WDIA NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

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IMPORTANT WDIA DATES 

• December 1, 2009 –
  • Team dues and 2010 WDIA Team Application Form deadline. Late fee applies for all applications not postmarked by this deadline.
  • Deadline for Leagues to submit a representative to the Rankings and Recognition Committees to meet the criteria for an AQ.
• January 15-17, 2010 – USL Convention - Baltimore, MD
• February 15, 2010 – To be eligible for the WDIA National Tournament, teams must complete these requirements by this date:
  • 2010 WDIA Membership Application on file with USL.
  • 2010 WDIA Membership Dues and/or Late Fees (If Applicable) paid in full.
  • Team schedule submitted to LaxPower by this date or by your first scheduled game, whichever is earlier.
    • Titles for tournaments you plan on attending should be listed on your schedule at this time if you are unaware of the exact tournament schedule.
  • USL must have received 2010 WDIA Team Roster Eligibility Verification Form from the League President
    • It is recommended that WDIA Team Roster Eligibility Verification Forms be submitted to the League Presidents by February 1 so that US Lacrosse may receive them by February 15th in one envelope for the entire league.
  • To be eligible for regular season games, players must be listed on 2010 WDIA Team Roster Eligibility Verification Form by this date.
    • Teams playing games prior to February 15th are responsible for adhering to all player eligibility rules and submitting their schedule to LaxPower prior to the start of play.
  • Request for player exceptions or hardship waivers must be submitted by this date.
• February 15, 2010 – Last day to add/drop a game.
• April 18, 2010 – WDIA All-American submissions due to your Regional Recognition Committee Representative.
• April TBD, 2010 – Academic All-American submissions are due.
• April 18, 2010 (9:00 PM PDT) – Each League that has an Automatic Qualification bid to the WDIA Division I National Tournament must submit their representative to the Rankings Committee Chair and the Vice Chair of Governance by this time and date.
• May 5-8, 2010 – WDIA National Tournament - Scottsdale, AZ. Team registration begins the night before.

WDIA Tournament Opportunities

SPRING 2010 TOURNAMENTS

• Santa Barbara Shootout - Feb 12-14, 2010 - Hosted by UC Santa Barbara. For more information please visit the Santa Barbara Shootout page on their website.
• Fun in the Sun Tournament - Feb 26-28, 2010 - Hosted by the University of Miami. For more information please contact Kristen Avvento.
• Lax Out for Leukemia - Mar 20-21, 2010 - Hosted by the Virginia Tech University. For more information please contact Diane Revalski.
• A-Town Throw Down Tournament - March 26-28, 2010 - Hosted by the University of Georgia. For more information please contact Adam Weinstein.
• Pittsburgh Invitational - March 26-28, 2010 - Hosted by the University of Pittsburgh. For more information please contact Gary Neft. 
• Rocky Mountain Shootout - April 2-4, 2010 - Hosted by Colorado State. For more information please contact Kristen Kasney.
• Lindenwood Invitational - April 9-11, 2010 - Hosted by Lindenwood University - St. Charles, MO For more info contact Jack Cribbin. (Tournament - FULL)

If you would like to advertise your tournament for the 2010 season please e-mail the Communications Committee Chair to have it posted on the WDIA Web site.

WDIA News Headlines

WDIA Division I/II Tournament Change (effective 2010)

Oct 13, 2009

Starting in 2010, the annual WDIA National Championship Tournament will include 2 tournaments – Division I (16 teams – generally larger / established teams via the current AQ / at-large selection process) and Division II (8 teams – generally smaller schools, emerging lacrosse programs, or from emerging leagues via an at large selection process).  Both the winning team of WDIA Division I Bracket and the winning team of WDIA Division II Bracket will be crowned "National Champions."

What do teams need to do now?

