When it came to major off-season lacrosse tournaments, clubs from around the country had options such as The Cockeysville Tournament in Maryland and the Vail Shootout in Colorado, but none closer to the Pacific.
All West Lacrosse, Santa Cruz County’s largest lacrosse club, sought to change that, and has done so.
The Seventh Annual West Coast Showcase, a boys lacrosse tournament that this year featured 42 youth clubs from the western states, bringing 81 teams (minimum 15 boys each) of all ages and skill levels, playing over 175 games throughout the two-day tournament.
“All West’s aim is to grow [our] tournament’s stature and reputation each year until it is considered one of the premier club lacrosse tournaments in the country!” said All West Lacrosse president and former Duke University 3-time All American Matt Ogelsby. “Further, having a tournament [in Central California] saves California families the expense of traveling away for higher levels of competition.”
The WCS took place July 13-14 at Morgan Hill Outdoor Sports Complex, which features two large grass areas split into nine fields, plus two field turf stadiums, allowing 11 games to be played each hour.
Play is divided into six age groups and three skill levels: U9 (under 9), U11, U13, U15, U17 and U19. Skill levels are Silver, Gold (U11-19) and Platinum (U17-19)
All West had the most teams for its own tournament, nine in all from U11 Silver thru U19 Platinum. Also participating from Santa Cruz County was the Santa Cruz Warriors, which sent one U11 and one U13 Silver team, and the Wildcatz, Watsonville High School’s own U19 Silver squad.
The teams played a round-robin format of four games to determine seeding (3 on Saturday, one Sunday morning) followed by championship-round games Sunday afternoon. (U9 only played 3 games each, all on Saturday)
Through the first day of play, All West had teams in the top 3 in U11 Silver and Gold, U17 Silver and U19 Platinum. The Wildcatz were in 4th place in U19 Silver while the Warriors U11 Silver team went 1-2 to place 7th.
All West’s strongest finish happened in the U11 Silver division, where the AWL East and AWL West teams met in the championship match. AWL East earned the victory.
All West’s U19 Blue team reached the finals of the U19 Platinum division.
•••
Check back here for more information from the tournament as it becomes available, or visit the West Coast Showcase Results Site
