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Lacrosse summit makes its return

At right, a player from Baby Blue passes the balls away from a Colorado Baby Buffs player in a game at the Lake Placid Summit Classic lacrosse tournament at the North Elba Athletic Fields on Monday, Aug 2. (News photos — Parker O’Brien)

LAKE PLACID — The Lake Placid Summit Classic lacrosse tournament is back for its 31st year.

The tournament is divided between two tournaments over the course of the week, starting with the Scholastic division. The Scholastic division is made up of children who will graduate high school from 2021 to 2024.

The Scholastic division, which ended on Wednesday Aug. 4, was followed by the Adult division, which is made up of both men and women that are 18 and older.

“We are really excited about it, it’s a tremendous vibe here,” Lake Placid Summit Classic co-founder George Leveille said. “We have 24 teams of girls that are playing for the colleges that they got into, which is really interesting. It’s a great environment.”

According to Leveille, the tournament will have around 170 teams combined. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament would draw 250 to 275 teams each year.

The tournament organizers were expecting to host fewer than 60 teams back in May because of pandemic-related restrictions on capacity and vaccine requirements. Local lawmakers rescinded the vaccine requirement on June 30 and instead required non-vaccinated participants to provide proof of a negative test result within 72 hours of the event.

Last year, the lacrosse tournament was cancelled because of the pandemic.

“It’s been a challenging couple of years and because of seasons overlapping and being delayed, the lacrosse season has been compressed into a very small period of time,” Leveille said. “We are seeing injuries, people being burnt out and things of that nature.”

Leveille said he wants people to put the focus back on the “beautiful fields” and playing the game. He doesn’t want people to worry about the other challenges.

With the tournament returning for the first time since 2019, many familiar faces will be attending.

“Most of this group comes back every year, so it’s the same people who see everybody,” Leveille said. “I like to tell people that I have had friends that I have made here that I have known for 30 years, who I have known for one week a year, It is a really interesting way to know people, but that’s what happens when you do something like this and share experiences like this.”

Over 30 years in the running, many people have came and gone. The tournament will honor 12 of the “Legends of Lake Placid” at the North Elba Athletic Fields at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday.

The tournament will also have food vendors throughout the week. The tournament will officially end on Saturday.

For a full schedule of events and results, go to www.summitlacrosseventures.com/lpsc.

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