1. Read the WDIA Division I/II National Tournament Change Document in its entirety to understand where your team falls within the D-I or D-II classification system.
2. If your team has been classified in D-II but you would prefer to be classified as D-I instead, you MUST email the WDIA President (Dave Holdsworth - EMAIL) by February 15, 2010 to opt-up to D-1 for 2010. 

Details: 

• USL Press Release
• WDIA Division I/II National Tournament Change Document will list out the following information:
• Objective
• Rationale for the change
• Specifics
• 2010 Team National Tournament Classifcations - DI/DII
• FAQ Section

Team Classifications:

• Division I Classified Teams - Link
• Division II Classified Teams - Link

Note: Questions relating to the 2010 WDIA Division I/II National Tournament change should be directed to the WDIA President (Dave Holdsworth - EMAIL).

USL Adds D-II to WDIA National Championship Tournament

Oct 8, 2009

BALTIMORE – Starting in 2010, the US Lacrosse Women’s Division Intercollegiate Associates (WDIA) National Championships will include two tournaments for Divisions I and II. Previously, the US Lacrosse WDIA only supported a championship for Division I, which consisted of 16 teams that made their way to the tournament via an automatic qualifier or an at-large bid. The 2010 WDIA Division II tournament will consist of 8 teams from the Division II section of WDIA schools, starting with an at-large selection process in 2010.

The WDIA teams will be classified by the WDIA Council as either Division I or Division II for tournament purposes only. Division II schools are generally smaller schools, emerging lacrosse programs or from emerging leagues via an at-large selection process. Teams classified as Division II may request each year to move up to Division I. Division I teams will generally not be allowed to move down to Division II. In 2010, the WDIA will also release preseason and midseason polls for Division II teams. The WDIA Division I poll will continue to be posted weekly throughout the season.

"US Lacrosse has long supported the growth of the women’s collegiate game, both at the NCAA and club level," said Ann Carpenetti, women’s division director at US Lacrosse. "Through the WDIA, competitive collegiate women’s club lacrosse in the United States has remained a viable and rewarding playing opportunity for thousands of young college women who are either picking up a lacrosse stick for the first time or want to continue playing after high school for a shot at a national title. The growth at this level has been so significant that US Lacrosse believes it is time to offer an additional championship opportunity to smaller or emerging teams outside of the top 16. We are excited about providing a first class experience to even more WDIA teams in 2010, and look forward to seeing who will rise to the top in this inaugural year of the WDIA Division II Championship."

The 2010 US Lacrosse WDIA National Championship will take place May 5-8 in Scottsdale, Ariz. Brine is the official presenting sponsor for the 2010 US Lacrosse WDIA National Championship.

The US Lacrosse WDIA structure consists of more than 186 college club teams from around the country. Further information about the WDIA is available online at www.uslacrosse.org/wdia.

WDIA - 2009/2010 Season Update

Sept 3, 2009

The WDIA Council has now posted the updated 2010 Operating Procedures and Bylaws document. Teams are strongly encouraged read the full document as there are many changes for the 2010 season. If you have any questions or need further clarity please contact any member of the WDIA Council at any time.  Updated team application forms and roster verification forms have also been posted.

Secondarily, the Council would like to announce that the following leagues have been ruled eligible to receive an Automatic Qualifier (AQ) to the 2010 National Championship Tournament provided they meet the criteria set forth in the WDIA Operating Procedures and Bylaws for the 2010 season.

• Eligible Leagues
  • CPWLL
  • ECWLA
  • NCWLL
  • NEWLL
  • NWWLA
  • SWLL
  • TWLL
  • WCLL
  • WWLL
• Ineligible Leagues*
  • CWLL
  • MAWLL
  • RMWLL

* Leagues that have been ruled ineligible can contact the WDIA Council for further clarification as to why you were ruled ineligible.

Event Info - Tournament Bracket - Coach/Team Info - LM Tournament Blog

Virginia Tech's Team-Minded Approach Pays off in Title

May 10, 2009

by Clare Lochary | Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Good times never seemed so good for the Virginia Tech club women's lacrosse team.

