Junior Knights Lacrosse Parents,

We hope this letter finds you all well in these difficult days. This communication contains important information about our upcoming fall lacrosse season. As we all adjust to different schedules, and now returning to school, many activities we have become accustomed to look very different, including sports.

The River Ridge Junior Lacrosse program has been working diligently over the past several months to determine the best path forward in order to play this fall. The major hurdle facing most, if not all middle school programs, has been securing field or gym space to hold practices. Cherokee county is not approving any field use requests for middle school programs at this time. This is putting additional pressure on field space through Cherokee County Parks and Recreation (CPRA), which reserves space first for programs registered through that organization.

We have explored numerous options, including private facilities, churches, and other leagues. However, none of these options have been able to guarantee field space for practices or were prohibitively expensive. In working with our counterparts at CPRA, we have determined that the best option for middle school lacrosse to happen for the Fall 2020 season is to register our teams through CPRA’s CYL program.

Important: Registration for CYL is available at https://www.playcherokee.org/209/Cherokee-Youth-Lacrosse-CYL and will close at midnight tomorrow, 8/13. If you do not sign up before then you will not be placed on a team.

If you had already registered for Junior Knights at www.riverridgejrlax.com you will receive a full refund.

We did not arrive at this decision lightly and do apologize for the short notice. As some of you may be aware, other programs in our area have taken similar action, and in other cases, have canceled fall seasons entirely. Program leadership has been working constantly to find a way to make a season happen this fall and have determined this is the only avenue currently available to provide guaranteed field space for practices and games. As we have worked toward a solution, our priorities have been:

1. Identify an option that allows players districted to River Ridge to play fall lacrosse if they choose to do so;
2. Have a way for our players to play together with their teammates from the Junior Knights; and
3. Have our teams coached by our coaches, who are experienced, former players.

To that end, our plan for coaches for our fall season remains unchanged and we are working with CPRA to place River Ridge districted players on the same teams so that your players will continue to be coached by those familiar faces. The Junior Knights program is extremely proud of the coaching staff we have developed and recognize their integral role in player development. CYL coaching positions are volunteer in nature and the CPRA registration fee does not include paid coaching expense, whereas the RRJRLAX registration fee does cover our coaching expense.  As such, we are asking that every player contribute $50 separately via www.riverridgejrlax.com to help offset our coaching expense for this season only. We rely on this fee to continue providing quality coaching for your players and this amount basically equals the difference between CYL’s registration fee and RRJRLAX normal registration fee.

Given the demands on field space and various schedule work arounds, we need to ask for your patience and flexibility this season. In order to get in two practices a week for each team, it may be necessary to practice on Fridays.  In some cases practice schedules may be adjusted by CPRA to accommodate everyone trying to use the fields.

Also, CPRA requires all players to use the same uniform. This will not be the same Junior Knights kit players have come to expect. We have been told that the uniforms run small and if you wish to try one on before you order you can go to the main CPRA office at 7545 Main St Ste. 200, Woodstock, GA 30188, which you will need to do tomorrow.

CPRA is allowing practice to begin as early as next week.  Once registration closes tomorrow at midnight and rosters have been finalized, you will be contacted with your practice days and times. As of right now, the MAYLA schedule remains unchanged, with games beginning the week of September 12^th:

The game is medicine. The staff at CPRA has gone above and beyond to try and make sure there is a season for kids to be able to play. We are grateful to them, for the support of our players and families, and look forward to seeing them out on the field this fall.