So You’re the Lacrosse Coach Now: A Guide for the Involuntary Volunteer

It happens more than you’d think. You show up to the first rec practice of the season, kids are running around with sticks, and someone from the league looks at the group of parents standing there and says “so who’s coaching today?” Nobody moves. You make the mistake of making eye contact. Congratulations, you’re the coach.

Or maybe you had a coach through the first two practices and then they just stopped showing up. No call, no explanation, just gone. And now someone has to step up, and that someone is you.

I never played lacrosse. Not once. But I’ve been around enough rec seasons, watched enough coaches come and go, and talked to enough parents in the same position that I can tell you exactly what to do when this happens to you.

First Things First: Get Your Basics Up to Speed

You don’t need to be a lacrosse expert to coach a rec team. You do need to know the fundamentals: how to throw, catch, pass, pick up ground balls, and shoot. That’s it to start.

The fastest way to learn if you’re starting from zero is to go watch other coaches run practice. Find a travel team with young kids and just stand on the sideline. You’ll pick up more in one practice than you will from reading about it.

Also go to USALacrosse.com and sign up as a coach. It costs a little money but it’s worth it. You get access to their mobile app, which has a library of drills, coaching resources, and the rulebook. Even if you don’t end up being the official coach long term, the app alone is useful just for knowing how to show your kid something correctly in the backyard.

You Just Got Thrown In. Now What?

If you’re reading this because practice is in two hours and the coach didn’t show up, here’s what you do.

Walk on that field and take control. Young kids with lacrosse sticks are basically a herd of cats that want to hit each other. That’s not an insult, that’s just what they are. Your job right now is to direct the chaos.

Here’s a simple progression that works even if you’ve never coached a day in your life.

Warmup. Get them moving before anything else. Jog a lap, some light stretching, maybe a few quick agility ladder runs if you have one. Five minutes. Just get the blood going and get them focused before you hand out balls.

Ground balls. Two lines facing each other with some space in between. Roll a ball out between them, first kid scoops it up, runs to the back of the opposite line, drops the ball in front of the next kid, that kid picks it up, repeat. Easy to explain, easy to run, and it’s a real skill they’ll use every single game. Keep it moving.

Passing lines. Same two-line setup, now they’re passing back and forth. Work both hands. Don’t let them just throw with their strong hand the whole time. Keep it moving.

Shooting. Take those same passing lines and walk them over toward the goal. Put one line on the side of the crease and one line out front. Kid on the side passes to the kid in front, who catches and shoots. Simple, game-realistic, and the kids love getting reps on goal. Rotate through both sides.

One on one ground balls. Roll a ball out between two kids and let them compete for it. First one to scoop it up wins. This one gets loud fast. Good loud.

Two on two ground balls. Same concept but now it’s two versus two. First team to pick up the ball has to make a pass to their partner before they can do anything else, then get the ball back to the coach. Teaches them to think after the scoop, which is half the battle at this age.

Scrimmage. If there’s time left, run a half-field four on four or five on five. Let them play. This is what they came for and it ties everything together. You’ll see what’s clicking and what needs more work next practice.

Nobody is going to grade you on day one. But having a progression like this means you’re not standing there staring at 15 kids trying to figure out what comes next. That part matters more than you think.

For the Next Practice: Come With a Plan

The difference between a coach the kids respect and a coach who loses the team is a practice plan. You don’t need anything fancy. Grab a few drills from the USA Lacrosse app or just Google them, throw them into ChatGPT, and ask it to build you a one-hour practice schedule for rec kids at whatever age group you’re working with. Something like “build me a practice schedule for third and fourth grade boys, recreational league, most of them have never played lacrosse.” It’ll give you a structured warmup, skill progression, and something fun at the end. Print it out or pull it up on your phone.

Showing up with a plan does three things: practice runs more efficiently, parents respect you more, and the kids actually learn something. All three matter.

Be Tough, Be Fair, Make It Fun

Here’s the balance that the best volunteer coaches I’ve seen all figured out.

