HOCO

lacrosse club

The club

HOCO Girls Lacrosse is the highest level of competitive girls lacrosse offered in the Howard County Lacrosse Program – one of the largest and longest-standing programs in the county. As a true non-profit organization operating under the umbrella of Howard County Rec & Parks, HOCO is the natural next step for youth players in the area looking for a higher level of training and competitio

Our Mission

To help players of all ages develop and strengthen their lacrosse skills at a higher competitive level, while gaining more game awareness through both tournament and league play. We strive to help every girl improve as a lacrosse player and teammate, both on and off the field, while maintaining a positive growth environment. We encourage and believe in the value of our players being multi-sport athletes, and while we practice and play year-round, the commitment level in the Fall and Winter is minimal. No player is penalized for prioritizing other sports in the Fall/Winter, while we expect lacrosse to take priority in the Spring/Summer. On the sidelines and off the field, we pride ourselves on building a fun, encouraging, supportive, social, and family-like community within and between the teams at all levels.

Age Groups

HOCO Girls Lacrosse is the highest level of competitive girls lacrosse offered in the Howard County Lacrosse Program – one of the largest and longest-standing programs in the county. As a true non-profit organization operating under the umbrella of Howard County Rec & Parks, HOCO is the natural next step for youth players in the area looking for a higher level of training and competitio

Dues

Shortly after tryouts, once the final roster has been set, all players will be required to pay a non-refundable “Acceptance Fee,” which will be applied to your club dues. This fee is 50% of your total dues. One of the many things that make our club so special and unique is that due to our non-profit status, all of the dues you pay go right back into your child’s team. These dues include player packs for each player, practice fees, tournament fees, club level specialty training, team level specialty training, paid coaches, etc. Being a non-profit also allows us to keep our dues more affordable than most other clubs! Total club dues vary by team, and range from -$500 for Devo to -$1,250 for the younger ages to -$2,100 for the older teams. As the teams progress into the later middle school and high school years, club dues include more resources related to performance training (speed/strength training, nutrition, mental health) and college recruiting (game film/video, education and support on the recruiting process and strategies. memberships to recruiting sites, building of recruiting profiles for individual players, etc).

Practices

Teams usually practice once a week in the Fall, 2-3 times a month in the Winter, and twice a week in the Spring. As a program under the Howard County Parks & Rec umbrella, HOCO Lacrosse has priority access to the best Howard County turf and grass fields for both Fall and Spring practices. Winter practices are held at various indoor facilities in the area.

Leagues

In the Spring, most of our 3rd – 8th grade teams will compete in the Mid-Atlantic Division of the , playing teams from the DMV area. Weekly games are played on a Saturday or Sunday from late March through mid-May, at locations usually no more than one hour away (with 1-2 weekend games being local to Howard County). A few of our younger teams and “B” teams may choose to play more locally in the , which is a step above rec, but not quite as competitive as the NGLL. In the Winter, many teams will play in a weekend indoor league at the Coppermine. DuBurns Arena in Baltimore. This is a 7v7 league, so most teams will stagger players based on availability, with most girls given the opportunity to play 3-4 games over the course of the season. High school-age teams will compete for their respective high schools in the Spring, and compete as a team only in the Fall and Summer tournament seasons.

Tournaments

This can vary among age groups and from team to team. Most younger teams compete in 1-2 Fall Tournaments and 2-3 Spring/Summer Tournaments. Most older teams will compete in 2-3 local Fall Tournaments (late October/early November), 1 local pre-season/Spring Tournament (March), and 3-4 Summer Tournaments (early June – mid July). Most Summer tournaments are local enough where no hotel/overnight stays are needed, but most teams choose to enter at least 1-2 “destination” tournaments to experience the camaraderie and bonding of a weekend away with their teammates and families. Some of the more popular destination tournaments are near the DE/MD beaches, Hersheypark, and the NJ shore. The majority of tournaments for 1st-8th grade teams are completed before July 4th, although a handful of teams may have 1 tournament in July.

coaches

We hire both parent and non-parent coaches with extensive lacrosse and coaching backgrounds. For bios on some of our coaches, visit our website HERE and click on any team roster to learn more. Are you interested in coaching? If so, please contact Melissa Zohdi at .
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