Annual Lake Placid lacrosse tournament in action for 35th year

An annual summer lacrosse tournament has been a staple of the North Country for over three decades.

The 35th Annual Lake Placid Summit Classic is back in town this week, setting up a whole week of lacrosse matches for middle school, high school, college and even players entering the ages of 60 years old and beyond.

“Just getting to know more of the teams overtime, understanding that some of these guys have come for here for all 35 years and still being able to provide a better experience for them every year is really the name of the game,” said Summit Lacrosse director of operations Eric Witmer. “It’s what fuels us, and we love doing it for everybody.”

Edward Akel, who competes with the Cloud Splitter Lacrosse Club, says his first Lake Placid Summit was back in 1991, and each year, he is searching for ways to keep coming back to the Adirondacks year after year.

“I’ve been coming up to the Lake Placid tournament for 20 years at least, maybe 25 years,” Akel said. “It’s almost an annual rite of passage. You see a lot of people every year. It’s great to come back to.”

The tournament, which originally began with just seven teams, has expanded to include hundreds more, with representation from Texas, New Jersey, the United Kingdom, and many more, in conjunction with the many New York teams in town.

Akel competes in the 30–65-year-old division, which played on Thursday, Aug 1. A college division for the men and the women will run from Friday, Aug. 2 to Sunday, Aug. 4, while a high school division for the boys and girls took place from Monday, July 29, to Wednesday, July 31. The high school division includes recreational play but also a competitive group for the girls called the Northstar Division, which puts future college lacrosse commits against each other for high-level games in Lake Placid.

“The future Syracuses, the future UNCs (University of North Carolina), the future Boston Colleges,” Witmer said. “Those girls get to meet their future college teammates and best friends now before they even step foot on campus. That division is very special to us.”

The games, which are spread across two facilities at the North Elba Fields and the Horseshow grounds, are also accompanied with a extensive list of food, beverage, clothing and lacrosse gear vendors at both venues.

Nature Boy Lacrosse, a Long Island, New York, start-up business that has set up shop at the North Elba Fields, said their first time selling at the Lake Placid Summit Classic is going quite smoothly.

“We don’t come up this far a ton, but for us, when we come up here, it’s a product people typically haven’t seen up here, so we do pretty well,” said Nature Boy Lacrosse owner Connor Casillo.

The number of people roaming the athletic fields this week is making Lake Placid feel like one large lacrosse family for everyone involved.

“It’s incredible,” Witmer said. “There’s guys whose names I don’t even know … but we give each other hugs at headquarters every year. Just building those relationships with the players so organically through the sport of lacrosse and through Lake Placid is pretty special.”

Games will continue in Lake Placid until Sunday afternoon, where champions from the men’s and women’s college divisions will be crowned.