FAQ′s

NRILAX and CYLAX are youth lacrosse organizations dedicated to the great sport of lacrosse. Our members are include youths from the towns of Cumberland, Lincoln, Woonsocket, Smithfield, Johnston, Scituate, Foster, Glocester, Burriville, North Smithfield, North Providence and Central Falls. NRILAX and CYLAX are associated with the US Lacrosse organization, which is the national governing body for the sport of lacrosse.

The Cumberland Youth Lacrosse Association (CYLAX) has been established as an independent chapter in addition to Northern Rhode Island Lacrosse. All players from the town of Cumberland will be members of CYLAX and play on a CYLAX team unless the CYLAX teams fill up, in which case they have the option of playing on an NRI team for the season. Additional players from other NRI Lacrosse communities will be added to those teams to fill the rosters. Both organizations function independently of each other, but will share resources as needed.

Establishing the CYLAX as its own chapter is the first step in acheiving one of NRI's objectives, which is to eventually establish self-run individual lacrosse youth associations in each of the northern Rhode Island cities and towns, much like the evolution of other youth sports organizations on local communities.

Who is eligible to play?

Boys & girls ages 6 through 15 (born in 1995 through 2004) are eligible to play.

Can my child play other sports concurrently with youth lacrosse?

We strongly recommend that if your child decides to join lacrosse, that he or she makes participation in lacrosse their #1 sport priority for the spring season. We have found that those children who treat lacrosse as a second priority do not develop their skills at the same rate as their teammates and this can be very discouraging for them and lead them to give up on the sport. Another reason for #1 priority dedication to lacrosse is that the team depends upon each and every player. Those children who do not attend practices commit a disservice to the rest of the team come game day. Players who do not attend practices, especially at the older age levels, do not learn team plays and strategies and therefore do not help the team on game day. We ask players interested in lacrosse to establish lacrosse as their top sports priority during the spring season. If they cannot make that commitment, then we ask that they not register in fairness to themselves and their teammates. It is only fair that the team be able to count on its full roster for participation and dedication. Please click on the "Commitment" tab on the left side of this page.

What are the team structures?

The NRILAX and CYLAX programs include boys and girls assigned to teams within their appropriate age group and school grade. The teams play against other teams within the same age group. The opposing teams are from within NRILAX and CYLAX as well as from the other nine Rhode Island youth lacrosse geographic regions. Teams practice two nights each week and play games on Saturday mornings within NRILAX and CYLAX as well as from other areas of Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts.

Can my son / daughter be on a team with his friend?

Generally teams are formed by where your child lives. Since Cumberland has the most players of all the towns in the northern RI area, the CYLAX teams are almost all Cumberland kids, but if those teams fill up, your child would need to go to a team at NRI if they wish to play. For NRI, we do are best to keep Smithfield kids with Smithfield kids, Scituate kids with Scituate kids, etc. But this is not always possible. Please understand that lacrosse is a regional sport, not like baseball or soccer where there are enough kids in each town to support teams at each age group. We draw players from several towns to create teams. Therefore we can not make any guarantees about friends being on the same team.

Where do practices and games take place?

CYLAX teams practice and play home games at the Diamond Hill fields in Cumberland and the NRILAX teams play in Smithfield and Johnston and perhaps additional locations to be confirmed such as Lincoln, and Scituate.

Unfortunately at this time we do not know which evenings each team will practice. The assigned practice nights will depend upon the total number of teams that we have at each field location. That is something that we cannot establish until early March. We know that it would be easier for parents if they knew prior to registration which evenings their kids’ teams will practice. It is impossible to assign practice nights this early especially with the substantial annual increase in the number of participants. It is similar in other sports such as youth soccer or hockey where you discover after registration which evenings the practices are held. Your options are to either wait until the end of Feb to contact us to see if we have determined the days of week each team will practice and hopefully still have available roster spots in your child's division or you can register now but possibly lose $25 if you withdraw your child prior to March 1st. (see refund policy on website).

What is the cost to participate?

The NRILAX registration fee structure is as follows:
$125 for players in the three older age divisions (grades 7&8, grades 5&6, Grades 3&4)
$95 for players in the Grade 1&2 division.
$65 for players in the Instructional division (grades K&1)

[There are discounts for families with more than one child participating, as well as a maximum fee of $340 for families with 4 or more children participating. The discounts will be automatically applied during the online registration process.

Division eligibility is as follows:

Where does the registration fee go?

Volunteers run NRILAX and CYLAX and therefore all proceeds from registration fees go towards running the program. This includes each child’s’ US Lacrosse membership fee, uniforms, state RIYLL dues, referee fees, goals, hundreds of balls per season, field paint, misc equipment (goalie, scoreboards, cones, first aid supplies etc), end off season supplies for the NRILAX and CYLAX end of season outing, etc.

An approximate per player breakdown is as follows:

$25     US Lacrosse membership
$17     Uniform fee & practice pinnies (4 yr life expectancy per)
$17     Referee fees
$13     Field permits, maintenance and supplies (paint, etc)
$10     Insurance, website fees, credit card (registration) fees, copies, postage, office supplies, etc.
$10     Misc equipment & maintenance (goals, storage containers, lacrosse goals)
$ 8     NRI / CYLAX shorts (new in 2010, players will be issued shorts to keep)
$  7     Team equipment - Goalie equipment, lacrosse balls and first aid kits
$  7     Coaches training
$  3     RIYLL state league fee
$  3     End of Season party and misc supplies
$120       TOTAL

$  5 profit per child saved for future and unexpected expenses.

Notes:

What about equipment?

All registrants are required to provide their own equipment. Click on the "Equipment & Uniforms" tab on the left for a full listing of equipment required by gender age division.

Click on the "Exchange" tab on the left to locate used equipment that you can buy or trade with other players who have outgrown their equipment.

Click on the "Equipment Retailers" tab on the left to find onlone retailers where you can purchase new equipment packages at low prices.

When does the season begin and end?

Lacrosse is a springtime sport. The NRILAX teams begin practice the week of April 1st, depending upon the weather and field conditions. Games begin on Saturday, April 10th and run into the first week of June.

What if my child is too old to join youth lacrosse?

Does NRILAX and CYLAX have any coaching and parent assistance needs?

Definitely. We are always in need of coaches, assistant coaches, team parents, and members of the Board of Directors to help run the organization. Anyone can participate in any of these positions. You don’t need to have played lacrosse in your younger years to get involved. We welcome parents with no lacrosse experience who wish to assist the coach with a team and learn about lacrosse along the way. Hopefully they will eventually coach teams of their own or at least be assistant coaches for many seasons. For those of you who have been fortunate enough to play lacrosse in years past, please share your enthusiasm and knowledge with the kids and step forward to coach or assistant coach.

What are Northern Rhode Island Lacrosse Association (NRILAX) and the Cumberland Youth Lacrosse Association (CYLAX)?