The No. 6 seed Hokies beat No. 4 seed Colorado, 17-9, in the 2009 WDIA National Championship on Saturday. A 7-0 run to start the game gave the Hokies an early bounce, and lockdown defense preserved the lead as the student-coached team claimed its first national title. After claiming their trophy, the Tech players sang and danced to the strains of "Sweet Caroline," the favorite song of teammate Erika Bury, a senior defender who missed the season due to leukemia treatments and served as an inspiration during their championship run.

"Colorado is known for coming out and getting up 3-0 really fast, and we wanted to avoid that. Whatever the score was, we just kept saying, 'It's 0-0,'" said student-coach Alex Kazlausky.

Briana Warner led the Hokies with three goals and two assists; goalie Megan Waters had eight saves.

Junior attacker Briana Beach (3g, 1a) opened the scoring, putting a nifty left-handed sidearm shot past Colorado keeper Katherine Mulligan (three saves). Beach's goal kicked off the seven unanswered goals that the struggling Buffs were unable to overcome. Virginia Tech also dominated draw controls and milked long possessions that culminated in quality shots.

"We came out flat. I think we left it all on the field last night (in the semifinals) and didn't have anything left," said Colorado head coach Kaitlin Moore.

Amber Lister (2g) finally got the Buffs on the scoreboard at 13:24 on a penalty shot. Tech freshman defender Megan McDonough largely neutralized Amy Long (2g), who is typically the heart of the Colorado attack. Rebecca Greene led the Buffs with three goals, but two of them came during the last 27 seconds of the game, when the Hokies had a comfortable lead and were watching the clock more than the field.

"We wanted to be composed, but with intensity," said student-coach Mindy Sartori. Sartori, a senior midfielder, was disqualified from the match when she picked up a second yellow card halfway through the second period, but kept her cool on the sidelines as she guided her squad to victory. Her calm demeanor was typical of Tech's team-minded approach to the game.

In addition to winning the title, the Hokies avenged a 9-7 loss to Colorado in February. That game was played in an unlikely snowstorm in Atlanta after just three practices; this one went down in the desert heat after a season full of surprises good and bad.

"Last year in Denver, we saw Colorado State win and we said, ‘That could be us next year.' But I don't think we really believed it," said Sartori.

UC Santa Barbara Earns Top Seed for US Lacrosse WDIA National Championship

April 21, 2009

BALTIMORE – UC Santa Barbara has earned the top seed for the 2009 US Lacrosse Women’s Division Intercollegiate Associates (WDIA) National Championship Tournament, presented by Brine. The 16-team tournament will be held May 6-9 at the Scottsdale Sports Complex in Scottsdale, Ariz. The championship game is set for May 9 at 12:30 p.m.

UCSB completed an 18-2 season record with a 12-10 victory over No. 2 ranked Santa Clara in the Western Women’s Lacrosse League championship game, earning the league’s automatic bid to the tournament.

Six other teams earned automatic qualifiers to the tournament field by virtue of winning conference championships: No. 7 seed Lindenwood (Women’s Collegiate Lacrosse League), No. 10 seed Florida (Southeastern Women’s Lacrosse League), No. 13 seed Minnesota (North Central Women’s Lacrosse League), No. 14 seed Texas (Texas Women’s Lacrosse League), No. 15 seed Connecticut Club (New England Women’s Lacrosse League) and No. 16 seed West Chester Club (East Coast Women’s Lacrosse Association).

Nine at-large invitations were also awarded: No. 2 seed Santa Clara, No. 3 seed Colorado State, No. 4 seed Colorado, No. 5 seed Cal Poly, No. 6 seed Virginia Tech Club, No. 8 seed Michigan, No. 9 seed UCLA, No. 11 seed Central Florida, and No. 12 seed Georgia.

