How to Set Up a Lacrosse Stat Crew for Game Day

A lacrosse stat crew is the small group that records your game as it happens. For most high school teams that means one dedicated stat keeper, with an assistant coach or a second volunteer covering whatever the keeper can't. Get the people, their jobs, and a short pregame routine settled before the first game and the rest of the season runs on its own.

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How many people do you need on a stat crew?

You need one person who does nothing but record stats. Anyone who is also coaching, running substitutions, or watching their own kid will miss plays, and a missed ground ball can't be recovered later.

A second person is worth having if you want the full list: goals, assists, shots, ground balls, caused turnovers, faceoffs, clears, penalties, saves. One keeper can handle all of it with practice, but a second set of eyes helps most in the first few weeks, when your keeper is still learning where the buttons are. You can also split the work by half or by quarter if your volunteers would rather not commit to a full game.

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Who should keep stats for your team?

Pick someone who sits still, watches the whole field, and knows your players by number. A parent who already comes to every game is often better than a coach, because the coach's attention belongs on the bench.

Some teams use a bench player who is injured, or a manager. Good keepers tend to be the people who don't mind watching the ball instead of the score. If a parent volunteers, tell them what each stat means before game day. A ground ball is any loose ball a player picks up during live play, and a caused turnover is a takeaway your defender forced with a check or pressure. Those two cause the most disagreements about what counts.

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How do you add stat keepers to your SquadProfile team?

Give each person their own account on your staff instead of sharing yours. In SquadProfile, open the People screen and switch to the Staff tab, where your head coach, assistants, and stat keepers are listed with their roles. Each person who hasn't accepted yet shows as Pending, and the Invite button sends the invite.

Roles are head coach, assistant coach, stat keeper, and manager. The person you invite picks up the role you assigned when they accept, so a parent you add as a stat keeper joins as a stat keeper. Send invites a few days before the first game, not the morning of, because people forget passwords and email addresses.

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What should you prepare before game day?

Prepare the roster, the roles, and one practice run. The roster needs correct jersey numbers, since your keeper will tap numbers all game. If you carry players over from last season, check for changes. Our guide to the men's lacrosse stats we track and the women's lacrosse equivalent list every stat so you can decide which ones matter to your staff.

Then decide the rules your keeper will follow when a play is unclear:

• Who decides when a loose ball is a ground ball and when it's a turnover? Usually the keeper, and the coach agrees to live with it.
• Do you track penalties and extra-man situations in the same game as everything else, or only the scoring plays your staff cares about?
• Who answers questions from parents after the game? Pick one person.

Have your keeper record a scrimmage or a few minutes of practice before the opener. The screen where you record a stat lays out player numbers on the left and stat buttons on the right (Goal, Shot on Goal, Ground Ball, Faceoff, Clear, Save, Penalty, and more), and a practice run is how a new volunteer learns it.

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What does the stat keeper do during the game?

The keeper taps the player's number and then the stat, as each play finishes. For a goal, the app asks for the time, the goal type, and who assisted. The rest of the staff can look at the live numbers on the sideline without asking the keeper to stop.

Tell your keeper that being a few seconds behind is fine and that skipping a play is also fine. A clean record of the plays they were sure about is more useful than a guess. If something is wrong, a keeper on your staff can edit the stat after the game.

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What to do after the first game

Sit down with your keeper for ten minutes. Ask which plays were hard to call and which stat buttons they reached for most. Adjust your crew rules from there, and if you want a second person, now you know which stats they should own.

Then open your numbers and use them. Our walkthrough on reading your team's shooting chart is a good first step once you have a game or two recorded.