LTAD & Lacrosse for Life (L4L)

NS Coach Newsletter Vol 2(10) November, 2013

Volume: 2 Edition (10)

Posted: Monday, November 25^th, 2013

“If we can make things better, how cool is that!”

News: “Professional Development Update!”

At CLA’s AGM, it was passed that all “Certified” Competitive Introduction coaches will get credit for professional development events led by NCCP or passed by LNSS and CLA. Twenty points will need to be acquired in five years in order for coaches to remain active Competitive coaches.

News: “Want to Learn from The Best?”

Sport Nova Scotia’s Director of Coaches will be running a special coaching session Saturday, December 14^th, at the Canada Games Centre for FREE. The session, running form 1-4pm, will provide insight from leaders in Sport Psychology, Strength and Conditioning and Nutrition. Please email lacrossetechdirector@sportnovascotia.ca if you wish to attend.

News: “Doping”

The national body (CCES) responsible for monitoring and testing athletes for banded substances tested lacrosse players at National events over the past two years. Coaches, players and parents, particularly at the Major lacrosse level, need to be familiar with the testing process. In the New Year, LNSS will provide the details on how to take the free module, which for Certified Competitive Coaches, should add to their professional development points.

News: “Team Nova Scotia”

For the very first time Lacrosse Nova Scotia has begun interviewing all its Head Coach candidates: A part of Team Nova Scotia’s strategy to become competitive with Tier 1 teams within the next five years. At this time LNSS is on schedule to release the names of the successful Head Coach candidates for November 30^th.

News: “Provincial ID Camps”

Dates have been set for the 2014 Provincial ID Camps at Exhibition Park for Saturday, January 4^th and February 15^th. The camps are a chance for returning provincial players to get their sticks back in hand and help mentor new and potential provincial players in their age group. Also, all coaches are encouraged participate to brush up on their skills and/or learn something new from the Provincial Head Coaches, who will be leading the sessions. We are very fortunate to have a box lacrosse surface available in the dead of winter and details regarding playing times will be posted on LNSS’s website in December.

Technical Director’s “My 2 Cents”

Continuing on last month’s LTAD theme, I decided to compare the basic LTAD program versus CLA’s Lacrosse for Life (L4L). After creating separate diagrams (See Website) for boys and girls it was very clear that the coaching regime we use for girls should not follow the boys. But before we get into that, let’s compare the wheel diagrams.

The inner ring for both boys’ and girls’ figures represent the standard LTAD divisions per age. The number represents the age of the player and beside that is the LTAD stage. You’ll see in the boy’s wheel that at age six, Active Start and FUNdamentals overlap. This happens three more times for the boys at ages ten, twelve and sixteen. Interesting to note that there are no overlaps for the girls.

When I began to add the outer ring to the figures, CLA’s Lacrosse for Life LTAD stages, I found that I couldn’t quite label the new cells quite the same for boys and girls. For the boys, the outer ring shows the player’s age, then the L4L stage and finally the age division related to box lacrosse. Following CLA’s L4L guide, FUNdamentals and Train-2-Train are divided into two phases, 1 and 2, respectively. When adding the outer ring to the girls’ figure, I left out the L4L terms because the girls advance at a faster rate than the boys. Therefore, it appears that a coach would do better to relate to the general LTAD guidelines for the girls and then reference L4L for any specifics.

Why I like developing visual aids is their ability to show glaring differences that can be tough to see from written descriptions and booklets. This clearly happened when I placed gold and green dots to highlight the FUNdamental and Train-2-Train stages. Looking at the diagrams it’s quite clear that boys run through a much longer FUNdamentals stage versus girls, 5 to 2. The same happens for the Train-2-Train stage, but there is not as dramatic a spread, 5 to 4. The red dots indicate the introduction of the Competitive and Win phases of the LTAD (Learn & Train 2 Compete and Learn & Train 2 Win, respectively).

So, what can we take away from these diagrams? We can’t develop female and male lacrosse players using the same training regimes. Where ever possible, the physical and mental differences between boys and girls at the same age, in the same age division, need to be addressed. It’s clear too that we need to start training basic skills to girls at a slight earlier age if they are to meet high performance levels as they get older. What a greater incentive then to grow the women’s box and field lacrosse programs with coaches that clearly understand the needs of their players.

News: “World Lacrosse Conference Coming to Halifax”

Hosted by the Centre for the Study of Sport and Health, plans are under way for the Transnational Lacrosse Conference to be held at Saint Mary’s University, October 2^nd-4^th, 2014. The event’s theme, “Thinking outside the box”, will feature papers and posters from academics from across the world regarding lacrosse: A historical and contemporary perspective. Along with the academic presentations, activities will potentially include lacrosse games, Try Lacrosse sessions, skills competitions, Nova Scotia lacrosse artifacts and more. The conference will have something for everyone celebrating Canada’s National Summer Sport. More details will available shortly when the call for papers goes out.

News: “Next Month”

Keep track of up-coming events on LNSS’s website newslider and calendar.

• Free Learning Facilitator Modules, November 29^th-30^th
• Prov Head Coach Meeting, Dec. 3^rd , Sport NS, 7-9pm
• Senior Winter Lacrosse, Starts Dec. 11^th, Facebook, “Maritime Senior Men's Lacrosse”
• Masters Winter Lacrosse, Starts Dec. 11^th, Facebook, “Maritime Masters Lacrosse”

“Players should expect the best - We can deliver”

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