Thank you for your interest in the Carleton University Ravens Men s Lacrosse Team. This information package will provide a brief background on our lacrosse program and answer some questions about playing for the Carleton Ravens Men s Lacrosse Team in the upcoming season. The team was formed in 1986 by players to enter in the first Ontario University Field Lacrosse Association Spring Tournament. The Ravens play in the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association (CUFLA), the top university field lacrosse league in the country, including universities from across Ontario and Quebec. Players come from many field and box teams, Junior teams, Senior teams, and several current and drafted NLL players. The playing season runs from training camp in late-august through to the league championship, the Baggataway Cup, in mid-november. We encourage a strong sense of team development and community. Together as a team, we have teambuilding, training, fundraisers, community and other events through school year. Please have a look through this package and if you have any questions or want to contact team staff send us a message at carletonlacrosse@gmail.com. Thank you and we look forward to hearing from you, Carleton Men s Lacrosse
General: The Ravens Men s Lacrosse Team and its team members represent the Carleton University at the highest level of Canadian university lacrosse competition. It is not a recreational team. CUFLA (Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association) is the top level of field lacrosse played in Canadian University sports. It is expected that players are committed to the effort and time demands of a top-level university sport. Lacrosse currently is not a sanctioned sport by the national university sport organization, U- Sports, but CUFLA is the same level of competition and commitment. Ravens Men s Lacrosse Staff: The volunteer coaching and team management are both Carleton alumni and longstanding members of the lacrosse community. We are always looking for administration and operations help and experienced coaching staff to help the team succeed. The team leadership are: Adam D Agostino President, Carleton B.A. Communications, 2014 Stuart Paynter General Manager, Carleton B.Engineering, 1990 Jeremy Strong Head Coach, Carleton B.Engineering, 2011 Player Commitment: We are building a strong, respected, lacrosse team culture at Carleton and in the community. The expected player commitment to the team is more than just competition. As a team member, players are representatives of the university, the team, and the sport on and off the field all school year long, not just in the playing season. There is a strong team bond, providing for life-long friendships and memories. Many friendships players have formed during their time with the team have often led to future opportunities for our team alumni. The expectation is the commitment to the success of the team. In-season, players are must have a positive, team-first attitude, and be fully prepared and focused on success at all practices and games. On the game or practice field, players must put team success above their own personal accomplishment by learning and playing our system and accepting their role on the team. Disregard for team values will not be tolerated. Off-season, all players are required to participate in strength and conditioning, team fundraising and events that improve our reputation in the school and local community. There will be at least one fullteam community service event decided on by the team, such as a charity run. There will also be formal and informal off-season training. It is highly encouraged to continue to do self-organized events as a team through the year such as social activities, intramural sports, strength and conditioning training and school. Players should also look for opportunities to continue to sharpen their skills and conditioning by playing, especially field lacrosse, after the school year ends.
Pre-season Try-out and Training Camp (mandatory): Players will be sent the schedule details a soon as we are able confirm field bookings. Training camp will be 2 weeks before school starts. Out of town players can be billeted with current team members if their housing arrangements aren t available by training camp. Recruits can contact us for assistance. The team targets having a full roster of 35 players. As a competitive team, we put our best possible team on the field, and will select players with a combination of commitment, fitness, skill, and team fit. Players must demonstrate all of these in order to be selected to the team. Players not selected may be invited to continue as practice roster players but will not be eligible for league play. We do not select players to simply to pad the team numbers. We stress that this is not a conditioning camp and we expect all players must be physically fit and mentally ready to play at their best from the first day of camp. Camp not for players to get back into it. The CUFLA season is short; it starts during the first week of classes in September, immediately following camp with limited time to prepare. The camp objective is to quickly evaluate players for skill and fitness to spend most of the camp on season preparation. Players will be sent a basic package they will be expected to know for camp. The remainder of the camp is to practice the playing system and to evaluate player role and team fit. Final team selection will be made in the last days of the camp however; a player may be released at any point during camp for unacceptable behavior. Practice Schedule: Practice is scheduled to minimize conflict with classes for as many as possible. While conflicts are inevitable, as a competitive team, players are expected to attend all practices and to purposely arrange their school and personal schedules accordingly. Attendance at any team activity is taken into consideration for game time. Players are responsible to check practice times for time or facility changes. Players missing practices without notice or unable to attend on a regular basis will be subject to disciplinary action at the discretion of the Head Coach. Practices will include regular coach-led practice, video sessions, and Captain s Practices. Our practice field is typically Carleton s Ravens Road field but may also be at alternate facilities such Carleton s main field, MNP stadium, or the field house due to facility availability and weather. If necessary, off-campus facilities may be used. CUFLA Regular Season Schedule: Game schedule is set in the spring by the league in agreement with all teams. Regular season games begin the first week of classes and runs through September and October. There are 10 games, 5 home and 5 away against CUFLA Eastern Division teams (Queens, Trent, Nipissing, McGill, uottawa, and Bishop s). Games are usually Saturday or Sunday afternoon, but closer teams such as uottawa, Queen s, or McGill may take place on a weeknight. Transportation is by bus to away games (except uottawa). As we are centrally located within the division, travel during the regular season is same-day return with no overnight trips required, minimizing cost and conflict with school. Following the division playoffs, the top 3 teams from each division go on to play in the Baggataway Cup tournament in November 2019, location TBD.
