This will be the last week of summer practices: Tue Aug 4 and Thu Aug 6 from 7-8 PM at Jefferson Middle School.

We will be issuing refunds for any registration and uniform payments since we were unable to compete this summer due to COVID.

Please closely review and follow the COVID safety pre-cautions detailed here: LINK

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Update July 7, 2020

Due to the forecasted high temperatures (upper 90's) and thunderstorms for Thursday, we decided to cancel practice and instead start up social-distanced practices at Jefferson Middle School (800 W. Chapel Ln.) in Midland on Tuesday July 14 from 7-8:30 PM. Please arrive early to allow time for check-in and health screening. Look for a check-in table near the parking lot at the side of the school adjacent to Siebert Elementary.

Before participating in practice, players must submit a completed parental consent form and complete a brief health screening. Players must also maintain social distancing (at least 6 feet) from all other players and coaches at all times during practice. Please access the consent form and read through the safety protocols and pre-cautions provided here: LINK

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COVID-19 Update #3 (July 4, 2020):

It's been a month since our last update...that's partly because we've been waiting to finally have some good news to share...

We had been waiting to hear back from Midland Public Schools about practice locations...and last week we were told that we wouldn't be allowed to use school property for practices like we had planned. Since then we've been scrambling to come up with other options. We identified a few that we were looking into, but then this week we were told that we could use Jefferson Middle School after all. Thanks to Coach Stadelmaier for his help interfacing with MPS!

Therefore, we're planning to start having some practices at Jefferson Middle School in Midland on Tuesday and Thursday evenings starting with Thursday July 9 Tuesday July 14.  More details about the practices and associated safety precautions will be forthcoming.

We are aware that some travel lax clubs are currently practicing as if social distancing requirements that are still in place in Michigan don't apply to lax players and are traveling out of state to participate in events in locations with less strict COVID-19 precautions, but it will be important for us all to follow all of the safety rules specified by Midland Public Schools including health screenings, maintaining at least 6 feet of separation between everyone participating at all times, etc. Obviously, these won't be normal lax practices...but there is certainly plenty of passing, shooting, ground balls, etc that can be done to build our skills while remaining consistent with the restrictions...and we will transition to more normal practices once safety requirements are further loosened to allow for it.

With regard to tournaments, the number of registrations we've received so far would suggest that we could potentially field one middle school team and one high school team. Hopefully once we start practicing, more players will be spurred on to participate (please tell any friends that you think might be interested!)...and we can adjust our plans if the numbers change significantly. We would hope to play at the postponed Great Lax Bay event in Saginaw the weekend of July 25-26 and perhaps some other events in August or this Fall in Michigan. However, these tourney plans assume and are contingent upon COVID-19 safety precautions further relaxing to allow for competition for an outdoor "contact" sport like lacrosse.

Additionally, we would welcome players of all ages (from elementary school and older) to join us for the Tuesday and Thursday practices even if it looks like we won't be able to field a team for your age group this summer.

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COVID-19 Update #2 (June 4, 2020):

With the recent crises related to COVID-19 and to the flooding in Midland and surrounding areas, summer lacrosse is probably not at the top of most people's minds. However, summer is almost here, and we're even more eager than usual for summer lax after missing the spring season. Although there is still a lot of uncertainty about exactly what options we'll have for lacrosse this summer, we know much more now than we did a week ago...and we want to share that information with you.

If you are interested in playing lacrosse this summer (and/or potentially this fall) and haven't already registered with us for this summer, we request you either go ahead and register (there is a link at the bottom of the homepage at http://989lax.com/ - you don't have to make any payments when you register - we can worry about payments later after our revised plans solidify - and don't worry making decisions about specific dates or events for now - the main purpose is to register you interest) or send an email to 989lacrosse@gmail.com with details like name, age, high school graduation year, and home town. As you'll see below, there is still a lot of uncertainty about the HOW and WHEN of lacrosse this summer, but having more info about WHO wants to play will help us to plan.

On Monday Governor Whitmer lifted the stay-at-home order and allowed for groups of up to 100 people to gather ouside as long as participants are able to remain at least six feet apart (social distancing). Obviously, that means a "normal" lacrosse practice or game is still not an option, but we can consider beginning modified practices for conditioning and skill development as long as we maintain the six feet buffer and minimize the sharing of "equipment and supplies" as required by the emergency order.

The details of the revised order are here: LINK

This is consistent with return to play guidelines and recommendations that were released last week by the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA), National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), and US Lacrosse. The details of those recommendations are available at the following links, and we would encourage you to read through them for more information about what will be involved in returning to play safely...

• MHSAA:  MHSAA Updates on Summer Activity & Re-Opening Guidance
• MHSAA: MHSAA Summer Guidance Update #1
• NFHS: Guidance for Opening Up High School Athletics and Activities
• US Lacrosse: Return to Play Recommendations for Lacrosse

In general, the various guidelines allow for return to practice and play by a series of stages or steps and in accordance with state and local restrictions. The MHSAA and NFHS categorize boys lacrosse as a "higher risk" sport and, therefore, delay its return to competition until later in the return process compared to some other sports deemed to have lower potential infection risk. In the MHSAA's update this week after the ending of the Governor Whitmer's safer-at-home order, there was more detailed guidance specific to boys lacrosse in the context of the continued requirement for physical distancing:

"Drills are allowed that keep all players physically distant; there should be no physical contact or close proximity of players. Common equipment, such as the ball, must be cleaned as permitted during a practice or workout. Contact with other players is not allowed. Players should not share lacrosse sticks or face off." 

The MHSAA also emphasized that outdoor activities with physical distancing may resume on school grounds but only after "...BOTH the school/school district has declared school facilities open to students/staff AND the academic school year (last day of online instruction/exams) has ended.."

