1. How old does a child have to be to play Vienna Youth Lacrosse?  What are the "levels of play" in the NVYLL?
2. When does the season start and end?
3. What equipment is required for lacrosse?
4. What uniforms are used for lacrosse?
5. What is the time commitment for lacrosse?  How are team practice schedules determined?
6. Does Vienna Youth Lacrosse provide trophies for each player?
7. How and when do I register my child for lacrosse?
8. How do I get a refund if my child decides not to play?  Can my child play for another NVYLL club besides Vienna?
9. Is there a volunteer commitment for Vienna Lacrosse?
10. Does Vienna Youth Lacrosse conduct fundraising in addition to the registration fee?
11. Where are the practice and game fields?

 

1. How old does a child have to be to play Vienna Youth Lacrosse?  What are the "levels of play" in the NVYLL?
Vienna Youth Lacrosse is a Vienna Youth Incorporated ("VYI") member sport.  We are also a member club of the Northern Virginia Youth Lacrosse League (NVYLL), and as such, abide by NVYLL rules and divisional breakdowns. 

There are four divisions for boys in the NVYLL:

• 14U: All players must not yet be 14 years old on the August 31st preceding competition. NVYLL allows an exception for 8th graders to play 14U where they must not be 15 years old on the March 15 preceding competition for that Spring season.
• 12U: All players must not yet be 12 years old on the August 31st preceding competition.
• 10U: All players must not yet be 10 years old on the August 31st preceding competition.
• 8U: All players must not yet be 8 years old on the August 31st preceding competition.

Effective with the 2017 season, the NVYLL will no longer have a Boys' High School division.  Therefore, VYI will no longer field a Boys' High School team.

There are four divisions for girls in the NVYLL, as follows:

• 7th/8th grade division for players in the 7th and 8th grade for the school year.
• 5th/6th grade division for players in the 5th and 6th grade for the school year.
• 3rd/4th grade division for players in the 3rd and 4th grade for the school year.
• K/2nd grade division for players in the Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade for the school year.

Our Little LAX program is designed as a non-competitive introduction to lacrosse for 5-7 year olds (boys and girls). We encourage lots of parental involvement so you can have a fun time learning lacrosse with your future player.

NVYLL has three divisions of play:  the “A” level is comprised of the most experienced/skilled players; the “B” level is comprised of the next level of skill/experience; the “C” level is comprised of the novice/less skilled.  (For boys’ 8U and girls’ K2, all teams are “modified field” teams (MF); for boys’ 10U and girls’ 3/4, the “B” teams are “modified field” teams (MF).)

2. When does the season start and end?
Player assessments begin in mid/late January to early February, weather permitting.  Team assignments are usually completed by the end of February, and regular practices begin after teams are formed.  Specific assessment/tryout information (dates, times and locations) for each season will be posted on the Vienna Youth Lacrosse website.  The first games of the season are usually scheduled around the end of March.  Teams will play an eight game regular season schedule that usually concludes the weekend before Memorial Day weekend.   

New for the 2023 season:  Playoffs for all 10U, 12U, 14U, G3/4, G5/6, G7/8 teams will occur over the weekend before Memorial Day weekend, and will be held over the course of that one weekend.  Playoffs are single elimination.  For 14U-A, regular season games will be held on Sundays.  

3. What equipment is required for lacrosse?
Girls' lacrosse is non-contact. Girls need a woman's lacrosse stick, protective eye gear, mouth guard and cleats (soccer or football). The mouth guard and USA Lacrosse approved goggles are REQUIRED for practices and games. Suggested sticks for beginning players are 36" in length for girls under 5' tall and 48" in length for girls over 5' tall. Only the goalie wears protective gear that is provided by VYI.

Boys' lacrosse is a contact sport. In addition to a stick, cleats, a mouth guard, and a protective cup (all of which must be provided by the player), each player must have a helmet, shoulder pads, arm pads and gloves.

