Why play lacrosse in the fall? Fall lacrosse is a quick 6-7 week season beginning after Labor Day and concluding with tournament play in mid-October in Des Moines (and Kansas City for eligible teams). This is a full contact program, but often involves short-sided play. Short-side play is a faster version of the game involving fewer players. The fall program is an excellent opportunity for new players to test out lacrosse and our program as the time and travel commitments are less than the spring season. Fall is also the first chance for players to test out their new age groups as players moving up do so on September 1 when the new USA Lacrosse year begins.
Who should play in the fall? New players coming out of our clinics or just getting started will benefit greatly from playing the fall season. The 2 practice opportunities is sufficient time to reinforce skills and concepts. Returning players can use the fall to try out new positions and work on skills. Any athlete looking to improve their hand-eye coordination, body positioning, manuevering in traffic and speed/agility will see improvement in those skills by playing lacrosse.
What if I am in other activities? That’s great! We encourage our players to pursue other sports and participate in other activities. Any returning player is welcome to attend either the Des Moines Play Day (Oct 12) or play in the KC Tournament (Oct 19-20) without joining the regular fall program. Complete the appropriate registration module or contact kingfisherlacrosse@gmail.com for help.
What is the fall program? We will support 2 practices per week to enable players to participate in other activities/sports. Practices are Sundays in Coralville and Wednesday evenings in Cedar Rapids. Practice begins on Wednesday, September 4. All players should plan to participate in the Iowa Lacrosse Association Fall Play Day on Oct 12 at the MidAmerican Energy Rec Plex in West Des Moines.
Registration: To register, follow this two step process:
(1) USA Lacrosse Membership: Your player will need to have a current USA Lacrosse membership (to activate insurance coverage for you and the Club). To activitate a membership or renew an existing one, please visit https://www.usalacrosse.com/athlete-journey.
(2) Visit our Fall 2024 Registration Portal and complete the required steps. Fees for the program are $145/player for girls/boys age 11 & over and $110/player for girls/boys age 10&under. Players needing to rent equipment are able to do so as well.
On October 19-20, we plan to send teams to participate in the KC Elevate fall tournament in Kansas City. This tournament is 7v7 play for boys and girls at all levels while offering some full field opportunities should we have strong turnout. Each participating team is guaranteed 4 games. Our Club took 3 teams to this tournament last fall and a great time was had by all! Look forward to returning this fall.
We ask those who know they will attend to register promptly as it will help us to determine how many teams and in what age groups we can support. We will combine age groups to provide opportunities for those who wish to attend.
Any returning player is invited to participate even if you do not join the main fall program. If you have a free weekend and want to play lacrosse, you are welcome to come along!
To register:
(1) Have your USA Lacrosse number handy. If you need to obtain or renew your USA Lacrosse membership, visit https://www.usalacrosse.com/athlete-journey.
(2) Visit our Registration Portal for the KC Fall Tournament and complete the required steps. The fee to participate is $215/ player which covers the entry fee and coach expenses.
We are offering 2 practices per week for all age groups for Fall 2024. Our goal is to have all participants attend at least one session per week. All registrants, of course, are encouraged to take full advantage of the program. The 2 practices provides you with more flexibility to manage your schedules.
Wednesdays, September 4 – October 16 in Cedar Rapids @ Mt Mercy University – all age groups, boys and girls, will practice on Wednesday evenings at Mt Mercy University’s Sports Complex in Cedar Rapids. Practice starts at 5:30pm and will run to 7pm, light permitting.
Sundays, September 8 – October 13 in Coralville @ Coralville Youth Sports Park – all age groups, boys and girls, will practice on Sunday afternoon at the Youth Sports Park in Coralville. Practices are: 12-1:30pm – All Girls and 10&U Boys and 1:30-3pm – 12U, 14U, and High School Boys.
Are you thinking that college lacrosse could be for you?
A key first step is understanding the timeline – find some details on that here for the boys and here for the girls.
A second step is to get some film of yourself playing. Your parent or another spectator can usually help out to get the raw footage and then you use a video editor to splice together some highlights. You also can hire a recruiting service to do that for you, but it is not essential.
Third, do your research. We will do our best to find play opportunities next summer where college coaches can take a look at us, but you are your own best advocate. As you identify a school you like (because you like the school, its academics, where it is, etc), then reach out to the coach to let them know you have an interest in their program.
Four, we will begin sharing information about prospect days and other camp opportunities in the region, attending those when possible is a good way to meet coaches in person, ask them questions about their programs or recruiting generally, and have them see you in competition with other athletes in a closed environment.
We are proud of the progress all our players have made, but we know there is always room for growth. The best players in the world use Wall Ball as a means to reinforce fundamental skills of short, quick passing and catching. Doing so regularly improves hand-eye coordination, stick skills, and cradling – all things every Kingfisher player can work on.
The coaches prepared this Wall Ball Guide suitable for any Kingfisher player. You can adjust the reps as your skills improve or as time allows.
If you can find a few minutes every day or 2-3 times per week to go through this progression, you will be a better lacrosse player for it.
If you have an interest in coaching or officiating this year, we’re here to help. Send an e-mail to kingfisherlacrosse@gmail.com indicating your interest and we’ll connect you with the appropriate individuals to get you started.
Learn more about us here.
Visit the Kingfisher Store to get all your spirit wear and other gear!
Kingfisher President interviewed by the CR Gazette. See it here.
KCRG TV covered us in Spring ‘23. See it here.
Coach Meredith profiled for all her work to grow lacrosse in CR-IC. See here.
The Solon paper came to a practice to learn about lacrosse. See here.
USA Lacrosse profiled our club in the summer issue of the USA Lacrosse Magazine. See https://www.usalacrosse.com/news-media-blog/best-game-earth-kingfisher-lacrosse-hooks-kids-iowa.
The Cedar Rapids Gazette profiled the Kingfisher Club and our event in Solon on May 1. Check it out at https://www.thegazette.com/iowa-prep-sports/kingfisher-brings-lacrosse-to-eastern-iowa-youth/
KCRG Channel 9 aired a piece on our program in the evening news on May 18. Catch the recorded clip on their site at https://www.kcrg.com/2021/05/19/with-hopes-of-growing-the-sport-lacrosse-club-starts-in-eastern-iowa/
Kingfisher closed out its 4th competitive season with three State/League titles and one runner-up finish! All our teams won a game in their respective tournaments. A strong showing for Iowa’s newest lacrosse program. We had nearly 100 players play this spring for girls and boys teams from 10U to High School! Come join us and help grow a new sport in east central Iowa!
Kingfisher had quite a championship season in June! The High School boys secured the Eastern Iowa Lacrosse Conference championship with a win over arch rival Quad Cities. The 11-12 boys won the ILAX State Championship to complete an undefeated season! And the 10U boys outplayed their seed and took 3rd!
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Kingfisher Lacrosse represents the first organized club structure to appear in Eastern Iowa. Kingfisher Lacrosse is the operational name of the Cedar Rapids – Iowa City Lacrosse Club, a volunteer led, 501(c)(3) organization formed in 2020 to guide the development of youth lacrosse in the greater Cedar Rapids - Iowa City area.
