Hand Gesture of the Week: Slashing

Ok, those that know me are probably scratching their heads, wondering where I'm going with this. Right or wrong, I've been known to flip someone off. Usually it's in jest with a friend who's being a jerk or that dork driver who has no idea what a turn signal is. But in this case, you're safe! While maybe not as fun, we'll be discussing referee hand signals for lacrosse.

So, I'm three years into this game and while I'm getting better at interpreting the wild and crazy gestures made by the ref, there are still many that are as mysterious as the lost continent of Atlantis or the Bermuda Triangle. I've decided to really try and learn the signals and in the process, want to share that with you. Each week I'll be discussing one referee signal, what it means and when possible, posting with a video of the offense and gesture itself. But before we get into the actual signals, you should know the difference between a personal foul and a technical foul. A personal foul involves an infraction that has malicious intent. These penalties are punished by one to three minutes in the penalty box depending on the severity. A technical foul usually involves a moving or time violation. They usually result in a 30 second penalty if the fouling team doesn't have the ball at the time of the foul. If the fouling team had the ball at the time of the foul, the ball is awarded to the team that was fouled. Ok, now we have that down-pat, let's get to the hand gesture of the week...SLASHING (and not the kind Freddy Krueger is so fond of).

SLASHING is a poke in the ribs, chest, neck or back. It's a vicious, uncontrolled swinging of the stick, whether contact is made or not. This is considered a personal foul. Below is a video that reviews the rule and the gesture made by the ref.

Here are some videos of actual slashes during a game:

Well, that's it for our first installment of "Hand Gesture of the Week." I hope it was beneficial and watch for my next blog.

References:

• Lacrosse Rules & Regulations
• Laxtown
• US Lacrosse

U This & That, What It Really Means in Lacrosse

Are you and your child new to lacrosse? Or, like me, have a couple years under your belt, but still aren't 100% positive what it means when a program lists something like "14U" or "2023." I did a little research and found a couple articles on the US Lacrosse site that explains the breakdown and the logic behind it. I'm going to share that with you below in the hopes it'll help everyone.

The break-down of lacrosse groups by age is called player segmentation. Knowing which group your child should play in can be confusing at times, especially when programs combine age levels on one team or list one age level, but include multiple grades in that group. For most programs you will see something like "14U" - the 14 is the maximum age for that group, the U meaning under that maximum age. As we all know your child may be a young 7th grader or an olders 1st grader. In that situation, look to the year your child was born as the determining factor in conjunction with how US Lacrosse defines a playing year (September 1 - August 31). 

Now...many areas don't have enough players to field one team at each level. I know the Erie, PA area is like this. So levels are combined on one team. You may see a grouping like 13U / 14U or 11U / 12U. In those situations look to the highest number, that is the maximum age that can be on the team. Some teams may not list out 13U / 14U but are a combined age range. Same rule applies regarding maximum age allowed on the team. If you aren't sure, simply contact the program administrator for details. US Lacrosse typically doesn't like age groups spanning greater than 24 months due to a variety of reasons.

Next question you may ask is, "Why do I see graduation year listed for some programs?" Great question and can lead to some confusion when looking a programs. Graduation year is the year your child will graduate from high school. Typically you see this listed when looking at programs for high school aged players. You will also see graduation year listed for many lacrosse camps, tournaments & recruiting events, even for ages younger than high school. You can use the chart below as a loose reference and when in doubt, check with your program administrator for clarification. 

Max Age / Grade / Graduation Year
7U / 1st grade / 2029	13U / 7th grade / 2023
8U / 2nd grade / 2028	14U / 8th grade / 2022
9U / 3rd grade / 2027	15U / 9th grade / 2021
10U / 4th grade / 2026	16U / 10th grade / 2020
11U / 5th grade / 2025	17U / 11th grade / 2019
12U / 6th grade / 2024	18U / 12th grade / 2018

I hope this helps clarify program ages & guidelines. If you would like additional information, please check out:

• US Lacrosse
• US Lacrosse Player Segmentation
• Detailed Player Segmentation Information
• US Lacrosse Player Segmentation Policy and FAQ

Thank you and enjoy your time on the field.

Sun Basket - Is It Worth It?

"Summer's here and the time is right for dancing in street..." I'm sitting watching David Bowie and Mick Jagger frolic around (yes, I would consider it frolicing) in typical 80s garb. I'm not sure which I'm chuckling at more, the dancing or the clothes. Now, if I had time to dance in the street I just may if only to bug my son who thinks my dancing is embarrassing. Trust me I know I ain't got rhythm, but sometimes it's just fun to dance. What would make me more happy than dancing? Finding easy, quick and healthy meals to serve up. In this installment of "Glutton for Punishment" we'll see if Sun Basket is all it's cracked up to be and will get me dancing in the streets.

Of course I found a coupon for the Sun Basket meal service, I'm too cheap to try things like this without one. Ok maybe cheap isn't the right word, let's go with frugal. Nope, still blah...let's try smart. Yup, I'm too smart to try things like this without a coupon. I signed up at their site which was easy.

I selected the Paleo plan. They also have Chef's Choice, Lean & Clean, Gluten-free, Vegetarian, Mediterranean, Vegan, Pescatarian, Diabetes-friendly and Quick & Easy.  Reviewed my recipes and swapped out the ones that didn't sound good or I know my son would complain about. I know I should just make him eat it and for the most part I do, but when you're a single mom, sometimes you just don't have the energy to argue. A couple weeks later my first box arrived. Outside looked great, inside was well packed, there was nothing leaking or mushed. Each meal came in its own brown paper bag. And what I really liked, everything is recyclable. Yup, even the ice packs. Halle-freakin-lujah!

