Although it may seem early, it is essential to register players, particularly for travel teams, well in advance of the start of the spring season. A lot goes on behind the scenes in preparation for the season.  For example, game scheduling among all the area teams occurs mid-winter.  Also, CONNY, the governing body of youth lacrosse in our area, requires a declaration in late January of how many teams we anticipate fielding and their level of competitiveness. Consequently, in order to schedule sufficient games and appropriate match-ups, we need to know how many teams we will field and the approximate skill level of each. Beyond scheduling, a headcount allows us to ensure an adequate equipment and uniform supply, conduct evaluations, register players with US Lacrosse for player insurance benefits, and request and allocate the fields that we'll need for practice and for games.