TRAVEL

Emerging Competition: Grades 7th/8th

Core Objectives

• Have FUN!
• Refine technical and tactical skills in preparation for high school play
• Develop mental aspects of athletic performance
• Develop situational understanding, decision making and flexibility in thinking 
• Demonstrate growth mindset
• Embrace concepts of individual responsibility, accountability and life lessons learned through athletics

Environment 

• FUN and positive
• Fast-paced: Game-like drills reinforce both technical and tactical skills as well as conditioning
• Players rewarded for both effort and improvement
• Team-focus: Players learn to prioritize team goals vs individual achievement 

Curriculum (Do you want to mention goalie play?)

• Fundamentals: reinforced, executed and refined under defensive pressure 
• Position-specific and defensive skills 
• Rapid decision making
• Identification of patterns and response in game situations
• Field sense: judging space and time, anticipating 
• Bad habits identified and curbed

Game Play/Format

• Modified field/full field scrimmages
• “Set piece” situations (long hits, corners, 25-yard hits in and out of the circle)

Commitment Policy

DJFH encourages participation in other sports.  That said, we believe a commitment to the team becomes increasingly important as athletes approach high school age.  There is no specific commitment policy for grades 1 through 4, but regular attendance is strongly encouraged. 

In 5th-8th grades, an athlete is expected to make a commitment to their team/teammates by attending practices and games (minus excused absences for medical reasons or unavoidable family conflicts).  Unexcused missed practices and/or games will impact playing time.