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Dear Parents/Players:
Hello, my name is Dan Feine. I am the VP of Football for Prior Lake Athletics for Youth (P.L.A.Y.).
I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself and provide information about the P.L.A.Y. football program that your son may already participate in or may be considering.
P.L.A.Y. Organization:
P.L.A.Y. is a non-profit organization serving the communities in School District #719. The sole purpose of P.L.A.Y. is to provide a fun and educational environment for youth athletics. Prior Lake Athletics for Youth exists to promote the best possible athletic experience for the children of school district #719. This experience includes being fiscally responsible, creating a strategic vision for the future growth of our programs (to include facilities), managing risk and ensuring the safest possible environment for our children. It is the intention of this organization to provide a venue where competitiveness is balanced with fun, with an emphasis on FUN! It is our goal to create a youth athletics organization that the citizens of our community can be proud of.
Volunteering:
Each year the number of participants grows, which requires even a greater need for voluntary directors, board members, coaches, and assistant coaches. You do not need extensive experience to be a coach, just understand the basics of the game and know how to have fun with the kids. That's what it is all about, learning and having fun. (Any parent can qualify for a coach.) Please indicate your willingness to volunteer at registration time. We have one key volunteer position available, concession coordinator, for those parents who are interested in helping with the 2008 football season. This volunteer position has registration scholarships available to the parents taking on this position. Coaches, please submit your application via the P.L.A.Y. Online registration system by July 25, 2008. You can register Coach on the Registration Software as well. To complete a Background check – simply go to ‘Forms’ on the website and go to Background checks – this can now be done on-line as well. To become involved in the Football Program ask a Board member what you want, can or need to do to help!!
Important Dates:
Important dates for the program can be found by clicking on the Season Calendar link, from the P.L.A.Y. Football Home page. The following are key dates to be aware of:
- On-site registration will be held at the Ponds Football Shed, 7:00-9:00pm, on July 17, 22, and 24, 2008
- We will have a mandatory parents meeting for the In House and Travel teams on July 28, 2008.
- This year, we are having one equipment pick up on August 2, 2008. Please see the calendar for the hours for pickup based on the participants age. Also, during equipment pickup, we have arranged for a vendor to be on-site to sell football shoes, Shock Dr mouth guards and chinstraps. Our hope is that this will help provide the player with all the equipment they need in one trip. A Deposit of $150 (checks only) needed before you will receive a helmet or shoulder pads. Must be Registered as well! No early equipment pickups!
- 7th and 8th Grade Football practices will start on August 4, 2008
- 3rd through 6th Grade Football group practices will start on August 9, 2008
- 2nd Grade Flag Football practice/games will start on September 6, 2008
- Coaches, please note that the calendar has designated Coaches clinic dates, on July 30 (7th and 8th grade only) and August 11, 2008.
Football Organization:
Our football program starts with 2nd grade Flag football, which is new this year, and we are looking forward to a successful start of this program. Our 3rd through 8th grade players will play full-pads, tackle football. The 2nd-6th grade teams will play as an In House program, where they will play other Prior Lake teams. Our 7th and 8th grader teams will be split into “traveling” and “in-house” teams. We are extremely pleased to have PLHS Varsity Football Head Coach Matt Gegenheimer participate in the football board leadership. His vision to create one Prior Lake football program begins at the 2nd grade Flag football level, and works progressively all the way through Varsity level of football. We are working with him to create the building blocks of successful football players and young men, everything from the huddle, the cadence and the offense and defensive schemes are developed to support the overall program.
In-House Football:
The main goal of this program is to provide a means of teaching players of 2nd grade through 8th grade, the skills of playing the sport of football. For grades 2nd through 6th, all teams will play other P.L.A.Y. football teams. Each of these games are played at the Ponds, Ryan or Twin Oaks Middle School fields. During these games and practices we want to create a fair and organized approach to securing players, coaches and volunteers, which will demonstrate the following principles:
- Make the sport fun for the kids, coaches and parents
- Provide a safe sport through the equipment and fields we use
- Give all players similar playing time
- Teach the fundamentals of the game and create curriculum for the progression of skill development
- Demonstrate admirable sportsmanship both on and off the field
- Work as a team
Traveling Football:
The traveling football program is only available to 7th and 8th grade players. As these players prepare for varsity level play, we are giving them the opportunity to play against surrounding South Metro city youth programs. We participate in the Minnesota Developmental Football League (MDFL), where our games will be against teams from Eastview, Apple Valley, Minneapolis, North St. Paul, and others. Players will earn a spot on a traveling team's roster (approximately 22 players per team) through a Tryout/Evaluation Process, and playing time will be distributed based on performance rather than equal playing time. It’s expected that if you get a spot on the team that you make the commitment to be at all practices, games, and playoff games. The following principles will be applied to the Traveling football program:
- Develop competitive football players, while have fun playing the game
- Teaching the players to be competitive is about their effort and attitude
- Provide a safe sport through the equipment and fields we use
- Demonstrate admirable sportsmanship both on and off the field
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Please direct specific questions to grade level and sports directors whose contact information can be found on the individual sports board links which can be found by clicking ‘In-House or Traveling’ on the left side of this screen and then click on ‘Board’ also which will appear on the left side of the screen.
Enjoy the season and GO LAKERS!
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