This article appears in the May/June edition of US Lacrosse Magazine. Don’t get the mag? Join US Lacrosse today to start your subscription.

The Lacrosse Athlete Development Model is at the core of the US Lacrosse mission. It provides every athlete the opportunity to enter, enjoy and excel in lacrosse by learning and playing the sport in a way that’s best for each stage of growth and development — an antidote to the conventional model that rushes to identify the best players at early ages and leaves potential participants behind with limited opportunities to play.

With LADM, US Lacrosse aims to keep more players engaged with the sport longer, allowing the best to emerge as they reach physical maturity. The national governing body runs year-round initiatives to bolster the new model and raise up a new generation of athletes who will love lacrosse for life.

Visit uslacrosse.org/ladm.

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TryLax. You’ll Love It.

32

TryLax clinics, in 22 states, in the introductory series’ first full year in 2018. Visit uslacrosse.org/trylax for more information.

60 Ways to Play

Get athletes moving and playing freely with this free resource from US Lacrosse 
(uslacrosse.org/60ways)

Confessions of a Skeptic

“I was skeptical of this LADM stuff. I came from Philly and was a two-time All-American in college. But once I saw the difference it was making, it was a no-brainer. Kids who hadn’t scored a goal in their careers were putting up 2-3 a game. Kids who couldn’t catch or throw were now vital parts of our team. It’s all because of the changes we made to practice, aligning with the resources US Lacrosse has out there.”

— Josh Bergey, a former USILA Division III National Attackman of the Year at Salisbury and founder of Bergey’s Lacrosse/Team Money

4,100

Kids age 6-12 who have tried lacrosse for the first time through TryLax, a low-cost and LADM-aligned introduction to the sport launched by US Lacrosse in 2018.

58 Percent

Increase in both shots and dodges in a 12U boys’ exhibition, held at US Lacrosse shortly after the LADM launched in 2016, when playing cross-field vs. full-field lacrosse.

75%

Higher performance from kids who learn a sport in the interleaving method — practicing several related skills together — than their peers taught only by rote skill acquisition.

$35

Cost of attending a TryLax clinic. Each participant receives a Warrior Warp (boys) or a Brine (girls) stick, a Swax Lax ball, and a t-shirt to keep, as well as a one-year membership to US Lacrosse as part of his or her registration fee.

98%

Percentage of players on the last four U.S. national teams (men and women, senior and U19) that played multiple sports in high school.

Pictured: Jared Bernhardt, MVP of the 2016 FIL U19 World Championship, starred as a quarterback at Lake Brantley (Fla.)