Colorado State snapped Cal Poly’s 28-game winning streak to win the US Lacrosse WDIA National Championship last spring. CSU won 8-5 in overtime at Denver’s Invesco Field at Mile High. The victory ended Cal Poly’s seven-year run as the national champion.

The US Lacrosse WDIA structure consists of more than 165 college club teams from around the country. Further information about the WDIA is available online at www.uslacrosse.org/wdia.

Youth Lacrosse Clinic in Scottsdale - Together with AZ Girls Lacrosse, US Lacrosse will host "200 StiX" at the Scottsdale Sports Complex in conjunction with the WDIA National Championship Game. The event will provide 200 lacrosse sticks for girls who would like to try the sport or are new to the sport. It will be held on Saturday, May 9, 2009, just before the WDIA National Championship game. The two-hour clinic will start at 10:00 a.m. For more information and to register, please visit http://www.uslacrosse.org/news/2009/arizonagirls.phtml.

First Round Games
No. 1 UC Santa Barbara vs. No. 16 West Chester Club
No. 2 Santa Clara vs. No. 15 Connecticut Club
No. 3 Colorado State vs. No. 14 Texas
No. 4 Colorado vs. No. 13 Minnesota
No. 5 Cal Poly vs. No. 12 Georgia
No. 6 Virginia Tech Club vs. No. 11 Central Florida
No. 7 Lindenwood vs. No. 10 Florida
No. 8 Michigan vs. No. 9 UCLA

Brine is the official presenting sponsor for the 2009 US Lacrosse Women’s Division Intercollegiate Associates National Championship. Elite Lacrosse is the official retailer for the event. The Phoenix Regional Sports Commission is the host organization for the championship.

The WDIA Council would like to announce that the following leagues will be eligible to receive an Automatic Qualifier (AQ) bid to the 2009 WDIA National Tournament. The full field of 16 teams will be selected by the WDIA Rankings Committee on Monday April 20th with a formal announcement to follow by USL only after all 16 teams have accepted their respective bid to the tournament.

As a reminder, each member league must have their AQ for the 2009 WDIA National Championship Tournament decided and submitted to Gabe Valenzuela and Lissa Fickert by 9 PM PDT on Sunday April 19th. Communication of your league's AQ should be made by email (valenzug@usc.edu and lfickert@woh.rr.com) AND by phone/text message - Gabe Valenzuela (323) 217-2270.  Leagues are strongly encouraged to re-read the WDIA Rankings Committee Document prior to this weekend's deadline.

Last, please make sure your team will represent your league for the duration of the tournament and will attend all required events at the Championships.  Failure to adhere to the set guidelines outlined by the WDIA in any and all of its policy documents (Bylaws, Operating Procedures and Rankings Documents) can and will jeopardize your league's AQ. Should you have any questions, please contact the Rankings Committee Chair - Gabe Valenzuela.

2009 Automatic Qualifier Leagues

• CPWLL - Central Plains Women's Lacrosse League*

• ECWLA - East Coast Women's Lacrosse League

• NCWLL - North Central Women's Lacrosse League

• NEWLL - New England Women's Lacrosse League

• SWLL - Southern Women's Lacrosse League

• TWLL - Texas Women's Lacrosse League

• WCLL - Women's Collegiate Women's Lacrosse League

• WWLL - Western Women's Lacrosse League

*The CPWLL has notified the WDIA Council that they will turn down their AQ for the 2009 and 2010 season.

Please see the 2009 WDIA National Championship Event Page for all information relating to this year's tournament.

Event Description
The US Lacrosse Intercollegiate Associates National Championship showcases the nation's top 16 Women's Intercollegiate Associates lacrosse teams at the same venue. The event is hosted and managed by US Lacrosse, the national governing body of lacrosse.

Event Location
The 16 teams selected for the championship will compete at the Scottsdale Sports Complex, which is serving as the event's host site for the first time.

