About Bear Creek Lacrosse
Bear Creek Lacrosse is dedicated to the development of lacrosse in the Southwest Metro area by providing boys and girls the opportunity to learn and play the game in a fun and challenging atmosphere. Bear Creek plays in the Arapahoe Youth League (AYL).  AYL, provides multilevel divisions at each grade level that tries to match teams of equal experience and skills level.  Bear Creek Lacrosse is committed to the principles of the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) and against a “win-at-all-cost” mentality.  PCA calls a Positive Coach a “Double-Goal Coach®.”  A win-at-all-cost coach has only one goal – to win.  A Positive Coach shares that goal (wants to win) but has a second goal that is even more important – to use the sports experience to help young people learn “life lessons” and positive character traits that will help them be successful throughout their lives.
Our teams promote the three PCA principles which have the power to “transform youth sports so that sports can transform youth.”  The three principles are:

• Redefining Winner
• Filling the Emotional Tank, and
• Honoring the Game

Redefining Winner
In professional sports (which is entertainment), there is only one goal – to have the most points at the end of the contest.  However, in youth sports (which is education), there is a second goal: to produce young people who will be winners in life.

To help our children get the most out of competitive sports, we need to redefine what it means to be a “winner.”  Winners are people who:

• Make maximum effort
• Continue to learn and improve
• Refuse to let mistakes (or fear of making mistakes) stop them.

This is called Mastery orientation.  PCA says that the Tree of Mastery is an ELM Tree where ELM stands for:
    Effort
    Leaning
    Rebounding from Mistakes.

Emotional Tank
Research shows that the home team wins about 60% of the time because of the emotional support a team receives when it plays in front of its own fans.  Like gas tanks in cars, athletes have “Emotional Tanks” that need to be filled to do their best.

Honoring the Game
Honoring the game gets to the ROOTS of positive play, where ROOTS stands for

Respect for:
    Rules: We don’t bend the rules to win.
    Opponents: A worthy opponent is a gift that forces us to play to our highest potential.
    Officials: We treat officials with respect even when we disagree.
    Teammates: We never do anything that would embarrass our team on or off the field.
    Self: We live up to our own standards regardless of what others do.

I'm not JUST a coach

“I'm not JUST a coach.

I take my job seriously and comprehensively.
I will teach your kids with excitement, encouragement AND truth and honesty.
I will not allow disrespect, selfishness or laziness from athletes or parents in my club.
I will teach athletes things outside of technique that will change lives - character, determination, options, optimism....
I am a very strong coach - not a harsh coach. There is a difference. It's time we take our responsibility.
I make a difference everyday - not just fill space.
I am not a babysitter or a pushover for anyone.
I make great people with heart and tenacity.
I give way more than my 110%. I answer a zillion emails, plan ahead, spend hours and hours of my personal time doing work for these athletes and parents, come home late, miss dinners, miss friend times and am often exhausted, but I KNOW that I CHOOSE to give MY all and be the best coach I can be in every area of life.
I am a real person - I have down days, up days, sad times and rowdy times; times i need a break, times i push through, times I feel like giving up and times I kick myself in the butt and keep going and it is all okay.
I am a coach and so much more……and I do it because it makes a difference in your child's life - way down the road.
I do it because I want to - not because I have to.
You come to this club because you want to - not because you have to.
Join this club when you are ready and when you want and can handle a REAL coach who may be tough, but has goals, philosophies and vision.
Join this club when and only when you are ready and desire to tackle the next level --- AND you are willing to SUPPORT and DO the work it takes to make that happen.
Together we make a change.”
 

- Amy Howard Schmitt