least 5 days to tryout for the team. Based on how many kids tryout, we will possibly have two cuts, dates TBD.

Any young man that does not make the lacrosse team is welcome to come and speak with me, Chris Packard (varsity coach) or David Bowe (jv coach) to ask questions and learn more about how they can remain active in our lacrosse program. As with any sport, cutting a young man is not an easy process and we will work with each individual athlete to provide information and insight into our decision making process. Thankfully, there are now a variety of other places where young men can learn the sport of lacrosse in a competitive atmosphere outside of SI.

Practices

As field space is at a premium at St Ignatius, we do not have any 1 specific designated field to practice on. Many of our practices do take place “on campus” at either JB Murphy field, the upper athletic field or West Sunset. In some cases, we will practice in Daly City at TR Policita Middle School or at the new Fairmont facility. When the JV boys are asked to practice there, they will be sent to and from the field on a school bus. When the varsity boys practice there, they will be allowed to drive themselves to practice.

Games

Our current schedule is on line @ - We are working to add several more Junior Varsity contests and will update the website once we have done so. Games consist of four, 12 minute quarters and generally take 90 minutes to play

TEAM RULES AND EXPECTATIONS

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES:

At all levels of the program, each student-athlete will:

  • Show up on time to practices and matches
  • Be responsible for his role on the team
  • Support your teammates at all times and help each other accordingly
  • Strive to develop your mental toughness
  • Work to become a “man for others”
  • Always give the best he has on any given day and strive for excellence

PARENTAL EXPECTATIONS

1)Support and encourage your son/daughter positively through the course of the season.

2)Know your role in the stands; be supportive and positive in all communications.

3)Do not coach your son/daughter from the stands and do not officiate from your seat.

4)Coaches at all levels will talk with parents about their son’s/daughter’s development, but will never discuss playing time.

5)Support the program and the coach’s vision, philosophy, training methods, decisions, and team rules.

MEDIA

When addressing the media, always put the team first. Speak humbly. Speak positively about our team, program and its members, as well as our opponents. Keep all team information to the team. If you do not feel comfortable answering a question, say that you “respectfully decline to comment”. Do not feel pressure to answer all questions. Finally, “Think BEFORE you speak”.

Social Media: All members of our program will handle themselves in a mature manner and use social media in a mature manner. It’s important now more than ever that all involved in our program understand the ramifications of our social networking habits. We need to remember we represent our families, the St. Ignatius community and the program. We also need to understand the wide scope of social networking, and that once something is posted it is out there forever. Not only is it out there forever, it is out there worldwide. It is not just limited to the circle of friends for which it was intended. We must “think before we post”. Ask if this something we want ANYBODY else to read or see? Things can spiral out of control and take on a life of their own very quickly. This will NOT be practiced by our program members.

PLAYING ON OUTSIDE TEAMS

A player is allowed to play on an outside sport club team onlywith the varsity head coach’s approval, and any club activity will not conflict with any function of the SI sport team. As mandated by the California Interscholastic Federation, when a student-athlete is in season playing a sport for St. Ignatius, that student-athlete may not play the same sport for a club or other outside team.

INJURIES

If a doctor, or the SI trainers have diagnosed a SI student-athlete with an injury, the student-athlete will need to do the following:

1)Take the rehab program seriously throughout the course of the recovery, whether short or long term.

2)Communicate to the head coach the full extent of the injury.

3)Work in conjunction with the coaching staff and the SI trainers to design and implement a rehabilitation program.

4)Receive medical clearance from the SI trainers and/or doctor prior to being allowed to participate in any practice or game.

VACATION

All St. Ignatius student-athletes are expected to be at every scheduled practice even during holiday vacation periods. The coach will publish the schedule before the vacation period.

COST OF PARTICIPATION

Playing sports can be expensive. Based on previous years, student-athlete expenses have been several hundred dollars depending on the sport.

Travel Cost – Some varsity teams travel to compete and families are responsible for airfare, hotel, transportation, and other travel expenses. The Varsity lacrosse team will be traveling to Houston, TX on March 16th & Santa Barbara on April 20th. Additional travel details will be made available once we finalize our roster.

Uniform and Apparel Cost – Payment is made at the time of the purchase. Most purchases will be made through our online e-store, which is facilitated by Westminster Promotions. More information about this process will be e-mailed at the time your son/daughter makes a team.

ACADEMIC POLICY

The provisions of AB2613, "C" average law, have been incorporated in the CIF Bylaws and are applicable to all CCS schools. The basics of this academic requirement are as follows:
1. The student must have passed 20 semester periods of work in the previous grading period.
2. The student must be currently enrolled in 20 semester periods of work.
3. The student must be meeting school "progress toward graduation" requirements.
4. The student must have attained a 2.0 GPA on a 4-point scale the previous grading period. Grading periods do include quarter grades.

The coaching staff reserves the right to impose tougher penalties on the boys in the program than the school. We work with the administration to determine what is best for the kids in each situation but we have a rule that we will not bend on.

The 2 Strike Academic Policy – If you are not living up to a teacher’s standards you will be given one opportunity to correct or make-up whatever is needed in order to get you to a satisfactory standing in the class. The second time the teacher informs us that you are not in satisfactory standing you will be suspended from the team.

STUDENT-ATHLETE DRUG AND ALCOHOL POLICY

All St. Ignatius athletic teams are expected to be alcohol and drug free. Participation is athletics at St. Ignatius is a privilege. As a member of the athletic program a student’s actions affect others in addition to himself/herself. Therefore, the athlete is held to the highest standards of behavior.

St. Ignatius athletes are bound by the school alcohol and drug policy, which appears on pages 11 and 12 in the Student/Parent Handbook.

CONCUSSION PROTOCOL FOR ATHLETES

The California Legislature has passed AB 25, which mandates on a yearly basis that all student athletes’ parents must sign a concussion and head injury information sheet before the athletes is allowed to practice or compete. The bill went into effect on January 1, 2012.

Please be sure to read and sign the page located on the backside of the Syllabus Acknowledgement

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT PAGE

(Please return this page, signed front and back, to your head coach)

We have received and read the syllabus outlining the following points for the St. Ignatius Lacrosse program:

  • St. Ignatius Athletics Mission Statement
  • Goals
  • Team Rules and Expectations
  • Parental Expectations
  • Media and Social Media
  • Playing On Outside Teams
  • Injuries
  • Vacation
  • Practice Schedule
  • Team Travel
  • Cost of Participation
  • Academic Policy
  • Student-Athlete Drug and Alcohol Policy
  • Concussion Protocol For Athletes

As a student-athlete and as a parent in the St. Ignatius Athletic Program, we understand and support the points listed above, as well as those listed in the Athlete and Parent Handbook.

Student-Athlete Signature: ______

Parent Signature: ______

Date:______