The Heirarchy of Youth Lacrosse in Chicago

Travel Leagues

Two organizations run formal inter-program youth leagues in Chicago:  Lacrosse America and True Lacrosse.

Lacrosse America has been running house leagues in Chicago for more than ten years.  They operate lacrosse programs for many park districts throughout the area and run regional leagues for teams from different towns to play each other.

http://www.lacrosseamerica.com/

True Lacrosse runs the Illinois Youth Lacrosse Association which had its innaugural session in the Spring of 2009 and included seven lacrosse programs in three divisions:  7/8 A, 7/8 B and 5/6.

The ILYLA included teams from Aurora/Naperville (Fox Valley Lacrosse), Chicago, Kenilworth, Orland Park, South Bend, Western Springs and Wheaton.

House Leagues

Many towns and Park Districts run house leagues for boys who want to learn lacrosse and develop their skills before venturing into a more serious travel league.

If you want information on your house league included here, please contact me and I will be glad to add it.

Travel Teams

For boys who want to make a more serious commitment to lacrosse, a number of towns have clubs who travel primarily within the Chicago area, but often once or twice a season to regional tournaments to test themselves against teams from other states.  A partial listing of clubs would include:

Chicago
Fox Valley Lacrosse Club (Aurora/Naperville)
Kenilworth
Lake Forest
Northbrook
Orland Park
South Bend, IN
Western Springs
Wheaton
Wilmette
Winnetka

National Travel Teams

Several organization sponsor teams that compete with the best teams nationally.  Typically these organizations have teams for Middle School, JV (Freshmen/Sophomores) and Varsity (Juniors/Seniors).  The exact age divisions never seem to be completely consistent.  More on that.

Teams I am aware of that travel nationally include (alphabetically)

Players Lacrosse

http://www.playersindoor.com/

Team Illinois (sponsored by Lacrosse America)

http://www.lacrosseamerica.com/

Team One Lacrosse

http://www.team1lax.com/

True Lacrosse All Stars

http://www.truelacrosse.com/