Washington Lacrosse Championships

May 22nd 2004 Recap

WOW! What a truly amazing day. If you weren't able to attend on Saturday then you missed out on the best lacrosse event to have taken place in the Northwest...EVER.

The old phrase of "If you build it they will come" came true. Standing on the steps leading up to the stadium seating and watching people flood through the gates throughout the day was truly a sight to see and one to make even the most hardened lax fan have a tear in their eye.  WE DID IT, we even shocked even the MLL!

My weekend started on Friday afternoon with a production meeting at the stadium to go over Saturday's events with the stadium staff, MLL and ESPN.   The excitement in the room was real, they were honestly excited to be here and see what Seattle had to bring.  Some of them hadn't been here before and knew very little about the state of lacrosse in the NW or it's phenomenal growth over the last few years but you can be sure they left on Sunday with a whole new appreciation for West Coast lacrosse.

At 4:30 I headed down to the gates to begin setting up for the 2 MLL clinics and was amazed to see about 150 kids already at the stadium even through the clinic didn't start for another 90 minutes! It was truly a 'cat herding' experience managing what turned out to be about 350 kids that turned up for the 2 clinics and autograph sessions.  The feedback from both MLL teams afterwards was great, they were surprised to see that many youth kids with lacrosse sticks outside of the East coast and even more surprised about the stick skills these kids had already mastered. 

Saturday morning started bright and early at 6:00am with a trip to Krispy Kremes on the way to the stadium for our early morning volunteers.  That nasty 'drizzle' type rain we get so often during the winter was just starting and I just hoped the threats of rain and thunder storms would pass us by. Our first teams were due to arrive at 7:30 with gates opening at 8:00 for an 8:30 start.  When I walked out to the gates at 7:15 we had both teams, tons of volunteers and parents already waiting to get  in. It takes a lot of dedication to get up early and be outside a wet cold stadium at 7am so to all the parents out there I'd like to say thank you on behalf everyone, if it wasn't for you I don't think sports would be as popular as they are.

Well from that point on the day was quite a blur for me, I wish I could give you a blow by blow recap of the games but managing a day such as this means running around for 17 hours and having to ask everyone the scores afterwards. With that being said we will be putting up recaps of all the games over the next week so keep checking back.

I did get the scores though:

As the day rolled on the weather cleared up and the people kept on coming. It was great walking around the stadium and seeing so many different teams from different places here enjoying the day. I think that's what sets lacrosse apart from other sports, we are a community, one big family with the same love for the game. Yes during the season you want to crush your 'fellow brothers' on the other team but once the finals are decided we come together to celebrate the game. People that play others sports would probably disagree and say they also had the same passion for their sport but where else can you see thousand of kids still carrying their sticks even though balls weren't allowed in the stadium? What made me laugh was watching these kids, I might not have been able to see a ball in their stick but they could. They cradled, they threw and the dodged, all while playing with their imaginary ball and probably on an imaginary field with the Gaits and Powell's!

Well the MLL game rolled around and the rest is history, huge crowds, happy kids, happy adults (especially once the beer went on sale) and even great weather.  It was a hard day for myself and all the volunteers that put their heart into pulling this event off, there are so many of them but several that standout that I must say thank you to:

Michael Moore and Matt Hipps who pulled in our sponsorships

Patsy Pattison and Gail Shelton who managed the ticket sales and budget

Mark Larson and Effie Waldenburg for making both the girls and boys clinic happen

Leslie Cornelison for pulling all the event day volunteers together

Mike Bural for being running the bench and being the 'time police'

Mark Jacques for running the AV box, managing the clock and getting all those announcements out to the crowds

Mark Cornelison for running the chaperones and making sure we didn't lose anyone in the depths of the stadium

Jeff Grose for being the man who can be in 8 places at once and without whom communications would have been non-existent

Chris Long and Todd Thorpe for managing the field and allowing us to give it back to the stadium in one piece

Written by Paula Wilkinson,

2004 Championship Event Mgr

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