Welcome to Monster!

Welcome to Monster!

As a new parent to the Monster Elite Lacrosse program, you undoubtedly have a few questions that come to mind. In an effort to try to answer some of those, we have compiled a list of “frequently asked questions”. If you have further questions that are not addressed below, please feel free to contact the directors at any time.

Communication: 

  • How will I receive information regarding practice days/times/changes? ○ We use the LeagueApps Play app that you should download on your device. This will provide you with a calendar of all practices and games/tournaments, as well as a team chat feature to be used for coaches' communication with the team. This chat will be used frequently during tournament play by parents to organize team dinners/meeting places/etc. This is not a platform to air grievances. Those should be brought to the coaches or to the Director of Lacrosse Operations (Tim Parrinello). If your town/school also uses League Apps, you will need to create a separate login in order to access your Monster information. Unfortunately, you cannot sign in and see both programs at the same time. 
    • Practice information, tournament information, hotel information (for those teams that travel), and other pertinent information can also be accessed on the website: www.monsterelitelax.com. We make every effort to update this quickly when anything is changed within LeagueApps. 
  • What do I do if I’m not getting the Monster program emails or LeagueApps is not working?
    • Please contact Jaime at info@monsterelitelax.com

Team Designation: 

  • Is my daughter on “purple” or “white”? And, how/when are team designations determined?
    • Firstly, team designations of “purple” and “white” do not occur until your daughter is entering into the fourth grade. Prior to that year in school, your daughters will all participate on one team. If the number of players allows us to have two teams in a particular tournament, we will create two teams of equal ability. Our goal at Monster is to provide many opportunities for athletes to compete.
    • When the time comes and designation to a team occurs, coaches and directors make team determination by ranking all players. Purple consists of the beginning of that list and white consists of players who still require more development.
  • If my daughter is determined to be a “purple” or “white” player, will she remain on that team forever
    • Team determinations occur twice yearly (fall and spring/summer). We make these determinations prior to the tournament season. While the program designates “try-out” days, the coaches and the directors are continuously monitoring individual player progress and assessing skills. Please do not worry about team designation. These players have many years of development and with the Monster program, we expect many years of spurts of growth in skill. Team designation, just as skill level, will fluctuate as your daughter grows.

Practices: 

  • How long are practices?
    • Practices are typically between one hour to 1.5 hours in duration
    • Kindergarteners and first graders typically practice one time per week. 2nd -6th graders typically have two practices per week; 7th -11th graders have 1 team practice per week & have the option of attending the after-school program two days per week (drills and scrimmages with multiple graduation years together)
    • Please do your best to have your daughter at the field 15 minutes prior to the beginning of practice.
    • For the younger ages, please have your daughter use the restroom prior to practice. We only have 1 hour for some of the younger ages and we have a lot that we cover in that time frame.
    • Practice schedules can be found on the Monster website (www.monsterelitelax.com) and within LeagueApps.
  • Where do we practice?
    • During the winter months, we practice indoors at the Athletic Campus (3195 Brighton Henrietta Town Line Rd, Rochester, NY 14623) and indoors at 3Lax (3450 Winton Pl Suite A7, Rochester, NY 14623)
    • During the Spring/Summer months, we practice outdoors at Nazareth University (4245 East Ave, Rochester, NY 14618)
  • What should my daughter wear to practice?
    • Monster players wear the jersey or pinnie that they have been given
    • Players can wear any shorts that they want to practice
    • Goggles/helmets and mouthguards are required
  • Who will be coaching my daughter?
    • Each Monster team will be assigned 2-3 coaches who will not only work with your daughters during the training season, but also coach during the tournament seasons ○ If a coach has to be absent from a tournament, other Monster coaches will fill in so that there are always two coaches on the sideline
  • Do we practice during school breaks?
    • Typically, we do not have practices during school breaks. Again, LeagueApp and the website will list practice days and times.
  • How long is the season?
    • Monster conducts practices from mid-September until mid-July. We do not practice during the month of August.
  • What if school sports conflict with Monster practices?
    • Monster policy is school before Monster. This means if two practices are scheduled on the same day, you should choose your school. We do our best to avoid conflicts.

