As August rolls in, the final stretch of summer presents a critical checkpoint for every lacrosse coach. The spring season is long gone, summer tournaments are winding down, and fall practices are just around the corner. Whether you’re leading a varsity program, club team, or youth development squad, now’s the time to ask the big question: Is your lacrosse team truly fall ready?
Here’s how to evaluate your team’s late-summer progress, refocus priorities, and make sure your players hit fall practice with the energy, skills, and chemistry to compete at their highest level.
1. Assess Summer Commitment Levels
Late summer is the moment of truth. Did your players make the most of their offseason? Did they show up for tournaments, attend clinics, or stay consistent with strength training?
Rather than waiting until fall to find out who’s behind, send out a quick team progress check. Encourage players to reflect on what they’ve done—and what they haven’t:
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Have they been consistently training?
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Did they follow through on their off-season strength or speed goals?
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Have they sent film to coaches or followed up on recruiting leads?
Now’s your chance to address gaps in effort or accountability before it's too late.
2. Revisit Offseason Goals
Most athletes set ambitious personal goals at the start of the summer. Some wanted to get faster. Others aimed to improve off-hand shooting or earn a starting role.
Late summer is the checkpoint. Encourage players to evaluate their own growth by asking questions like:
“Did you actually increase your dodge speed?”
“Has your defensive footwork improved?”
“Can you handle contact better now than you could in May?”
These check-ins don’t just reinforce accountability—they build confidence. Players who realize they’ve made real gains are more likely to carry that momentum into fall.
3. Test Conditioning and Game Readiness
After months away from formal practices, your team’s game shape is everything. Even if players were active this summer, their endurance, speed, and agility need a tune-up before fall.
Challenge your team with conditioning benchmarks:
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Timed shuttle runs or ladders
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Sprint recovery intervals
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Core and mobility tests
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Team-based fitness challenges
This can be done virtually or in small in-person groups. The goal isn’t to punish—it’s to help athletes avoid injury, reduce early-season fatigue, and hit the new school year with an edge. If players are lagging in stamina, now is the time to intervene.
4. Start Rebuilding Team Chemistry
One of the biggest pitfalls of late summer is the lack of team cohesion. Club teams split up. Players scatter across showcases. Communication falls off. And then—boom—fall hits and nobody’s on the same page.
If you haven’t already, get your athletes reconnecting:
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Organize informal team scrimmages
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Pair up players by position for stick work or film sessions
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Assign captains to lead end-of-summer group workouts
You don’t need full practices to build chemistry. You just need shared reps, shared goals, and reminders that lacrosse is still a team game.
5. Refocus on Stick Skills
This is the moment to clean up sloppy stickwork before fall begins. Players coming off summer tournaments might have overused their dominant hand. Others may have been focusing on speed or size, letting fundamentals slip.
Encourage 15–20 minutes of focused stick work daily through August:
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Wall ball routines
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Off-hand passing
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Quick-stick and reaction drills
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Ground balls and split dodges under pressure
Every player should be sharpening their mechanics—not just attackers and midfielders. Even goalies and defenders benefit from daily stick reps, especially if they’ve been off the wall for a few weeks.
6. Prep for Fall Tryouts, Tournaments, and Recruiting
Late summer is go-time for college-bound players and athletes hoping to make a splash in the fall season. Showcase events, recruiting tournaments, and varsity tryouts are all coming fast.
Help your players:
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Refresh highlight reels or game film
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Finalize emails to college coaches
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Practice interview or communication skills for coach conversations
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Set performance goals for upcoming tryouts or exposure events
Don’t assume players are prepared. Take the lead in making sure they know what’s coming—and what’s expected.
This is also a great time to run a mock tryout or individual evaluation. It gives athletes a chance to reset their focus and gives you data heading into the fall.
7. Double-Check Gear and Equipment
Before anyone sets foot on the fall practice field, make sure their lacrosse gear is dialed in. Late summer is notorious for revealing last-minute issues:
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Broken heads or warped shafts
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Outgrown gloves or cleats
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Missing mouthguards
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Safety-standard non-compliance (especially for shoulder pads)
Encourage every player to do a full gear check and make necessary replacements now. For returning players, remind them to clean and restring their heads.
Gear Up for Fall with SportStop
Coaches know that success in the fall isn’t about what happens on day one—it’s about what happens in the weeks before. That’s what makes the late summer stretch so valuable. It’s a quiet window for growth, accountability, and preparation.
So before your team hits the ground running in September, take time to check in, reset expectations, and rally your players to finish strong. Show them that being “fall ready” doesn’t just mean showing up—it means showing up better than they were before.
Whether your players need a new head, fresh mesh, or gear to protect them on the field, SportStop has the elite gear they need to perform.