Playoffs and Baggataway Cup Championship: Divisional playoffs between the top six teams in each division (five in the host division as the host team receives a bye to the tournament) follow the regular season with three teams advancing to the CUFLA championship in early November. The championship tournament, the Baggataway Cup is a three-day tournament hosted by one of the league s teams, alternating between the East and West divisions, with 2019 being hosted in the East Division. East and West Division winners get a bye to the semi-finals while the other 4 teams play quarter-finals on the Friday of the tournament weekend. Semi-finals are played on Saturday and the championship game on Sunday. Team Fees: Like most CUFLA teams, Carleton is a competitive club team. All Carleton competitive club teams are self-funded, receiving only a small amount from Carleton Athletics. We operate on a not-for-profit basis, charging fees to cover current season expenses, maintain a fund for the purchase of long-term equipment replacement, and a small carry-over to cover pre-season expenses for the following year. As a competitive club, we get priority access to some of Carleton Athletics resources, such as medical, free of charge or a preferred student rate. There is a varying degree of financial support for lacrosse across the league and Carleton Men s Lacrosse fee is one of the lowest of all CUFLA teams. Most team s fees range from $1500 to over $2000. We keep our fees as low as possible. Team staff are unpaid volunteers. Our biggest variable expense is field time. Like all club teams at Carleton, and most other CUFLA schools, we must pay for our field time and scheduling is subject the availability with other teams and groups. To maintain consistent practice times to best accommodate players schedules, we may need to look at offcampus municipal field rentals close to Carleton as campus turf fields are in very high demand. 2019 Team Fee Structure: 2019 Team Regular Season Fee: TBD after field allocation and budget Returning Players: 50% Deposit due before Training Camp (Aug 1, 2019) 50% Balance due after team selection (Sept 1, 2019) New Players $125 Non-refundable Camp Deposit (August 1, 2019) Team Fee Balance (Sept 1, after selection) Rookie Kit Fee ($TBD) due after team selection (Sept 1, 2019) * Players not selected may be invited to join the practice roster to continue to develop and be part of all team events for a small fee ($TBD).
Team Fee covers: - League fees - Referees fees - Away game bus transportation - Gloves (every 2nd season) - Team supplies (balls, pylons, water bottles, etc.) - Field rentals - Athletic trainers, Physio and Athletic Therapy, Medical Insurance - Off season strength & conditioning program at Carleton s High-Performance Centre Team Fee does not cover: - Travel costs for Baggataway Cup - Helmets, sticks, protective equipment - Food, drink, personal items for away travel - Optional, additional team apparel Rookie Kit Fee covers: - Home and Away Uniforms (jersey and shorts) - Practice shorts - Practice/warm-up pinnies - Gloves Team fees must be paid in full before a player receives any equipment or is permitted to play. Team Sponsorship and Fundraising: Team fees may be offset by fundraising events and team sponsorship. Fundraising activities will largely be player-initiated and driven. We are actively looking for team sponsors, donations, and fundraising opportunities to reduce player fees. All money received goes directly to reducing player fees or expanding the program. If you have any leads to individuals, organizations or companies who will donate or sponsors, please contact us. All players must assist in and promote all fundraising activities throughout the year. We have opportunities for: - Title Sponsor Training Camp - Title Sponsor Season
An ongoing fund has been established through Carleton s Future Funder program through which donations can be made at any time, in any amount with 100% of the donation going to the team. Our fund page can be found here Carleton Men's Lacrosse Future Funder In early November, on Giving Tuesday, there is a matching program that will match donations made through the Future Funder program. We highly encourage supporters to donate through the Future Funder program and take advantage of the matching program on Giving Tuesday. Student Conduct and Team Policies: All players are required to agree to and abide with all of Carleton s codes of student and athlete conduct and will be required to complete Carleton s Conduct Agreement Forms before participation in competition. There are also addition team-specific policies and rules are set out in the Player Agreement and will be enforced by the team staff. Below are a few examples Commitment - 100% effort at all times Be fully prepared mentally and physically to play. Leave attitudes behind We respect that schedule conflicts can occur, must inform the head coach a minimum 48-hrs in advance. Game day (home and away) dress code: Carleton Polo, khakis/dress pants. Carleton sweat shirt or jacket is permissible over team polo. No t-shirts, sweats, jogging pants, ripped, distressed or dirty clothing. Zero tolerance for hazing of any kind No drugs, tobacco or tobacco products, or alcohol at Team events.