Key MAYLA Dates
Looking Ahead …
October 27, 2022: MAYLA Fall Q&A Meeting #2
November 1, 2022: Little Scoopers Roundtable
November 5-13, 2022: National Celebrate Lacrosse Week
December 3-4, 2022: Midwest USA Lacrosse Regional Conference (Chicago)
January 20-22, 2023: USA LaxCon
February 1, 2023: Team Data Submission Deadline (Absolutely Final)
February 3, 2023: Member Declaration Forms Deadline
February 4, 2023: MAYLA Annual Meeting
February 15, 2023: Boundary & Age Waivers Deadline
March TBD, 2023: Weeknight Coaches Meeting
March 11, 2023: Coaches Meeting
March 15, 2023: Season Schedule Released; 2023 League Fees Due
April 16, 2023: On-Field Officials’ Training / Scrimmage Day
April 22-23, 2023: Opening Weekend
May 14, 2023: Mother’s Day
May 27-28, 2023: Memorial Day Weekend
June 3-4, 2023: Closing Weekend & Laxtravaganza!
More dates to come!
Changes Impacting the 2023 MAYLA Season
For the 2023 MAYLA Season, MAYLA will be adding a “Little Scoopers” Division (1st Grade / 2nd Grade — or U8) for girls and boys. MAYLA will schedule a roundtable for programs planning to form teams at this level.
MAYLA will also further align its league competition structure with USA Lacrosse Boys and Girls Rules. And, MAYLA is formulating ways to encourage officials’ recruitment and encourage competition with class and honor for the game. More to come on these and other fronts.
For more information, please email the Board.
Reminder: Member Program Guidelines & Compliance
In order to encourage good member program behavior and to protect those teams that have followed MAYLA’s mission and spirit of the league, MAYLA has developed operational and organizational guidelines with categories of member program status to ensure that all teams support and nurture MAYLA’s efforts. A copy of these guidelines can be found here.
Note that MAYLA recently responded to requests for clarification regarding its position on so-called "in-season tournaments", which are tournaments scheduled for dates on which MAYLA games are to be scheduled. MAYLA's letter of interpretation can be found here.
Recruiting Officials
There has been a substantial decline in the number of active and available officials, throughout the country and most sports but affecting lacrosse at the youth level in the State of Wisconsin. Games simply cannot be played without the requisite number of officials; the impact is critical.
We ask programs to help recruit at least one lacrosse official for each of the girls’ and boys’ games. Officials need to be at least 16 years old.
Grants are available for officials — information is on the MAYLA website. And, training dates are upcoming; see the section “For Officials”, below.
Organization Standards & Best Practices
USA Lacrosse, in collaboration with leading experts in the sports industry and the country’s most impactful member leagues, has developed standards that should be incorporated by youth lacrosse programs nationally. They are criterion for every league to measure progress and create a plan for continued success. These standards can be found here.
The goal for each program, chapter or league should be to become an organization where diversity and inclusion are a fundamental part of the values and culture of the program. Bringing together varied life experiences and perspectives adds significant value to your community and reinforces the concept of inclusivity.
Best practices and resources for working toward this goal can be found here.
Reminder: Registering Players
Please remember to review MAYLA’s policies as you are registering players. (See the Program Manual Guidelines). No member club should register any player from outside of their school district boundaries. If parents or guardians want to register their player(s) with your club but they do not live within your respective school district boundaries then you should refer them to League Commissioner Robin Buckley, who will provide direction as to which member club they should be joining. Open-enrollment players must register in the club associated with the school district where they go to school. If a parent lives in a school district that does not have a MAYLA member club, that parent should contact League Commissioner Robin Buckley. If a parent lives in a school district that does not have a MAYLA club but that school district has a club from a different association, then they should be registering with the club associated with their school district. MAYLA member clubs must not recruit players from outside of their school district boundaries. If a family attends a parochial / private school, that family should register with the MAYLA member club that corresponds to the school district boundaries within in which their primary residence is located.
Contact Information
Many programs have had elections or otherwise changed leadership. If your program has experienced a change in its leadership, please contact Mary DiGiacomo or Emily Anderson with those names and email contacts so that we can be sure that everyone receives the information they should be.
