How to start lacrosse in Los Angeles
By Aaron Siebold, former D1 player at Hofstra
Updated
Get a stick, a ball and a wall. Have your kid throw and catch against it a few times a week, then sign up with a club team. You don’t need every pad on day one.
Never held a stick? We start at the beginning. My lesson prices and times are below.
What to buy first
A stick and a few balls. That covers the first month.
Get a complete youth stick, the kind that comes with the head, shaft and pocket already put together. A beginner doesn’t need a custom pocket or an expensive head. The legal length depends on age, and I put the numbers in the stick size guide.
Pads come once there’s a team or a lesson. For boys that means a helmet, gloves, a chest pad, elbow pads, cleats, a mouthguard and a cup. Girls’ lacrosse is a different game with a lot less contact, and field players wear goggles and a mouthguard. Ask your club what it wants before you buy anything.
Wall ball, a few times a week
Find a flat wall. A handball wall at a park or a school works. So does the side of a garage, if you ask first.
Stand a few steps back. Throw the ball at the wall, catch it, throw it again. Do 50 with the right hand, then 50 with the left, and add more once the catches stop dropping.
Both hands, from day one. Every kid wants to stay on the strong hand, and a player who can only go one way is easy to guard. The weak hand is a lot easier to fix at 9 than at 15.
Fifteen minutes most days does more than an hour on Saturday.
Want a drill for the one thing your kid is stuck on? Pick it here and I’ll send you one.
When to join a team
Sooner than you think. A kid who can catch most of what comes back off the wall is ready, and a kid who can’t yet can still join. Some clubs here start at kindergarten, and some say on their own site that beginners are welcome.
High school lacrosse in the CIF Southern Section is a spring sport, with games from February into May. Club seasons and fall clinics vary, so check each one. My list of youth lacrosse clubs in Los Angeles has every club I found, by area, with what its own site says it runs.
Where lessons fit
A team gives your kid practices and games. A lesson is where one thing gets fixed, like the weak hand or catching on the run, with a coach watching every rep.
I coach private and small-group lacrosse lessons in Los Angeles. Total beginners are welcome, youth through varsity. Bring the stick and I’ll look it over for free.
Not sure yet?
All of these are at Van Nuys Sherman Oaks Recreation Center, my home field. Want a Westside park, a different length or a package? See every lesson and price.