Vienna Youth Lacrosse runs a BOYS' equipment rental program for helmets, shoulder pads, arm pads and gloves.  The parent and player must attend an equipment rental session to ensure proper fitting of equipment.  Equipment will NOT be issued without the presence of the player in question at the rental session.  Rental sessions are held at the VYI Equipment Annex, located behind the Vienna Community Center (120 Cherry Street, SE, Vienna, VA  22180).  Dates and times for rental sessions will be posted on our Home page.

The regular season (from player assessments in January/February through the last game played in June) rental rate is $75. Players who wish to continue renting equipment through the offseason (or any part thereof) may do so for an additional $75.  A $200 deposit check is also required which will be cashed if the equipment is not returned in the time and manner that is communicated by the Vienna Youth Lacrosse Equipment Manager, via the VYI Lacrosse website and/or e-mail. 

4. What uniforms are used for lacrosse?
For girls, Vienna Youth Lacrosse will provide each player with a game jersey and skirt, which may be kept by the player at the end of the season. Likewise, each player on the boys' teams will be given a game jersey and shorts, which are theirs to keep at the end of the season.

5. What is the time commitment for lacrosse?  How are team practice schedules determined?
In the NVYLL, most 10U, 12U, 14U, G3/4, G5/6, G7/8 teams will practice two times a week during the season (late February/early March through early June).  8U and GK2 teams will practice once a week.  Most teams will play eight regular season games.  Generally, boys' games are played on Saturday and girls' games are played on Sunday. However, scheduling conflicts, field availability issues, and rescheduling due to weather may result in games being scheduled on different days.  (New for 2023:  14U-A games will be held on Sundays.)

Our home fields for games are Madison HS, Marshall HS, Oakton HS, and Oak Marr #2.  Vienna Youth Lacrosse understands the challenge of juggling various family members' schedules and commitments. However, our coaches reserve the right to institute penalties, including limiting game day play time, based upon a player's absence during scheduled practices or games.

As noted above, our teams generally practice twice a week during the week (games are held on weekends, with girls’ games usually held on Sundays and boys’ games usually held on Saturdays).  Girls’ K/2 and boys’ 8U teams usually practice once a week.  “A” level teams sometimes add a third weeknight practice, depending on coaches’ preferences and field availability.

 

We understand that in a “perfect world,” each team’s practice schedule would be able to be announced at the start of the season, and stay the same for the entire season.  Unfortunately, due to field availability issues, that is simply not possible.  Our practice fields are assigned to our club by Fairfax County.  Due to circumstances beyond our control, practice fields are usually not available for our use at the same times/dates throughout the season. 

 

Team practice schedules are established based on COACH availability.  Each year, usually after player assessment sessions are completed, head coaches for each team are sent a questionnaire that asks each coach to let us know what days of the week/times he/she absolutely CANNOT practice.  For example, a given coach may work in Washington, D.C., and therefore, cannot start his/her team’s practices before 7:00pm on any given weeknight.  Further, he/she may have a standing commitment on Wednesdays (for example, a Boy Scout meeting), which means he/she cannot practice on Wednesdays.  Our practice scheduler takes the responses to the coaches’ practice scheduling questionnaires and the field permits issued by Fairfax County, and “builds” our weekly practice schedules, with the “goal” of trying to assign at least one weeknight practice session on artificial turf for each team, AND for spreading any “pain” equally amongst all of our teams. 

 

Practice field locations do change year to year (again, our practice fields are assigned by Fairfax County), but the following fields have been assigned to us in past years:  Marshall HS Practice Field, Nottoway Park #4, Oakton HS Practice #1, OakMarr #2, Clarks Crossing (Fields #1 and #2).  We also use Waters Field in Vienna, but only January through mid-March.  (After mid-March, Waters Field is used full-time by Greater Vienna Babe Ruth Baseball.)

