We are getting there! This is still a work in process and not all the final functionality will go live at the same time but we are really getting close.  Hopefully by the end of the weekend we will be up and running with the new redesign. For those interested in how it will look, here is a sneak peek: http://fln.mattplu.com/ There will be some things different from what you see.  We’ve made a decision to separate the High School and Recruiting pages, as well as the Youth and Club pages and I am working with our great web engineer (I guess that’s the term for him!) and hopefully we’ll be up and running before the end of the weekend. The Store page will take some time to flesh out. Some of the highlights: The Home Page will obviously be far more dynamic, both in look and functionality.  Unlike the old site, which is really more of an online newspaper, we will have multiple content pages based on the categories at the top of each page.  The YouTube player and section will take a little longer to flesh out but we have big plans for that one too. There is a Facebook aspect of this as you will see a new Bar where many types of submissions are available to help us increase the content for the site.  Commitment articles have more of an interview feel to it, Game Recaps are better laid out, you can give us a heads up on media stories we can link to, etc., Even a Job Openings submission for all levels of play! The High School coverage gets a regionalized feel to it, as we break up coverage by basically the four US Lacrosse regions.  We welcome the Tampa Lacrosse Twitter feed (they are covering the entire US Lacrosse Gulf Coast region at all levels of play) to our coverage and will also look for other regional Twitter feeds and coverage to enhance geographic spread.  Many of you have indicated a desire to have coverage of those areas outside of my normal travel schedule permits and we have listened to you!  Both Mike Loveday of Lax Records and Ty Xanders of Recruiting Rundown have given us the go ahead to embed their Twitter feeds in the High School page. Each college playing at the varsity or MCLA level will now have their own section on the College Page too. Youth will focus on 2 things . . . instruction and appreciating the game. The Club Page will be where Clubs, Travel programs, Recreation leagues, etc., will be able to advertise their programs and we will be issuing shortly the new guidelines concerning that advertising.  Those who know me know that we are trending away from the actual results of club events over the weekend, unless it pertains to traveling outside the state to a national event.  I have a desire to see the younger kids start to enjoy the club events more and the coverage will shade that way. One initiative we are very excited about is to finally come up with an approach to making the sport more enjoyable to the parents, and the Parent’s Corner will focus on that aspect.  There will be videos to start from YouTube and other sources for learning about the background of the sport, Understanding the Rules, Understanding Offense, Understanding Defense, etc., so that your knowledge of what you are watching will be enhanced!  We are also looking at the type of content that will help you to better understand the interpretation of the Rules, since there is certainly a need to find a way to reduce the complaints coming from the spectators and we hope to help bridge that gap with a more proactive approach to having the referees explain the nuances of calling a game. And as part of the Parent’s Corner we are initiating a Message Forum that will be limited to helping parents to swap info on travel issues, such as where to stay on a showcase trip, restaurants that were well worth eating at, etc.  Kind of a Yelp for the traveling lacrosse family, combined with swapping helpful tips learned during the recruiting process.  It will NOT be a place for complaining about ref calls, bashing coaches or other types of non-useful purposes.  It’s for Parent knowledge only. Take a look at the new format, realizing that it will have some more content pages over the next 36-48 hours (please be patient, changing formats also means re-classifying old articles to fit new categories!). Oh, and remember one more thing, we were very clear about reaching the limits of what FREE provides.  We will be initiating a number of exciting and valuable Affiliate Marketing opportunities and we think you will find them beneficial!  The more you support our affiliates the more we can reinvest into expanding our scope!