Be tough. When you’re trying to teach something and kids are banging sticks together in the huddle or goofing off, call it out. Three strikes and they’re running or doing pushups. It sounds harsh but kids respond to it and they actually respect it. Physical consequence, not yelling. There’s a big difference.

Don’t yell. There is no reason to raise your voice at rec kids. Zero. They’re out there to have fun. So are you. You can be firm and direct without screaming at a nine-year-old.

End practice with something fun. The best season my kid ever had in rec lacrosse was because the coach scheduled a game or activity for the last ten minutes of every practice. Canadian dodgeball with tennis balls. Goalie versus goalie. Shoot to see who can hit the target from the furthest away. Who can rip it the hardest. These kids will run through a wall for ten minutes of that after forty-five minutes of drills. Don’t skip it.

Tennis balls for young goalies. If you’ve got kids that want to try goalie, do not let their first experience be older kids cranking full lacrosse balls at their head from the crease. That is the fastest way to end a goalie’s career before it starts. Back everyone up, use tennis balls, let the goalie get comfortable in the net and actually make some saves. Confidence in goal early is huge.

If you’re the coach, your kid doesn’t get special treatment either way. This one’s important. Parent coaches have a tendency to either play their kid everywhere and give them the best spots, or overcorrect the other direction and come down extra hard on them to look fair. Both are bad. Your kid should have the same experience as every other kid on that team. If you can’t do that honestly, think hard before you take the job.

Before the First Game

Two practices before the first game, start going over game situations. What is offsides. Where does each position stand. What’s a fast break. When can a defender leave the line. What does “clearing” mean.

My kid’s very first game, most of the team had no idea where to stand or what to do once the ball dropped. When a kid got possession they’d just pass it around trying to figure it out, until finally the one kid on the team who had played before grabbed the ball, ran straight toward the other goal, and scored. The rest of the team just kind of looked at each other like “oh, that’s what we’re doing.” And honestly, from that point on they all learned from watching him, which was great. But it shouldn’t have had to work out that way. Those kids should have known before the opening whistle what a fast break looks like, that the other team is going to chase them down, where to be when their team has the ball and where to be when they don’t. Twenty minutes with a whiteboard or some cones before that first game changes everything.

And here’s something easy to add to your pre-game prep: tell the kids to go watch lacrosse on YouTube or TV before the season starts. Even just a few highlights. Kids learn by watching and imitating, and seeing what the game actually looks like at speed does more than any drill explanation you can give them on a practice field.

Talk to the Parents

Once you’ve got a handle on the practice side of things, get the parents together. End of a practice, kids go get water, you have a quick five-minute conversation on the sideline.

Cover these things:

Playing time. In rec lacrosse, everyone plays. Every kid gets equal time regardless of the score. Say it out loud so everyone hears it.

What you want them to do from the sideline. Cheer loud, celebrate everything, that’s great. But coaching from the sideline stops now. If you’ve got a kid running the ball down the field and parents are yelling “shoot” while you’re yelling “pass it, Johnny’s open,” that kid is going to shoot, miss, and now everyone’s frustrated. One voice. Yours.

No yelling at refs. You handle the refs. Parents cheer for their team.

No yelling at kids. Yours or anyone else’s.

Parent-to-parent. Let them know you’ve got the best group of parents on that sideline and you want to keep it that way. The stuff you sometimes hear from other team’s parents, “hit him,” “take him out,” that’s not your sideline. Set the tone early.

What you want from kids at home. Ground ball drills in the backyard. Cradling around the house. Wall ball if they have a wall. The stuff they do at home is time you don’t have to spend on basics at practice. Encourage it.

When to show up. Do you want kids on the field and warmed up before practice starts, or are you okay with them rolling in at start time? Make a decision and tell them. The older the kids get, the more that expectation should tighten.

Your Coaching Kit

Here’s what you actually need to bring. Start building this and you’ll use it every season.

