Saskatoon Field Lacrosse Youth/Tyke Festival

To all Lacrosse Associations and Clubs in Saskatchewan;

The Saskatoon Field Lacrosse Association is inviting lacrosse teams in Saskatchewan to enter the 2nd Annual Saskatoon Youth Field Lacrosse Festival. The Festival is open to all organizations, both those that usually play field lacrosse and those box lacrosse associations and clubs that wish to provide their players with the opportunity to play a weekend of field lax.

This event is a festival, not a tournament. The purpose of the festival is to provide the opportunity for all who attend to participate equally, to develop their lacrosse skills, to learn the game of field lacrosse and, most of all, to have fun. It is our intent that every Festival participant should have lots of fun, and be a better lacrosse player at the end of the weekend.

The Festival is limited to 8 teams per age group. The format played is "7’s" field lacrosse. Each team has 7 players on the field. Additional information about this field lacrosse format is enclosed. Each team will play each of the other seven teams in its age group. That’s a lot of lacrosse!

When? – Saturday, May 15 and Sunday, May 16, 2004, rain or shine.

Where? – Saskatoon; field locations to be confirmed

Who? – Tyke and Youth; no gender restrictions

Entry Fee? – $200 per team

Registration Deadline? – April 15, 2004

Tyke – Boys and girls, they must currently be in grades 4, 5 and 6 with a maximum age of 12. [Anyone having their 13th birthday anytime in 2004 is too old.] For box organizations, this will most closely align with the Peewee age group. All players, whether from field or box, must fully comply with the age group definition.

Youth – Boys and girls, they must currently be in grades 7 and 8 with a maximum age of 14. [Anyone having their 15th birthday anytime in 2004 is too old.] For box organizations, this will most closely align with the Bantam age group. All players, whether from field or box, must fully comply with the age group definition.

Game Format – Games will start on time, on the hour. Each game will have 2 x 20 minute periods, with one coach’s time out per team per game, plus a 5 minute halftime break.

Festival Format – Single round robin. Every team plays 7 games. Although officials will not be timing each line shift, it is expected that coaches will make sure that all their players receive equal field time. This is in line with the focus of the Festival on participation, learning the game, developing skills and having fun.

Team Size – Minimum 12 players, maximum 15 players. A word to the wise; this is a lot of lacrosse in 2 days, especially if the weather is wet, windy or hot. Sounds like Saskatchewan weather anytime. Your players will have a more enjoyable experience if you have a full team.

Expectations of each team – Each team is asked to supply 1 person (i.e., parent) for each game for either time keeping or score keeping. No experience is necessary – instruction will be given to these bench officials before each game if needed. This is a great opportunity to augment the skills of your volunteers

Interested?

You can enter a team by sending a letter and a cheque for the full entry fee ($200/team) payable to Saskatoon Field Lacrosse, to –

Saskatoon Lacrosse Festival

c/o Terry Harding

307 Whitewood Road

Saskatoon, SK S7J 4K8

The letter should contain your personal contact information (name, mailing address, email address, phone number, fax number), the name of your lacrosse organization, the name of the team(s) you are entering, and the names of the coaches and managers of each team. We’ll ask for your team lists closer to May 15. Please provide any information that should be considered in planning the game schedule (such as, "We have a 5 hour drive to Saskatoon and don’t want to pay for hotel rooms Friday night or have to leave Saturday morning at 4 a.m. for a 9 a.m. start.") Although we cannot promise to satisfy everyone’s scheduling desires, we will do our best.

The registration deadline is April 15. Please respect this deadline, as the festival organizer is a volunteer who has work/travel commitments between April 15 and May 15. He will need all teams confirmed by April 15 in order to finish the festival preparations for May 15.

Remember that the Festival is limited to 8 teams per age group. If there is more interest than we can accommodate this year, we will look at expanding the Festival next year. Again, our purpose is to provide an opportunity for as many players as possible to enjoy the game of Field Lacrosse.

You can obtain more information about the Festival by calling me at 306-477-0407 or by email at terry.harding@shaw.ca . I look forward to hearing from you and seeing you at the field this spring.

Sincerely,

Terry Harding

Rules for Tyke and Youth Field Lacrosse (7’s Format)

The foundation for all rules in this format and age level of field lacrosse are derived from the official rules for field lacrosse in Canada as sanctioned by the CLA, which are the rules as established by the International Lacrosse Federation. A copy of the official field lacrosse rules for the International Lacrosse Federation (and therefore the CLA and, in turn, the SLA) can be found at http://www.intlaxfed.org/pdf/ilfrul00.pdf .

All of the rules of 7’s field lacrosse apply for the Tyke and Youth divisions. To summarize the differences between 10’s and 7’s formats:

Sevens

Tens
7 players on the field: goalie, 2 defence, 2 midfielders and 2 attack 10 players on the field: goalie, 3 defence, 3 midfielders and 3 attack
The defence do not use sticks with long shafts. All sticks, except the goalie, are 40" to 42" long. The defence use sticks with long shafts. The defence stick is 52" to 72" long.
The goals are 5 ft by 5 ft. The goals are 6 ft by 6 ft.
The fields are scaled down, usually to 40 yds by 80 yds, 5 yds are removed from each zone: 5yds behind the net, 5 yds between net and goal area line, and 5 yds between the goal area line and the center line. The fields are 60 yds by 110 yds.
There is a face-off after each goal, except for the 4 goal rule (see below). There is a face-off after each goal, regardless of the score.

 

As well, in Tyke and Youth divisions, there are a few additional rules and procedures, and some different applications of existing rules:

Four Goal Rule - If, upon scoring a goal, a team now leads by four goals or more, there is no centre face-off after that goal. Instead, the team that was scored upon receives possession of the ball at centre, with the usual restrictions of wing lines and restraining lines in place. This rule applies as long as one team is behind by at least 4 goals.

Body Checking - These leagues have a no body checking rule. Jostling for a loose ball is allowed, but anything that is seen as an attempt to knock another player down or away from the ball is penalized as a personal illegal body checking foul. Any player executing a body check defined as legal in the International Lacrosse Federation rules will be charged with a personal foul for illegal body checking in Tyke and Youth Sevens play. Of course, checks defined as illegal according to IFA rules remain illegal in these settings.

Stick Checking - We have worked hard with players and coaches to encourage the proper "pool cue" style poke check, with the stick sliding through the top hand. It is the preferred approach to dislodging the ball from an opponent’s stick, because it is both safer and more effective than the alternatives. Please note the following:

Cross Check – The cross check, in all formats of field lacrosse, is always an illegal check and the offending player will be called for a 1 minute personal foul for cross checking.

Slashing – The slash is called very tightly in these leagues. Essentially, anything more than a tap will be called as a slash.

"Pitch-forking" – This style of check, aptly named, is strongly discouraged. Any check that is deemed to be dangerous in thrusting towards the mid section or face of an opponent will be called as unnecessary roughness or slashing.

 

Other differences come primarily in the stringency with which other rules are applied. Technical fouls that give no advantage to the team or player, while not ignored, are talked through with the player rather than being called every time. For example, if there is no bearing on the play, a player with a foot in the crease will simply be told to get out of the crease. If a team or player repeatedly ignores the instructions of the referee, then the technical foul will be called. This has proven to be an effective method of teaching the rules to young players. They and their coaches appreciate the effort to teach the players the rules without slowing play down unnecessarily.

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