FLAX - Fairbanks Lacrosse. Program Information

At the last FYSA Annual General Meeting (AGM), as a result of many fruitful discussions over the last couple years, the following language was added to our Bylaws: “In addition to the primary and secondary purposes of this Association, additional non-soccer sports and activities may be offered from time to time. These additional program options shall be designed to enhance the primary and secondary purposes of the Association by providing more opportunities for more participants to stay active and engaged with FYSA. These efforts shall not compete with identical offerings available from other local organizations nor will they occur without appropriate approval processes including but not limited to the Board of Directors, facility owners, local governing agencies, and the Association’s parent organization(s)."

In other words, FYSA is excited to serve as a 'vehicle' to help provide new opportunities for activities and sports in the Fairbanks area that may not currently be offered. The caveats being that it would not be appropriate to compete with existing local efforts nor to take away from our main mission of soccer. This is a great way to help any new exciting venture 'get off the ground', to reduce the barriers of entry, and allow movements that have local support to come to fruition in a way that would make it easier to eventually carve out and become their own separate entity, if desired. As a result...

Welcome to FLAX - Fairbanks Lacrosse!

Thanks to the incredible and sponsorship from our friends at Alaska 529, lacrosse in Fairbanks is finally a reality. We are so grateful for their support and look forward to seeing so many youth participate in our programs this year. Alaska 529 is a tax-advantaged way for families to invest money for education-related expenses. For more information about education savings plans with Alaska 529, visit https://www.alaska529plan.com/ The 'Why Alaska 529?' page is excellent!. For as little as $25 you can put time on your side for a future full of potential for your child. Please join us in thanking them for all they do for our organization and our community as a whole!

Who can participate?
All FLAX programs for the 2021 season will be available for players in 1st grade up through High School. Note: a participant's grade for the summer is considered that which they're going into for the fall 2021 school year.

What programs are available?
There are 3 types of activities planned for the 2021 FLAX calendar: Free try-it-out style clinics, weekday mini camps and a short fall season. All will take place at the FYSA soccer field complex at 1901 Wilbur Street. We will outline each of these 3 programs next.

Free 'Try FLAX' clinics
Thanks to our partnership with Alaska 529, we will have two Saturdays (7/10 & 7/17) of FREE try-it-out style clinics for all eligible youth (1st grade through High School). These sessions will be run by local and guest lacrosse-savvy adults and last 45 minutes, with options at 9:30am, 10:30am and 11:30am. Registration, at no cost thanks to Alaska 529, is required in advance (so we can plan accordingly!) and all necessary equipment for participants in the 'Try FLAX' clinics will be provided. Just sign up and come ready to run around and learn some basic lacrosse skills!

*AWESOME UPDATE 6/17* Thanks to the support of Alaska 529, we will also have a FREE 3-hour, 'Try FLAX' clinic in DELTA JUNCTION on Thursday July 8th as well as HEALY on Friday July 9th. Both of these will take place from 11am to 2pm with a break at 12:30pm for a light lunch. More details about exact location will be emailed closer to the event date. Thank you to Alaska 529 for making these longer clinics with our friends 'down the road' possible!!!

Weekday Mini-Camps
After each Saturday of 'Try FLAX' clinics, we will host a week of mini-camps for all eligible youth. These camps will be run by experienced lacrosse loving adults, including guest coaches from out of town and former college lacrosse players that happen to live in Fairbanks! Alaska 529's support of FLAX has made it possible for us to bring up some college level lacrosse coaches and make these camps affordable for families. Participants will be able to choose from a morning or afternoon camp option, with each day being 2.5 hours (10am-12:30pm or 1:30pm-4pm). Each camp option will include THREE days of sessions, with an option of Monday/Wednesday or Tuesday/Thursday, with ALL campers coming on Friday (in their respective morning or afternoon time slot) to join for larger group activities. Cost for each camp is $100, with a $30 discount if you sign up for more than one camp and $10 discount for any siblings that also register. Participants will receive a FLAX jersey. We will have some equipment (sticks) available for participants to borrow, but it would be a good idea for those attending camp to have their own items. See further below on this page for details about player equipment.

*UPDATE 7/8* For the week of June 12, we will only have a Monday/Wednesday/Friday camp, but still with an option for morning (10am-12:30pm) or afternoon (1:30pm-4pm). I.e. there will be no Tues/Thurs/Fri camp this week.