US Lacrosse also makes recommendations about smaller gatherings of individuals from a single locality versus larger gatherings with individuals from varied geographic areas. The former is recommended for initial stages of return while the latter is not advised until later stages.The timing and/or criteria for advancing from one stage to the next are not defined precisely in the guidelines, and they will likely be determined mainly by the pace of relaxation of governemental restrictions. Thus, it is expected that we can begin practicing with social distancing soon, but it isn't clear when we'll be able to progress further towards "normal."

US Lacrosse has said that they will issue guidelines for large tournaments sometime in the next few weeks. Among the 3 tournaments we had originally planned to attend this summer, 2 out of the 3 have been postponed such that 2 are now overlapping...so we'll certainly have to adjust our plans.

• Great Lax Bay (Saginaw) July 25-26
• One More Time (Lansing) July 25-26
• Cherry Bomb (Detroit) August 8-9

Of course, we'll plan to choose the local tournament over the one in Lansing if the conflict in dates persists. The summer competition limits for MHSAA high school coaches and their players (max 15 dates of competition) require that summer competition must be before Aug 1 (link). Therefore, playing in August will likely be somewhat complicated (but still hopefully do-able) if the MHSAA doesn't relax their restrictions for this summer.

Long story short, we want to re-emphasize that we're still planning to offer summer lacrosse this year and that how and when we'll be able to get started is becoming more clear. Please stay tuned for more info as our plans solidify and let us know if you have any questions or concerns. Of course, the answer is likely to be "we still don't know" in many cases...but we'll try give as complete an answer as we can.

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COVID-19 Update #1 (April 4, 2020):

Our initial plan was to focus primarily on high school ages this summer and then add teams for younger players in future years. However, given that the youth will be missing their entire spring season, we've decided try to offer teams for the 10U age group and older beginning this summer. We may also do something informal for 8U, but the summer tournaments don't have 8U divisions. Of course, the summer season is more than two months away and we don't know to what extent it will be affected by the current crisis. We'll plan to be flexible and make adjustments as necessary.

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Saginaw Valley 989 Summer Travel Lacrosse is re-launching to provide a low-cost and local option for boys lacrosse players of all levels of skill and experience in Midland, Bay City, Saginaw, and neighboring locals.

A link to the registration is located at the bottom of this page, but please read the information contained here before proceeding to registration.

We are also open to the possibility of adding girls teams in future years if there is sufficient demand and coaches available. Please let us know if you are interested in organizing and/or coaching girls teams for 989.

Events

We plan to attend 3 events during the summer of 2020. Those events are listed below along with the dates and per-player cost.

• Great Lax Bay (June 20-21, Saginaw, $120/player, HS grad years 2021-2029) 
• Cherry Bomb (July 18-19, Detroit, $120/player, HS grad years 2020-2029)
• One More Time (July 25-26, Lansing, $120/player, HS grad years 2020-2027)

We're offering each event a la carte to make it easier for families to avoid conflicts with family vacations, other lacrosse events, etc. so you don't have to pay for an event that you can't attend. Even if you're playing for another team this summer, you're welcome to join us for any of the events that fit your schedule.

Registration

All players and coaches are required to have valid US Lacrosse memberships before registering. There are various benefits that come with US Lacrosse membership, but in this context the most important is that the liability insurance that we receive via US Lacrosse is contingent upon all players and coaches having valid US Lacrosse memberships.

Practices and Coaching

All players who are registered for at least one event are welcome participate in any and all practices we have during the summer. We anticipate having at total of ~ 8 practices in June and July.  The 15 dates of summer competition allowed by the MHSAA for a coach and more than 7 players from one school will be sufficient to allow for the 6 days of tournaments and the ~ 8 practices in June and July (with a "dead week" the week of July 4). The locations of practices have not yet been set, but they will be somewhere in the tri-city area. The coaching staffs are also yet to be determined. We hope that we'll be able to have coaches from Saginaw, Bay City, and Midland and to include some college players on the coaching staffs. Midland coaches George, Moore, and Stearns have all agreed to coach for 989.

Tryouts and Teams

We don't plan to have try-outs for 989. Part of our philosophy is that we'll find a place for everyone. In general, if we have enough players at a particular age group to field more than one team, we'll plan to divide players into teams according to skill level. The Saginaw tournament is one possible exception. For that event, we'll plan to divide teams by geography (e.g., Bay City, Midland, and/or Saginaw) if we have enough players to do so. If not, we'll combine as we will for the other tournaments.

Uniforms

Every player must have a uniform set of matching blue and white reversible jersey and shorts to wear during the events. We'll use the same uniform design in future years, so it's an investment of sorts...you'll be able to wear it for future years as long as it still fits. The cost is $26 for the jersey and $24 for the shorts.

• If you have a blue and white 989 uniform from a previous year that fits (e.g., like the ones pictured at the top of the home page...and it can't have the name Momentum on it), you may use it again this year and pay no uniform fees when you register .
• If you do not have a uniform from a previous year or need a different size, you will need to order a uniform.

Payments

The easiest way to pay is to submit total fees online upon conclusion of this registration session via credit card. You may also submit payment in full via check. If you need to use a payment plan, you can either submit a partial payment by check or send email to 989lacrosse@gmail.com to request an electronic invoice to make a partial payment via credit card. At least 25% of the total fee is due within 2 weeks of registering. The remainder is due in at most 3 payments due Feb 1, Mar 1, and Apr 1. 

If you have any questions not addressed by this document, please send email to 989lacrosse@gmail.com

===> CLICK HERE TO REGISTER <===