Competitive Play: 

  • How many tournaments will my daughter play in and how far do we travel? ○ Kindergarten athletes: we will make every effort to enter into at least one tournament in the spring/summer; however, there are very few clubs in this area that have teams at that level. If there are no other teams entered into a tournament at that level, then our team will not participate. Tournaments at this level are local (within NYS and one-day tournaments). We attempt to schedule play dates with other area clubs/teams for this level to compete.
    • First and second graders will participate in 2-3 tournaments in the Fall and 3-4 tournaments in the spring/summer. The tournaments in the FALL are all one-day tournaments (no overnight stay).
    • Third and fourth graders will play 3 Fall tournaments and 3-4 spring/summer tournaments. The tournaments in the FALL are all one-day tournaments. Some of the tournaments in the SUMMER are two-day events. Depending on game times, you may need to make hotel arrangements. Please work with other parents and the coaches to determine if you would like to stay in the same location.
    • Grades five through 10 will play 3 Fall tournaments and 4 Summer tournaments. The Fall tournaments are one-day events and most of the summer tournaments are two-day tournaments. Hotel information is located on the Monster website under the “Hotel Info” tab or you can find this information within the “Tournaments” tab.
  • What happens if my daughter cannot attend a tournament?
    • It is the parent's responsibility to inform the coach as soon as possible if your daughter is not able to attend a tournament.
  • When will my daughter get a uniform?
    • Program-wide uniforms are ordered in April each year. A supplemental order is done in September for players who have joined the team after April. We always have some extras on hand. If your daughter does not yet have a pinnie, please speak to a coach at practice. We make every effort to bring extra pinney’s to practices in order to make sure each athlete has one.
  • Are there team dinners when we travel for tournaments?
    • We strongly encourage teams to gather when on the road in order to build camaraderie between the athletes and between the parents. You’ll be spending a good deal of time together over the next few years, so it would be beneficial to get to know each other early on. Team dinners can be planned by parents and communicated to the group through LeagueApps. If you are moved to be a volunteer “team parent”, then this would fall under your tasks. The coaches will not be involved in scheduling team dinners. So, any help in this area would be appreciated.
  • What is it like when we go to a club team tournament?
    • Well, the short answer is…it’s a lot of lacrosse, a lot of chatting with each other, and a lot of gathering athletes to get to the field on time.
    • At every tournament, there will be a main Monster tent set up for all teams to gather under. Directors will attempt to set this tent up in a central location and coaches may communicate the location within LeagueApps on the day of the event (this will not always occur because it will be obvious where the tent is). Apps that would be important to download now include:
      • Tourney Machine
      • TSIC-Events
      • LeagueApps
    • All tournament schedules will be posted through one of these apps and you can access these on your own for game times, game locations, tournament directions, and field maps. Most often the younger athletes will find tournament information within the Tourney Machine app.
    • Coaches will give reminders prior to the event of what time and where to meet on the day of the tournament. Please help your daughter to be dressed and ready at the time identified by the coach.
  • What do I bring to a tournament?
    • Here is a list of items that we have learned may be helpful to bring to a two-day event:
      • Water, water, and more water
      • Mouth guard (an extra one, if you have it, would be nice just in case)
      • Healthy Snacks (for your daughter or a big box to share with the team…this should be discussed by parents prior to the tournament)
      • Extra hair ties
      • Lawn chair for sidelines and/or under the tent
      • Sunscreen
      • During the summer months, you may want to invest in some cooling towels to have on hand (in a gallon baggie with ice/water works well).
      • You may want to think about purchasing Hot Hands for the Fall tournaments (it can get pretty chilly).
      • Rain gear for yourself and additional clothes for your athlete (extra long sleeves, extra socks, extra leggings/shorts, a hand towel to keep in her bag)
      • A roll of toilet paper…many times the Port-o-Potties run out during the day, so it may be nice to bring your own
      • When we play on grass fields and have a morning game the fields are usually wet with dew; parents may want to wear boots in the AM and bring extra socks for athletes as the day warms up and the fields dry out.
      • CASH…some venues do not accept credit cards/Venmo.
      • CREDIT CARDS…some venues do not accept cash
  • What is the Monster policy on playing time?
    • Kindergarten through the 4th grade, we attempt to make playing time as equal as possible.
    • After 4th grade, playing time is at the discretion of the coach.
    • No player will go to a game and not play.

Question not answered? Please email info@monsterelitelax.com

Welcome and GO MONSTER!