Scottsdale Sports Complex
www.scottsdalesportscomplex.com
8081 E. Princess Drive
Scottsdale, Arizona 85255

As a coach of the women's game, you know that teaching, following and enforcing the rules of women's lacrosse means that you share the responsibility to honor the origins of the game, commit to the core values of the game's culture, respect all participants and recognize the value of fair play in the letter and the spirit of the game.

There has been growing concern in recent years over the reality/perception of head injuries in the women's game. The integrity of the women's game is seriously threatened by this issue, and the threat is caused by both the perception and reality of head injuries in the women's game. US Lacrosse is working to quantify head injuries empirically through collaboration and investment in injury research at the college, high school and, soon, youth levels. But we also have to face the facts – parents, administrators and bureaucrats don't care about the history and culture of women's lacrosse. The thing they care about most is the health and safety of the athletes under their care. We have to mobilize the leaders of women's lacrosse, especially coaches and officials, to address this issue comprehensively and proactively while we wait for additional empirical research to develop. We all must focus our attention on achieving an appropriate balance between the reasonable safety of players, winning, and the integrity of the sport.

This is not an issue that was caused or accelerated by the decision to mandate eyewear in 2004 – it's much more complex and multi-faceted; factors include: the dramatic growth of the women's game; inconsistent coaching and officiating; greater pressure to perform as a result of recruiting tournaments and private clubs; the societal acceptance of girls and women in sport over the last 20 years; and the fact that the typical girl playing sports today cares less about tradition than about being the best athlete she can be. The issue is also compounded by team and tournament administrators, coaches, and officials who are allowed to completely disregard rules and mechanics intended to emphasize player safety. Instead, these groups or individuals who either don't understand the ramifications of their actions or don't care about the integrity of the sport or player safety are allowed to continue to behave irresponsibly.

The Women's Division of US Lacrosse is asking all members of the women's lacrosse community, including NCAA and WDIA coaches, to take this threat seriously and commit the time, energy and personal integrity to address these concerns.  USL continually fields questions regarding the consideration of helmets, and this past year New York first voted in helmets for high school girls, then rescinded the vote while waiting to see what will happen in the coming season. P>

This effort will be difficult and must be multi-faceted. Tough rule changes, accountability of umpires to officiate games only according to NCAA or US Lacrosse rules/mechanics or else lose their rating and assignments, accountability of coaches who participate in or attend games/tournaments in which uncertified umpires are used, accountability of coaches whose teams demonstrate reckless play, etc. We must be leaders in this area or risk losing the women's game as we believe it should be played.

Thank you for your attention to these issues and for considering integrating them into your coaching and teaching.

Respectfully,

Laura Hebert

President, Women's Division - US Lacrosse

February 15, 2009

LMO's Jac Coyne had the skinny from (sometimes) sunny Santa Barbara, where the WDIA world converged this weekend for the Santa Barbara Shootout. Check out Jac Coyne's SB Shootout Blog.

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The coach of a nationally-ranked WDIA program was overheard on the sidelines of the Santa Barbara Shootout uttering a familiar refrain: "I saw them last weekend at a scrimmage. It's Cal Poly and then the rest of the WDIA."

Are the Mustangs to be considered prohibitive favorites for the national title again this year even after losing to Colorado State in overtime of last year's championship game?

Or was the statement just a reflex; a verbal remnant from the seven-straight crowns Cal Poly won between 2001 and 2007?

The answer won't be known until the top teams - and Cal Poly will undoubtedly be one of them - gather in Phoenix later this spring for the tournament.

But what is known is the Cal Poly coaching staff and players are still searching for the most appropriate way to treat last year's setback, even if it's sometimes contradictory.

"It's not like we come in with the expectation that the national championship is ours," said Mike Windall, the Mustangs' second-year head coach. "We have to earn it. From day one, we said last year doesn't matter."

"But at the same time last year does matter, because we had a great season," countered Jaime Oetman, the captain of last year's team and now an assistant for the team. "We made it to the national championship game and no one ever expected us to. We're very proud of that."

