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In addition to the American Indoor Lacrosse Association's development efforts that are based largely on its’ locally-based leagues, the Association is committed to developing elite players for regional, national, and even international competition.

In order to meet these developmental objectives, the AILA provides a progressive multi-tiered national development system that includes:

  1. FirstSteps | Early Childhood Development Program - for children between the ages of 2+ to 7 known as the pre-operative stage of development by child psychologists.  First Steps incorporates imagined situations and co-operative play with lacrosse skills to develop Physical Literacy and social readiness for team play.
  2. Leagues | Competitive/Instructional - Local NLL-style indoor lacrosse competitive and instructional "house" leagues for area adult, high school, middle school, youth cohorts;
  3. Academies | Education/Training - Introductory, intermediate, and advanced camps and clinics offered around the country and throughout the year by the Association’s training organization, the American Indoor Lacrosse Academy;
  4. Elite Competition | Local/State-Wide - Area/regional/state elite indoor lacrosse teams that hold tryouts for local indoor lacrosse league players.  These area/regional elite teams provide advanced coaching and instruction, and additional competitive opportunities to participate in regional and national tournaments; and
  5. Tournaments | Local/Regional/National - Network of competitive regional and national tournaments that enable elite-based teams to further develop, refine, and showcase talent and skills.

International Competition

For those teams and players interested in competing at international indoor lacrosse tournaments, the AILA recognizes the need to re-configure and recombinate teams to accommodate the slightly different competitive categories and divisions.

The structure of our elite program and our national development teams is not only consistent with the governing body overseeing lacrosse in the United States, but is sufficiently flexible to re-organize on intermittent bases to compete at various international venues.

Details on international tournaments and events are communicated during the year through the Association.