The must-haves:

• Your own stick. You need to demonstrate things.
• Balls, a lot of them. Crankshooter has a balls and bag combo that’s a solid deal and around a dollar a ball is the benchmark to look for. Check DailyLaxDeals.com and we’ll flag it when it’s live.
• Tennis balls. Always.
• A whistle.
• Flat cones for marking fields, positions, and drill setups.
• Pennies or reversible scrimmage vests. One color is enough. Have enough for at least half the team because new kids show up without them.
• A dry erase coaching whiteboard. More useful than you think, especially during games when you’re doing lineups and drawing up plays.
• A Sharpie and athletic tape. First practice, put a strip of tape on every kid’s helmet with their name on it. Nicknames are even better. You need to know who you’re talking to.

The stuff that saves you:

• Extra mouth guards. Kids lose them constantly, especially on game days.
• Shooting strings, chin straps, zip ties, zip tie cutters.
• Lacrosse head screws and a small Phillips and flat head screwdriver, both.
• A string kit and some spare mesh.
• Extra stick tape.
• Basic first aid kit.
• Sunscreen and bug spray.
• Water and snacks for you and your kid at minimum.

Goalie stuff: If you don’t have a kid on the team who already has goalie gear, you need at least one or two neck guards and ideally a goalie chest pad. You cannot put a kid in goal without a neck guard. If you have two kids who want to try goalie, have two neck guards ready so you can swap at halftime. Get a goalie stick too. Play It Again Sports is fine for this. Nothing fancy, just functional.

Nice to haves as you get into it:

• A LaxRadar by Crankshooter — line the kids up and let them see how hard they’re shooting. They will lose their minds over this. Worth every penny.
• A canopy for the team sideline at hot summer tournaments. I’ve watched entire teams get cooked on the sideline between games because nobody brought shade. Don’t be that team.
• A rolling wagon to haul all of this to the field.

Once your kit builds up, get a dedicated equipment bag separate from your personal stuff. Goalie gear, extra sticks, string kits, first aid, zip ties, tape, all in one bag. Your kid’s goalie setup goes in his bag. The team stuff goes in the coach bag. Keep them separate and you’ll always know what you have.

Coach’s Starter Shopping List

Skip the guesswork. Here’s everything I’d grab to put a solid coaching kit together, split into practice gear and game day sideline stuff.

Practice Kit

• Dry Erase Lacrosse Coaching Whiteboard — draw up positions, map out plays before the first game, do your lineups. More useful than you think, especially once you’re actually coaching games.
• STX Lacrosse Ball Bag — haul your balls to the field and back without losing half of them in the parking lot.
• Whistle — you need one. That’s it.
• Collapsible Wagon — haul your entire coaching kit from the parking lot to the field in one trip. Non-negotiable at big tournaments.
• Waterproof First Aid Kit — compact, waterproof, lives in the coach bag permanently. You will need it.
• Reversible Pinnies — grab enough for at least half the team. New kids show up without them every single time.
• Agility Ladder — great for footwork drills and warm ups. Kids actually like using it.
• Flat Cones — mark the crease, set up drill stations, lay out positions on a field with no lines. Always in the bag.
• Tennis Balls — for young goalies and for games at the end of practice. Buy a bunch.
• Sharpie — names on helmet tape, marking balls, a hundred other things. Just keep one in the bag.

Game Day Sideline

• Cooling Towels — throw them in the cooler before games. Hand them out on the sideline when it’s hot. Kids and parents both will love you for it.
• Backpack Cooler — keeps drinks cold all day, carries hands-free. I bring mine to every practice and every tournament. Front pocket holds your scissors, tape, and eye black.
• Compact Folding Chair — you’re going to be on your feet most of the time, but you still need somewhere to land between games.
• Eye Black — the kids love it and it’s one of those things you’ll always have someone asking for on game day.
• LaxRadar by Crankshooter — let the kids see how hard they’re shooting. They will lose their minds over this. Worth every penny.
• Stick Tape — doubles as athletic tape in a pinch. Keep a few rolls in the coach bag and a few in your personal bag.

The Last Thing

You’re not going to be a great coach on day one. You know that. The good news is that knowing you don’t know everything about lacrosse actually makes you better than a lot of coaches who think they’ve got it figured out. You’re going to prepare. You’re going to show up when you say you’re going to show up. You’re going to make it fun and run a fair practice and set expectations and grow the game in your town.

That’s the whole job. Go do it.

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