It is understandable that the coaching staff would have a difficult time finding the right role for the 2007 season. On one hand, Cal Poly finished the regular season with an un-Poly-like record of 10-7 and had their title streak snapped. On the other, the Mustangs were written off early in the season when they started out 3-3, and still managed to be an overtime session away from No. 8.

Link to Full Story

Photo Info: © Dirk Dewachter

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- Jen Dunbar says it takes about an hour to drive from Birmingham, Mich., a suburb north of Detroit, to Ann Arbor, the home of the University of Michigan. If there's one person who should know, it's Dunbar.

She drives it every night from January through May as she commutes between her two jobs.

Dunbar starts out at Birmingham Seaholm High School, where she has coached the girls' lacrosse team for the past seven years and won the past two Michigan state championships. Her work ends at UM, where Dunbar is the women's lacrosse coach trying to lift the Wolverines to the top of the WDIA heap.

"It's long days," said Dunbar.

The ability to coach both the top high school team in the state and one of the top college club teams in the country would seem like an impossibility. There can't be enough time to massage the daily practice schedules along with resolving the game commitments - Birmingham Seaholm plays 18 regular season games, Michigan about 15 - in locations 44 miles apart, right?

"It's worked out well," countered Dunbar. "We have practice from 10 p.m. until midnight at UM and we have practice from 6 to 8 p.m. at the high school. It's an hour drive to Ann Arbor. And I set up the game schedules, so I'm able to manipulate things."

This year, the drives won't be so lonely, as Dunbar has convinced her assistants at Birmingham Seaholm, Ginny Hughes and Kasey Hughes, to make the trip with her. The Hughes duo couldn't make the commute fit their work schedules last year, but this spring the entire group is back together...all day.

Link to Full Story

Photo Info: © Dirk Dewachter

With over 140 sessions at this year's US Lacrosse National Convention, it's completely understandable if you missed a presentation or two. The good news is that notes and videos from many of the speakers are now available in our online library.  Click Here

As the fastest growing youth sport in America, lacrosse is being played by more young girls and women today because it's fun, fast, cool and relatively easy to pick up a stick and get in the game. As a result, the lacrosse community has experienced shortages of properly trained umpires and coaches relative to growing player interest across the country.

While US Lacrosse continues to work diligently with local communities to address these needs, the game continues to grow faster than its supporting infrastructure.  The addition of more and more individuals new to women's lacrosse as coaches and umpires may actually be threatening the characteristics that embody the spirit of the traditional women's game. Slow changes in the way the game is being coached and played, as well as increased visibility of the college game through increased media coverage, have contributed to growing concerns expressed by parents and administrators over player safety.

In an effort to proactively address these concerns, US Lacrosse and its Women's Lacrosse Safety and Education Committee has developed an outreach campaign to raise the level of dialogue among parents, players, coaches, umpires and administrators, about our shared responsibility in maintaining the safety and integrity of the women's game.

Read More: Women's Lacrosse Safety Education and Outreach Campaign (pdf file

The Black Knights' coach has established the Long Gray Line of women's lacrosse

October 24, 2008

by Jac Coyne, Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff

When Marie Johnson finished her career with the Harvard women's lacrosse team in 1985, she figured that was it. She had a great run, but there were other goals off the turf she wanted to pursue. Namely, earning a doctorate in geology from Brown University.

With lacrosse seemingly out of her blood after nearly a decade away from the game, it still managed to drag Johnson - and that's Dr. Johnson to you - back in. A professor of geology at the United States Military Academy at West Point, Johnson was lured onto the lacrosse field in the mid-90s and hasn't left the Black Knights' program since.

Last spring, Army won the East Coast Women's Lacrosse Association (ECWLA) to earn a bid to the Women's Division Intercollegiate Associates (WDIA) championship. Countdown caught up with Dr. Johnson to find out the current state of the Long Gray Line of Army women's lacrosse.

MORE

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