BOYS Spring
In the spring, we run lacrosse programs for grades K - 8.
For grades 2 - 8, our Spring pre-season begins in early march with practices on library field (weather permitting); our regular Spring season runs from late March / early April until Memorial Day. Our Kindergarteners and 1st grade clinics aim to begin play the first weekend of April.
Grades 5 through 8 play full-field, 10v10 with "long pole" defensemen and long-stick middies. Each of these grades usually plays 12-16 games in the spring with a total of 20-25 practices (weather permitting).
Within the NJJLL, MSHLAX is a AA program, and we compete in AA Group 5. While this grouping serves as a game scheduling guideline for younger grades, it's important for our 8th grade in terms of determining playoff berths and ultimately a Group Champion. The lower grades do not have playoffs.
While the 4th Grade plays a full-field 10v10, 3rd Grade plays a modified 7v7 half field game. These grades usually have 10+ games a season and 1-2 practices per week (weather permitting).
Our 2nd graders will have weekly practices with a few scrimmages and junior tournaments added in.
While our Club and League largely follow grade levels and not a U-Level age test, we will not allow players to "play up" more than one grade. For instance, a 5th Grader can play up on the 6th grade team, but for safety reasons, we would not allow a 5th Grader to play with 7th Graders. It's also important to note that from the 4th Grade to 5th Grade, rules progress significantly and therefore "playing up" across these grades--or others as special circumstances and rules may dictate--may not be allowed out of safety concerns.
BEGINNERS ARE WELCOME AT ALL GRADE LEVELS!! While our program aims to prepare our boys to play competitively at the high school level, we welcome new players and beginners at every grade level. Children and adolescents develop physically, mentally and emotionally much more quickly than adults, so many times we find the learning curve of lacrosse to be less steep for youth than for adults.
Prior to completing the registration form, EACH PLAYER must have a USA Lacrosse membership which must be active through June 30. CLICK HERE to go to USALacrosse.org to join or renew. "Active membership" with USL means "paid through," which means that "Auto Renew" will not trigger an active membership with USA Lacrosse (because, of course, they have no way of knowing whether your credit card will be valid on the Auto Renew date). Therefore, the registrant's USAL membership must be fully paid through the season-end date. If the USAL membership lapses prior to June 30th, renew it now and USAL will extend your membership expiration accordingly.
If you have any questions about our Spring Program or our organization in general, please contact your child's coach (see Teams tab) or a member of our Board (About Us > Board of Directors).