Prior Lake Athletics for Youth

Be on the look out for the Registration Announcement for our 2nd Annual PLAY 7 on 7 Football Passing League.  Games/Practices are tentatively being planned for 6-8:00 PM on the following dates: May 13th, 20th, June 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th for those going into 6th, 7th and 8th Grades for the 2012-2013 School year assuming registration numbers continue to show interest in the program. 

 Kurt Fezler is once again leading this effort for us, so look to see more from him in the coming weeks/months...

 The 1st Annual Laker Bowl was a great season-ending event for our 4th and 5th Grade players. The weather cooperated, competition was good, and it allowed our 4th and 5th grade football community to come together to celebrate our youth football program and players.  Thanks to all those that participated!!!

Hello, my name is Trevor Knutson, VP of Football for Prior Lake Athletics for Youth (P.L.A.Y.) organization.  I want to take this opportunity to thank you for expressing interest in our program and would like to provide some information about the P.L.A.Y. football program that your son/daughter may already participate in or may be considering. 
 

Here is some information on our program - be sure to see the important dates listed below!

P.L.A.Y. Organization:

Important Dates for 2012:

The following are key dates to be aware of:

• ***PLEASE NOTE: 2012 Football Registration will open in May of 2012 year and close on July 1st this year.  Moving to this schedule will allow us more time to prepare in-house and traveling schedules, establish teams and coordinate the season ahead more efficiently.***   
• In-house & Traveling Onsite Football Registration will be held at the Ponds Football Shed, for all 1st - 8th Grade Football Players on TBD.
• The 2012 7-on-7 Football Season will start up again in May 2012 for incoming 6th, 7th & 8th Graders for the Fall 2012 assuming registration numbers  show continued interest 
• We will have a mandatory parents meeting for all PLAY football participants on TBD, 6:00-7:00 for 1st-5th and 7:00-8:00 PM for 6th-8th grades at the Prior Lake High School Auditorium  
• ***PLEASE NOTE***: 7th and 8th Grade Equipment Pickup will be held at the Prior Lake High School Football Shed on TBD.
• We are having one equipment pick up on TBD for all 3rd-6th Grade Players at the Ponds Football Shed 9:00 am-12:00 pm.  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!  Grades 3-8 only.
  ** If you missed this equipment date - you should come early to the Ponds on the dates below - try to be there about 15 minutes before practice time at the Equipment shed.  DO NOT CONTACT A FOOTBALL BOARD MEMBER.
• 6th through 8th Grade Football practices will start on Tentatively on August 6th, 2012. 
• 3rd through 5th Grade Football group practices will start Tentatively on August 13th, 2012 – please see PLAY Calendar for details
• 1st and 2nd Grade Flag Football season will start on TBD - please see PLAY Calendar for details as they become available.
• Equipment Turn in dates will be announced for late October - if you can not get equipment in (this is your responsibility) your check will be deposited and even if you return your equipment LATE, your refund will be minus $25 for being Late.  See calendar above!!

Volunteering:

Each year the number of participants grows, which requires an even 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.  Coaches are taken from the parent pool of those that wish to coach. A Background check and general Coaching Pledge is required.

Cost: Registration is done on-line at www.playinfo.org – click on ‘register’ in far upper left hand corner of front page. Remember your username / password and submit via CC. You will receive a Statement stating “submitted”, if it went through. See In-Person registration dates & times below.

Football Organization:

Our football program starts with 1st and 2nd grade Flag football.  We introduced the 2nd grade Flag football program in 2008 and had a very successful start with this program. So, we decided to open up the Flag program to include 1st Grade players as well back in 2009.  Our 3rd through 8th grade players will play full-pads, tackle football. 

The 1st-5th grade teams will play as part of the In-House program, where they will play other Prior Lake teams.  

New for 2011, our P.L.A.Y. 6th Grade Football program joined our 7th and 8th grade teams by playing in the SouthWest Metro League (SWML) Traveling Program giving all players the opportunity to compete against other youth organizations at an equally competitive skill level.  We're planning for a 6-7 game schedule with at least 3 home games for each team to evenly split the home and away game schedule for each team.  

