lax splash

lax splash
More than 200 girls' and boys' lacrosse teams will battle it out during the annual Beach Lax Festival over the next two weekends in and around Ocean City.
This is the 11th year for the girls' tournament and fourth for the boys', according to coorganizer Tim Gilbert.
The girls kick off the event with competition beginning at 5:30 p.m. today (Friday) at Northside Park on 125th Street. Games are 25 minutes long and will run from 7 a.m. to about 10:30 p.m. Saturday and conclude with the championship matches starting around 2 p.m. on Sunday. Teams will play at least six games over the weekend.
Gilbert said the contests were kept short with a running clock in order for squads to match-up against a variety of opponents and "get a taste of different styles of lacrosse."
The girls' field has grown since the tournament's inception, except for this year, Gilbert said. Sixteen teams competed the first year and 98 U-11 to high school age squads will go head-to-head in 2009.
Participation in the girls' event dropped by approximately 15 teams this year from 2008 because of a conflict with the Lax Splash tournament in Baltimore, Gilbert said. This is the first year the competitions have taken place on the same weekend. Lax Splash is typically the weekend before, so coaches had to make the decision of which event to attend.
Approximately 122 boys' teams, ranging from U-11 to U-15, will play lacrosse at the Northern Worcester Athletic Complex in Berlin as well as on fields at Most Blessed Sacrament, Berlin Intermediate School and behind Stephen Decatur Middle School, June 13-14. This is the first time since the boys' tournament was created four years ago that it has not be held the same weekend as the girls' competition.
The number of teams in the boys' event has increased each year. Gilbert said the boys' competition was added because of a tremendous amount of interest from parents and young players.
Boys' and girls' teams will travel from Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Colorado to take part in the festival. Squads from the Ocean City, Berlin and Salisbury areas will also compete.
Gilbert said the level of competition displayed will vary from recreation teams to highly skilled, top tier travel squads in both the boys' and girls' tournaments.
The main focus of the Beach Lax Festival is for the youngsters to have fun, and while they are doing that, play good lacrosse, Gilbert said.