WLC Commitment Policy
COACHES -- All WLC coaches are held to the same commitment policy as our WLC players. WLC Coaches are expected to attend WLC events on dates that are scheduled and will not miss a WLC Event to attend an outside club lacrosse event. As an all-volunteer organization, we understand that conflicts with other family activities will arise throughout our season. We ask that should you not be able to attend a WLC event you work with your other parent coaches to ensure that there is adequate coaching/supervision coverage for the particular event.
2nd through 8th Grade Programs -- boys and girls
The Westfield Lacrosse Club ("WLC") and our coaching staff are very aware of the increasing demands from Club lacrosse programs during the spring season. WLC offers a great overall experience as well as preparation for playing at the High School level. WLC has proven this year in and year out by feeding the numerous club teams in our area with many of their best players. Because of the commitment the board, coaching staff, fellow players, and parents make to achieving success each season, WLC expects a prioritization of WLC activities over that of your club lacrosse teams during the WLC spring season. To maintain that prioritization of our program, WLC has a longstanding escalating 3-strike policy during the WLC spring season. This applies to missed practices and missed games (and will carry over from one season to the next if the missed event(s) occurs at the end of the current season and cannot be enforced until the following season):
Strike 1): Miss 1 WLC event (defined as a single practice or game -- each game in a tournament is considered a single WLC event) for a club lacrosse event will result in a loss of play in the next WLC game. The amount of play lost is left to the discretion of the head coach of the player's WLC team. For our travel teams (5th-8th), the loss of play shall be no less than 1/2 of the next WLC game.
Strike 2): Miss 2 WLC events for a club lacrosse event results in the loss of play in the next 2 WLC games. The amount of play lost is left to the discretion of the head coach of the player's WLC team. For our travel teams (5th-8th), the loss of play shall be no less than 1/2 of each of the next two WLC games.
Strike 3): Miss 3 WLC events for a club lacrosse event. If the player is in 2nd-4th grade, the loss of play will be for the next three complete games. If the player is on a WLC travel team (5th-8th grade), the player will lose their position on their travel team and be moved to the travel team below for the remainder of the current season. If the player is already assigned to the lowest-level travel team, the player be suspended from play for the next three complete games. If the 3 strikes occur at or near the end of the season, the player will have the opportunity to be evaluated for the following season. Once evaluated and rostered on a team, the player will be suspended from gameplay during the first three games of the next season. In such a case, the WLC board reserves the right to increase, decrease, or condition the suspension depending on the individual player's circumstances.
Our goal is to have a clear and enforceable policy so please let us know if you have any questions. This policy applies to Club Lacrosse. If you have conflicts with other non-Spring sports, we also expect you to make the WLC your spring season priority and that you will work with your coaches to address conflicts occurring outside of club lacrosse.
FINALLY, WLC has very strong relationships with the New Jersey private lacrosse clubs. If your player's club begins scheduling events during the WLC season, please communicate this with your player's head coach so that we can address it with the specific club before it becomes an issue with your player's WLC experience.