frequently asked questions.

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What exactly is the Sidewinders Lacrosse Club? 

The Sidewinders Lacrosse Club is a not-for-profit lacrosse club based in the Crofton, Maryland. Sidewinders only take in the amount of money it needs to run a program that provides the highest level of learning, competition and play; we truly are a not-for-profit club! Our program is primarily comprised of kids in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Howard, and South counties. Our boys range in age from 7 to 17 and come from multiple rec and high school programs.

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Is Sidewinders affiliated with a particular rec program?

Yes. Sidewinders is a youth lacrosse club affiliated with Crofton Athletic Council.

What’s included in the fees:

Uniform (see below), 1-2 Fall Tournaments/ Spring League/ 3-4 Summer Tournaments, Strength and Agility sessions (Fall/Winter/Spring), Position Specific Clinics (Sideline Sports/ SWLC Staff), Practice Fields, Coaches Stipends, and Overhead costs. 

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Players will receive:

First Year Players: will receive a Cascade helmet/ Wrap/ Uniform; they will also be required to purchase a sublimated bag at an additional cost.

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Second Year Players: will receive a Custom Gloves/ Wrap/ Uniform

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Third Year Players: will receive a Position Specific Head/ Wrap/ Uniform

 

Payment Plans:

Sidewinder does provide payment plans; Once a roster spot is accepted, an initial payment of 50% will be required to hold/reserve the roster spot, the remaining monies can be paid over a 3-4 month period; Sidewinders encourages all players to participate in the fall tryouts as spring and rolling tryouts may not allow for payment plan opportunities.

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Is anyone eligible to try-out?

All boys currently in grades 2 through grade 11 are eligible to try-out. Your geographic residence, school, past club affiliations, or years of experience, do not preclude you from try-outs. You must attend at least one of try-outs on the scheduled dates to be evaluated.

 

My son is in the 9th. Grade which team should he tryout for?

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Sidewinders encourages these players to try out for the high school level teams during the fall, as we anticipate many of those players will be trying out for their HS teams.  In the event they would not make their associated HS team, they would be eligible to try out for the associated youth team in the spring! If they try out for the youth team and make their associated HS team, they may not be eligible to play in the spring/summer; refund would not be given at this point!

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How are try-outs conducted?

The coaches and officers of the club make selections. To ensure that evaluations are as objective as possible we seek the assistance of select knowledgeable third parties along with the coaching staff of the team. Among the factors on which players are evaluated is speed, athletic ability, strength, stick skills and scrimmage play. All boys who attend will be notified of the results shortly after tryouts are complete. Placement decisions are final.

 

How do I register to try-out?

The dates, times, and location of try-outs are outlined in the Registration section of this website. Registration is to be completed online.  You may pay by credit card or check.  Any changes due to weather or unforeseen events will be posted in the announcements section of this website. There is a $50 non-refundable fee for trying-out. This is used to pay for pinnies, non-reusable materials and the facilities required for try-outs.

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How are your coaches selected?

The best man’s lacrosse player in the world is not guaranteed to be able to teach an 11 year old boy to play lacrosse and the best teacher in the world can’t teach a boy how best to scoop a lacrosse ball in traffic if he’s never done it himself. Based on this, each Sidewinders team will be coached by an individual who has significant personal experience in playing lacrosse AND has significant experience coaching/teaching children and young adults. It is our view, that this is the best way to ensure that our players will have the opportunity to actually take in and retain the knowledge imparted to them.

 

Roster Spot:

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Once notified by the coach and/or admin of placement, you will be allotted a period of 24-48 hours to register and pay the associated fee’s to reserve the roster spot.  If this time should lapse, the spot/offer could be offered to another player.

 

If my son signs up for Sidewinders and makes a team will he have to stop playing for his recreation/MYLA team?

No. Our goal is to do our best to co-exist with recreation teams. Each team will make their schedules and expectations clear to its team members in advance.

What does a season consist of and when/how much will you practice? 

Fall: Fall practices will be held on Sundays to avoid conflicts with other falls sports. Teams will play in 1-2 tournaments in the fall depending on the team.

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Winter: Winter indoor is optional and will be an additional cost, ranging from $120-$130 depending on the league.  Leagues are typically played on Saturdays (HS) and Sundays (Youth).

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Spring:  Each coach will determine what their specific team does for the Spring.  However, typically our youth teams will play in the Howard County Spring Club League and this league can co-exists with rec. The teams that decide to play in this spring league and our teams that decide not to play in it both have the option to hold practices throughout the spring and/or play in other league events. Typically an average of 2-3 practices will be held weekly.

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Summer: The main club lacrosse season occurs in the months of June and July. Most teams will play in at least four tournaments and will have a minimum of 30 days off between seasons. Most teams practice twice a week in the summer months.

 

Where will you practice?

All of our teams practice at Anne Arundel based turf fields and/or the Crofton sports complex i.e. Cardinal Fields/ Crofton Park/ Crofton Middle School.

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How do I join US Lacrosse?

Sidewinder does not require US Lacrosse Membership, but encourages participation! Log on to www.uslacrosse.org and click on 'membership info.' You will receive a confirmation e-mail with your membership number.


Why is a US Lacrosse membership not required?

As mentioned above, Sidewinders is an affiliate of Crofton Athletic Counsel and all insurances are covered under our agreement.

 

CAC Fees?

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Sidewinders falls under the CAC umbrella, the CAC fees cover all associated AACO. fees, insurance ($85), and administrative costs ($15) associated with Sidewinders/CAC. These additional fees are yearly and can cover additional sports within the CAC program, if you chose to play them.

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How do you select the tournaments?

Tournaments are generally chosen once team dynamics/skills are finalized/assessed in the fall by the coaches; tournaments will be posted typically for the fall by 9/31 and summer by 1/31.

Within all tournaments and leagues, do all the kids play equal amounts?

All athletes will receive a fair opportunity to compete, but this does not guarantee equal playing time. Our teams will play to win with increasing emphasis as the teams get older. Playing time will be earned with hard work, attitude, coachability, attendance, and on-field success playing a role in determining the amount.  We encourage individual work ethics for off practice work-outs (i.e. wall ball/ strength and conditioning) to improve skills and increase playing time.

 

How many boys per team will the Sidewinders teams carry? 

We will carry approximately 17-22 boys per team. That is the maximum number of kids our volunteer organization can handle and ensure the highest quality and best experience for all.

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How do you communicate with the players and family members? 

Initial Communication is primarily through via email and website prior to being placed. We expect that you will access an email account on a daily basis to receive and reply to updates and announcements and to check this website for general less time-critical info.  Once placed, Sidewinders utilizes Sports Ngin as its means of communication to teams and families, registration link will be sent to the families once registration is completed.

 

What is your refund policy? 

In general, no refunds will be permitted once a boy has made the team, accepted the position and his deposit checks have been cashed. If there is a very special circumstance, it will be evaluated by Board of Directors of Sidewinders Lacrosse Club for Boys.

 

When will uniforms be distributed?

Uniforms will be distributed in January; uniforms will only be distributed to those that have finalized all payments!  All teams will play in provided pinnie for all fall and indoor events!

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Once a child is a member of a Sidewinders team, will they be required to try out again each year? 

Yes. Our youngest boys may be as young as 10 years old when they try out for the first time. It would be irresponsible of us to assume that they will all remain great lacrosse players until they are 17! In order to ensure that a boy’s game and character are successfully growing, he must try out and make the team each year.

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