6-Week Fall FLAX Season
Just like the clinics and camps, the fall FLAX season will be open for all youth in 1st Grade through High School (based on fall 2021 school year). Here are some of the main details for the season:

The season will begin the first week of August, with the week of Sept. 6th as the final week (if needed, make-up dates will occur the week of Sept. 13th)
This is a single night commitment, with options between Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for players in 1st through 8th grade
High school players can choose between Wednesday/Thursday
Program will follow an academy-style format, with age-appropriate groups having a weekly hybrid session where the first half of the night is focused on skill development and the second half of the night being an informal game, either scrimmage amongst the group itself or scheduled with similar age/skill level group that will practicing in the neighboring space.
Based on participant numbers, some groups may be co-ed while others are gender-separated.
Group sessions will be no longer than 90 minutes (shorter for some of the youngest age groups).
Session schedules and group rosters will be set closer to the start of the season, but the expectation is that we will not start earlier than 6pm and go no later than 8pm. Most groups will likely occur at the same time, making it convenient for families with multiple youth participating.
This will not be a typical lacrosse style program like you may see in YouTube videos of college games on ESPN. US Lacrosse has a highly modified and flexible option for new lacrosse programs like FLAX to utilize as they get started as a way to help introduce the sport to their community. See further below on this page for more details about this 'Flex 6' format of lacrosse that we will be using for 2021.
Since registration for a season will entail just one night a week, participants are welcome to register for more than one night.
The season cost is $100, with a $30 discount for anyone signing up for more than one night and a $10 sibling discount.
All players will receive a FLAX jersey (unless they already got theirs by attending a one of the weekday camps mentioned earlier)
Players will need to have their own equipment, but the Flex 6 style activities that are planned for the season involve a much simpler approach to player gear. See further below for details about the Flex 6 format as well as player equipment details.
If there is interest, an end of season BBQ, picnic or all-in activity may be organized for Friday Sept. 10th, with the possibility of a parent meeting to discuss the future of FLAX after the conclusion of our first summer of programs.

Program Calendar
To help visualize the 3 different activities referenced above, here's a snapshot of what is planned for FLAX's inaugural year between July-Sept.

US Lacrosse, FLAX and the 'Flex 6' Approach
As a newly formed program, FYSA has chosen to affiliate our lacrosse program with US Lacrosse (USL) for the purpose of liability insurance and support for our program plans. Our conversations with the regional rep that oversees the Pacific Northwest have been great and we are thankful for a start-up grant for some equipment. Participants in the weekday camps and 6-week fall season will be registered as USL members for the period of one year. Don't worry, we'll take care of all that on the back end, but afterwards you'll receive confirmation that your player is officially a US Lacrosse member, which grants access to some neat resources

One very helpful outcome of our discussions with USL has been the introduction of a program they have developed over the years that is meant exactly for organizations like ours who are bringing the sport of lacrosse to a community for the first time. This Flex 6 approach is referred to as 'unified non-contact lacrosse'. Simply put, Flex 6 give a lot of freedom and flexibility to tailor a program to the needs of the participants: simpler rules, smaller fields, smaller teams, a variety of field layout options. A very significant part of this is having the game played in a non-contact style, which keeps the focus on individual skill development and teamwork for players getting used to the technical components of the game. This means bulky padding and other protective equipment is not necessary. See further below for more details on player equipment, both required and optional.

We can't explain all the ways that we will use this freedom of the Flex 6 lacrosse program, but the easiest way to thing about our plans for this first year of the sport in Fairbanks is that we will adapt things in whatever way is appropriate for the age and skill levels of the groups for this season, focusing on developing basic skills and tactics in a safe, fun form of gameplay. Our hope is that if FLAX is received well by the Fairbanks youth sports community, that it will continue into 2022 where we would like to continue to offer a recreational Flex 6 program while also expanding to have more traditional boys and girls lacrosse options available, with potential opportunities for traveling to play outside of Fairbanks. We're excited to see how things evolve!

Coaching with FLAX !!!
When we first starting putting out word that lacrosse was a possibility for Fairbanks, we were AMAZED at how many people reached out to express a desire to be involved. Former high school and college players, folks who have coached before and even been a lacrosse referee. Some individuals shared that they've been involved in the formation of new programs in other parts of the country in the past and couldn't believe this was happening here.

Maybe you have experience as a lacrosse player but you've never coached before. Maybe you've got coaching experience but never with this particular sport. Maybe you've got no lacrosse or coaching background but by-golly you are as eager as we are to see FLAX succeed. Whatever the situation, we would love to grow our pool of dedicated adult volunteers to help ensure we can have lots of positive experiences for the youth of our program this summer. Please consider registering as a volunteer Head Coach, Assistant Coach or Team Manager. No experience is required and our goal is to have a nice pool of experienced lacrosse-savvy folks serving as lead coaches and sharing their knowledge with all the other volunteers so we can collectively increase the existing lacrosse-IQ here in our community. Thank you for considering being a FLAX volunteer in this special, first year of existence.