That's one thing that bothered me about the other services, I mean you can only have so many ice packs in your freezer. It also comes with a recipe book that not only gives you the recipes, but helpful cooking tips, ideas on how to get your kids involved with cooking and easy substitutions or additions. Not a bad start.

The recipe I decided to try first was Spicy Yuba Noodle Stir-fry with Citrus Miso Dressing and Mango. Long recipe name and hopefully you can get past the fact that yuba noodles are made from the skin that forms on the surface when soy milk cooks and the proteins and fats rise to the top. Yeah, totally don't think about it. I prepped the ingredients.

 I'll have to admit on this recipe some of the prep work was a pain in the a$$. They asked you to cut thin strips of pea pods for garnish. A bit intensive for a quick, weekday meal. I ended up only doing a couple and saved the rest to slap on a salad. One thing I did like is the directions told you what to prep, cook, etc in the order that made the overall cooking efficient. Cooked everything up, plated, sprinkled black sesame seeds on top (which, by the way, I think look like roasted ticks and they taste like dirt, imho) and took a bit. The spicy noodles combined with the mango was a nice combination. I enjoyed the dish and the leftovers tasted great too. I went with the vegetarian version, but you could easily add shrimp or another protein in the dish. Sun Basket gives you that option as well as an option to select organic meat. It's an upcharge but many folks think if everything else you're eating in the meal is organic why mess it up with non-organic meat. But the option is yours.

Later in the week I went onto cook the Greek Orzo Salad with White Beans Tomatoes and Feta, another veggie options which was very tasty both warm and made a great cold salad. The last recipe in the box was Lettuce-wrapped Turkey Burgers with Basil Mayo and Warm Peach Salad. This last recipe was a fail for multiple reasons. One, the ground turkey came out of the container the consistency of toothpaste. It was impossible to form into burgers and I decided to grill. The patty-like things seeped down between the grill bars. Two, when I pulled the turkey "burgers" off the grill with my tomatoes and peaches, I managed to dump everything on the deck. I set Gizmo (my dog) to work cleaning up what I couldn't pick up. Three, the mayo that was going to be infused with basil was just nasty. Too much tang or something, blah. I can't actually tell you how any of it tasted, but my son was thrilled when we ordered out that night and I found that the majority of you are NOT turkey burger fans. Who knew?

I've decided to keep the subscription for a couple more weeks to try a few more recipes. I've also changed the plan to "Clean & Lean" and will check out different recipe options. I'd like to see if the consistency of quality products on delivery remain. I may also try some of the "add-ons" they have like hummus and red pepper dip, healthy snacking options at your fingertips. So far it's been a positive experience. Pros: Easy to sign-up and make adjustments. The food that I actually got to eat was flavorful and all containers / shipping packages, including the ice packs, are recyclable. Cons: Some of the prep-work was a bit detailed for a week-day dinner and the one recipe was questionable. At the moment the pros outweigh the cons.

Why don't you give it a try for yourself, here's a quick link to get you started: Sun Basket. As always, let me know what you think and what you want me to try out next.

Review: Go ReadyMade - Skip It

As you know, I'm always on the lookout for a quick, easy way to feed the kiddo. Between working more and running from practice to practice, it's challenging. Fast food, while convenient, is not that healthy and won't help me or my child health-wise. So when I run across a coupon to try a new meal service and it's reasonably priced, I give it a shot. Today's review is for Go ReadyMade. This service is a little bit different where you just have to stick it in the oven, microwave, grill it and eat. I was thinking, "Awesome! It's a healthy Hungry Man TV dinner." (Do they even still make those anymore?) Let's just say Hungry Man was a lot tastier.

What they claim is no prep required, heat and eat meals, delicious meals with no hassle. The box arrived, it was well packed and had the requisite ice packs.

Took everything out and there were four containers with the meals. The meat was in a air sealed package so not to contaminate anything else (that's good right?). The sauces were in little baggies and the directions were on the back of the package cover. The font for the directions is on the small side, which meant I had to pull out my cheaters to make dinner. Keep in mind, I hate wearing my cheaters (like I am right now typing this), it's a reminder that I'm getting old, lol. Which I am, but I don't want reminded of this fact 😒 First up was the Cauliflower Mac and Cheese. I popped it in the over for 25 min. My son and I tried it and it was actually tasty. I'm thinking we're off to a good start. A couple days later we tried the Steak with Cauliflower Mac and Cheese (my son had this one) and the Smoky Chicken Fajitas (I gave this one a whirl). The steak had to be opened up, which was no small feat, and cooked, I chose the grill. Decided to microwave the Cauliflower Mac and Cheese this time so I wouldn't also have to turn on the oven. At the same time I microwaved the fajita meat. Verdict...while the Cauliflower Mac & Cheese was still tasty, the chicken and the steak itself left a lot to be desired. The steak, while not fatty, was not tender. You also need to make sure that you season it well or it'll be bland.

The chicken was tough but edible due to the fajita fixin's. Not the most enjoyable meals we've had.

I decided to let the subscription continue. A couple more steak meals arrived, a couple pork and a couple pasta. One of the meals had arugula on the side, just arugula, nothing else to put in the salad and you had to provide your own dressing. To cook the meat, you had to remove the arugula and put it in a bowl or something...it just wasn't an efficient process. The meat, in each instance, you had to season the heck out of it and they still weren't that tasty plus the sauces they provided, didn't make it much better. I cancelled the subscription after a couple weeks. As with most of these meal services, the signup / cancellation process is easy. In addition, you can swap out your meals for what looks more appetizing to you. Unfortunately, I can't recommend this service to you based on the flavor of the meals / quality of meat we had. There was just something missing.

As always, let me know your thoughts on meal services / subscriptions. Next up for review: Sun Basket