We are extremely fortunate to have PLHS Varsity Football Head Coach Matt Gegenheimer participate in the football board leadership.  His vision to create one Prior Lake football program that begins at the 1st  grade Flag football level, and works progressively all the way through the Varsity level of football.  We are working with Coach Gegenheimer to create the building blocks of a very successful football Prior Lake football program, 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 1st grade through 5th grade, the skills of playing the sport of football. For grades 1st through 5th, all teams will play other P.L.A.Y. football teams (5th will have an opportunity to play another youth program's teams either home or away depending on scheduling availability).  Each In-house game will be played at the Ponds, Five Hawks Elementary School, Ryan or Twin Oaks Middle School fields.
Typical weekly schedule:
1st grade Flag will practice on Monday's and 2nd grade Flag will practice on Tuesday's, and both practice/scrimmage on Saturday mornings.
3rd – 5th grade is Group practice on Monday’s, Team practice on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s, and games on Saturday morning and early afternoon. (Only exception will be if a given team in 5th is scheduled for an away game at a host associations site) 
Please see the PLAY calendar for details as they become available.  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 players equal 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 full traveling football program opportunity is only available to 6th, 7th, and 8th grade players.  As these players prepare for varsity level play, we are planning to give them the opportunity to play against surrounding South Metro city youth programs.  We will be participating in the SouthWest Metro League (SWML), where our games will be against evenly divided teams from associations such as Shakopee, Chaska, Chanhassen, Edina and Eden Prairie.  Players will be placed on a traveling team's roster (approximately 20 players per team) through a Tryout/Evaluation Process that consists of players working through drills at stations while coaches evaluate their skills on a 1 – 4 scale.  All coaches are able and encouraged to provide additional feedback through comments on each of the players.  All evaluations are compiled and used to determine how the teams will be selected.  Board members and selected head coaches work together to determine the final team rosters.  Each team position is filled on its roster and evenly balanced between the teams.  For the 2011 season, playing in the SWML will be new for incoming 6th and 7th Grade PLAY Traveling teams and it will be the second year for 8th Grade PLAY Traveling Football.  Each team from each association will be evenly balanced with the intent to have competitvely matched teams. The playing time will be distributed based on performance of the players and their commitment to working hard in practice.  Typical weekly schedule for 6th, 7th & 8th grade teams will be Monday through Thursday and Saturday morning for the first two weeks to allow for the completion of player evaluations.  Then, team practices/games will be held Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturdays with Tuesdays and Saturdays targeted for game days.  The game schedule will be defined and provided to players by the coaches The 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

* * *
Please direct specific questions to grade level and sports directors whose contact information 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!

Games are usually played on Saturday mornings.
The following are typical practice times and locations for all PLAY Football teams

1st Grade - Mondays or Tuesdays 6:00pm-7:00pm at Westwood Elem.

2nd Grade - Tuesdays or Thursdays 6:00pm-7:00pm at Five Hawks Elem.

3rd Grade - Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, 6:00pm-7:30pm at Ryan 2-3

4th Grade - Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, 6:00pm-7:30pm at Ryan 1-4

5th Grade - Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, 6:00pm-7:30pm at Ponds 1 & 8

6th Grade - Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, 6:00pm-7:30pm at Ponds 4, 6

7th Grade - Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, 6:15pm-8:00pm at Ponds 1, 2

8th Grade - Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, 6:15pm-8:00pm at Ponds 1, 2

** Subject to change. Any changes will be provided by coaches
 

Due to budget reductions at the city and school levels - P.L.A.Y. has instituted a required fundraiser for some sports, this fundraiser is currently through the 'Dine and Discount' program. At the time of Football registration you will need to purchase one card per family ($25), for the Football season (Fall 2011), this is seperate from the Spring Card. You can donate more if you choose. These cards will be distributed at the weigh-in/equipment pickups..
These funds will allow our fields to be set up, receive extra fertilizing, striped with Paint, paint machine use and maintenance, vehicle and vehicle maintenance and personel.  Hopefully you will find benefit in this type of fundraiser over simply raising fees by a similar amount.  Thank You.