Why FCA Lacrosse?

FCA Lacrosse Chicago was started in January 2015 to offer a unique alternative to youth lacrosse. Through the combination of athletics, faith, and character we are focused on developing a complete student-athlete for long-term, sustained growth. We are not a park-district program and do pay for facilities, as well as coaching staff and additional opportunities for players. Our goal is to keep costs at a minimum for families while still offering a high-quality experience for all involved.

Coaching Staff

  • Our coaches are dedicated adults who are required to complete preseason skill and instructional training (Nov-Feb) with the FCA Lacrosse co-founders.
  • Our coaches are paid stipends to maximize commitment to developing players.
  • Many of our staff additionally coach at the high-school and/or club level.
  • Our coaches have adopted our Club’s standardized coaching philosophies and practice-planning strategies.
  • Each team has a minimum of one head coach, one assistant coach, and a helper (a trusted and proven high-school player on the WA team).

Practices, Training, Instruction, and Development

  • We offer 30+ hours of training in spring.
  • We offer quality lacrosse instruction, which is overseen directly by the co-founders of the Club.
  • We offer quality, long-term player development.
  • We focus on the fundamentals of the game, lax-IQ development, and teaching players how to honor the game.
  • We offer teams and training from K through 8th grade and our goal is to develop players with their long-term needs in mind.

Facilities

  • We offer high-quality facilities for practices and games. Practices and games are held in an outdoor turf stadium. The facilities at Wheaton Academy eliminate the need to cancel/reschedule practices and games due to inclement weather.

League and Games

Teams

  • We seek to group players on teams in which they can be challenged and grow, while thriving in the sport.
  • We generally provide a variety of levels (from highly competitive to developmental) of team play for most age groups.
  • We aim to keep rosters small to maximize instruction and opportunities to play. Our goal is to have no more than 20 players per team, but many not always achieve this goal.

Tournaments

  • In general, our developmental teams do not attend tournaments. Our competitive teams attend 1-2 tournaments. And, our highly competitive teams attend 2-3 tournaments.

Uniforms

  • We will use the same uniform design for a few consecutive years, so that families will have the ability to replace the uniforms (in parts or as a whole) as needed each year. Therefore, uniform costs will be in addition to the spring fee and may vary from year to year based on player needs.
  • A new shooter shirt is provided to each player every spring season and is included in the spring fee.
  • Each player will get to keep the same number for his lax career in FCA.

Faith- and Character-development

  • We have an intentional emphasis on the training of players in their faith and character.
  • Time is allotted during practice to discuss devotional topics as they relate to players on and off the field.

Code of Conduct

  • Coaches, parents, and players are required to agree to a faith-based code of conduct for practices and games. Coaches are additionally required to agree to a league-designated code of conduct.
  • Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) training and certification is available for all coaching staff.

National Affiliation

  • We are affiliated with and overseen by the nationwide FCA Lacrosse organization.
  • Players are insured through FCA Lacrosse (as well as the IBLA and USA Lacrosse).
  • All coaches are members of USA Lacrosse.

Team-building Opportunities

  • We provide service-oriented and community-building events during the spring season.
  • We provide an evening of fellowship at our FCA Family Night during which we share a meal, listen to speakers, and watch a WA varsity lacrosse game.