 

6. Does Vienna Youth Lacrosse provide trophies for each player?
For the boys' 10U (full field) - 14U teams and the girls' 3rd/4th (full field) through 7th/8th grade teams, Vienna Youth Lacrosse provides each team/coach with three individual trophies/plaques: Most Improved, Coach's Award and Most Valuable Player.  These awards are distributed to the players at the discretion of each team's coach.  These trophies are NOT provided to our modified field teams (boys' 10U-MF, boys' 8U, girls' 3rd/4th grade MF, and girls' 1st/2nd grade teams); rather, the modified field coaches are given the option to provide participation medals to their respective players.

7. How and when do I register my child for lacrosse?
Registration for Vienna Youth Lacrosse is handled on-line. On-line registration is available at http://www.vyilacrosse.org. Simply follow the directions for on-line registrations. More information on registration fees for the current/upcoming season is available on this site. Please refer to the links on the left-hand side of this page.  Registration usually opens early in December. 

The Commissioner can waive the registration fee in the event of financial hardship (an application for financial aid must be completed and submitted online).

8. How do I get a refund if my child decides not to play?  Can my child play for another NVYLL club besides Vienna?
The refund policy is strictly date-driven: https://vyi.demosphere-secure.com/about-our-club/refunds-waiver-of-fees/refund-policy-dates.  The last date to request a full refund is January 22; the last date to request a 50% refund is January 29.

The NVYLL is organized around high school pyramids.  Vienna Youth Lacrosse serves those players who reside within the boundaries of Madison HS, Marshall HS and Oakton HS.  Waiver requests to play for another NVYLL club besides Vienna will not be processed/accepted/approved if submittted to the Commissioner after player assessment sessions/tryouts (boys, girls, "A" team, B level, Modified Field) have commenced for Vienna Youth Lacrosse.  (This applies to all players.)

9. Is there a volunteer commitment for Vienna Youth Lacrosse?

Yes. VYI (and Vienna Youth Lacrosse, as a VYI member sport) is a 100% volunteer organization. The success of our program depends directly on the involvement of each player's family. Therefore, it is expected that everyone will contribute some time, talent, and effort to support the program. In particular, we are always in need of coaches - head coaches and assistant coaches - at all levels, boys and girls.  No previous lacrosse experience is required or needed.  Every year, we are forced to turn away kids who want to play, because we do not have enough coaches to accommodate the number of interested players.  Anyone who is interested in coaching should click on "Volunteer to Coach" on the left side of the home page, and complete the online coaching application form. 

Besides coaching, there other ways you volunteer, such as:

• Pre-season help (help with administration of player assessments)
• Equipment Rentals and Returns (help with equipment rentals prior to the season and/or help with rental equipment returns after the season)
• Field preparation/operations (help with maintaining our inventory of lacrosse goals, including providing help moving goals to/from practice and game fields; provide assistance on an 'as needed' basis)
• Team Manager/Parent (help with team administrative duties; organize team events; assist with club and team communications as needed; provide assistance to team coaches as needed)
• Field Commissioner (per NVYLL rules, each home team is required to provide a Field Commissioner, who is designated to handle any conduct problems that may occur during a given game)

In addition, there may be "special projects" that arise from time to time that require volunteer time and effort.  If you are interested in helping on an "ad hoc" basis, please contact the Vienna Youth Lacrosse Commissioner.

10. Does Vienna Youth Lacrosse conduct fundraising in addition to the registration fee?
Beginning in 2007, Vienna Youth Lacrosse has included all the costs of administering our program in our registration fees. In the future, we may do additional fundraising to help pay for special projects (e.g., in the past, VYI has contributed funding for the 'turfing' of:  Waters Field, the stadium field at Madison HS, and the stadium and practice fields at Marshall HS), but we do not anticipate the need for fundraising or donations from all players. 

11. Where are the practice and game fields?
See the Directions and Fields links to the left for a complete list of practice and game facilities. Fields are supplied by Fairfax County and can change from year to year. The NVYLL is a travel league, so you will need to plan to travel to at least half of your player's games.