Sponsors!
We are incredibly fortunate to have Alaska 529 as the title sponsor of FLAX this year. Without their contribution, we wouldn't be able to see this program come to fruition in the way it has. We would love to have the support of other local individuals and businesses. While we don't have an official sponsorship packages form set up for this year, there are a variety of ways that interested entities can help us cover the costs of this first year of programs. We'd love to hear from you! As mentioned earlier, FLAX is organized under the umbrella of FYSA, which is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

Questions? Registration assistance? Sponsorship interest? Looking for more details about coaching? We'd love to hear from you. Feel free to contact us at [email protected] or 907-456-3972 (office) or 907-987-6334 (after-hours, text ok!).You can also follow us on Facebook and message us there. Just look up FLAX - Fairbanks Lacrosse
https://www.facebook.com/fairbankslacrosse

Thank you for being part of our new, exciting lacrosse community!

Player Equipment

You've registered for a FLAX program but... what should you wear? What should you bring?! Any youth sports participation comes with these kind of questions and we'll do our best to keep this simple! Be sure to follow Play It Again Sports in Fairbanks for updates about local lacrosse gear purchasing options!

Shirt - Every participant in the weekday camps and 6-week fall season will receive a FLAX jersey. For those just participating in the free 'Try FLAX' clinics, just wear something comfortable to run around and play in.

Shorts/Pants - Either option is fine. Athletic shorts are great. Pants are also acceptable. But all clothing needs to be free of any metal or hard plastic components. So come in soccer shorts, wear some sweatpants, its all good!

Shoes - Regular tennis shoes are fine. However grass can be slippery, especially when running around. Soccer cleats or 'turf cleats' are great for traction. Due to the type of movement in lacrosse, options like football or baseball cleats are NOT ideal and should be avoided. Additionally, cleats with metal studs are not permitted.

Stick - Every player needs to have their own lacrosse stick (these will be available to borrow for our 'Try FLAX' free clinics and in limited quantity for weekday camps). We are very thankful for the support and sponsorship of our local Play It Again Sports. We've reached out to them this spring to discuss lacrosse coming to Fairbanks and they will be ordering a good supply of sticks to choose from, in varying sizes and price-points. We'd love to see our local sports store as the first stop for those looking to get their lacrosse year for this year's programs. Parents, you can totally get yourself a stick as well and enjoy some backyard practice with your child, or play a new version of catch in the park. Make lacrosse a family affair! There are a lot of different options out there for lacrosse sticks. Because we are utilizing the modified 'Flex 6' format of the sport as described earlier on this page, there are a few standards that will be set for player sticks. For Flex 6 lacrosse, goalie sticks of defender (the extra long sticks) are NOT to be used. Stick with a simple 'complete' stick, as they are referred to, which are often available in a 'junior' and 'senior' size for younger and older players. Boys and girls lacrosse sticks are also different. Either option is fine as long as its a standard player stick and not the goalie/defender styles.

Ball - Because we will be using the 'Flex 6' format this first year, we will use the softer 'pinkie' balls that are best for the non-contact version of the sport (especially with players not wearing standard pads). So we will not use a standard, harder lacrosse ball. For home practice, even a regular tennis ball is also fine! However, Play It Again Sports also plans to keep plenty of these softer balls in stock for our participants. We'll have balls on site at all of our FLAX activities, but each player should have their own ball or two for personal practice at home.

Mouth Guard - Even though the Flex 6 format of lacrosse will be utilized, which is meant to be a non-contact version of the sport (no body to body, stick to stick or stick to body contact) there is still a potential risk of incidental contact. All players should wear a protective mouth guard during FLAX activities.

Head Gear (OPTIONAL) - Even though the Flex 6 format of lacrosse will be utilized, which is meant to be a non-contact version of the sport (no body to body, stick to stick or stick to body contact) there is still a potential risk of incidental contact. Players are permitted, although it is not required, to wear a soft shell protective head gear, similar to rugby or flag football type items. Play It Again Sports plans to carry at least one option of this type of product for those wishing to add this to their lacrosse uniform.

Eye Guard (OPTIONAL) - Even though the Flex 6 format of lacrosse will be utilized, which is meant to be a non-contact version of the sport (no body to body, stick to stick or stick to body contact) there is still a potential risk of incidental contact. Players are permitted, although it is not required, to wear a protective eye guard similar to the ones in the image above.

Face Masks (COVID-19 related) - Players will not be required to wear a mask or face covering for any FLAX activities, however those wishing to so are welcome to do so.

If you have any further questions about player equipment, feel free to contact us at [email protected] or 907-456-3972 (office) or 907-987-6334 (after-hours, text ok!). You can also follow us on Facebook and message us there. Just look up FLAX - Fairbanks Lacrosse
https://www.facebook.com/fairbankslacrosse