Williamstown Welcomes Youth Lax Tourney
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- Jeff Stripp may not be coaching the Mount Greylock Regional School varsity boys lacrosse team anymore, but he has not stopped working to build the sport at the grassroots.
This weekend at Mount Greylock, the Western Mass chapter of U.S. Lacrosse will host its fifth-annual Youth Lacrosse Festival.
Forty-six boys and girls teams from throughout Berkshire County and beyond will compete on three fields -- the boys on Saturday and the girls on Sunday.
On the boys side, there will be competition in three age groups: Grades 3-4, Grades 5-6 and Grades 7-8.
The first-ever girls tournament will have teams in Grades 5-6 and 7-8.
"Part of the reason we're doing this is to increase exposure and allow the Williamstown and Dalton teams to face teams they wouldn't normally meet," Stripp said, referring to the county's established girls youth lacrosse programs.
"Most of the tournaments are after the [spring] season. Down at UMass, there are one or two tournaments they can participate in during the season. It's just nice to have it in your own back yard."
Stripp said the tournament is part of of a long-term strategy to grow the sport in the Berkshires. It already is paying dividends on the boys side, which will be represented Saturday by programs from Mount Greylock, North Berkshire (North Adams, Adams and Cheshire), Pittsfield's CYC, Dalton and Lee.
The girls youth programs in the county are still limited to Mount Greylock's and Dalton's, Stripp said. Those program's strength is directly related to the fact that Mount Greylock and Wahconah field Berkshire County's two strongest high school varsity girls lax teams this spring.
"I don't think there's any secret there's a direct relationship between those two things," Stripp said.
The boys teams will compete from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday. Each squad will get at least three 25-minute games during the day. The girls teams will play two or three games each from 9 to 3:30 on Sunday.
Programs coming in from outside Berkshire County include Manchester, Vt., Brattleboro, Vt., East Longmeadow and Chicopee.
"This could have been a lot biggger, but we're limited by the space at Mount Greylock," Stripp said. "Running on three fields, we max out at 12 teams per division. Each division will run on its own field. The boys varsity team at Mount Greylock had to reschedule a game to this date, so that takes away a field.
"Don't get me wrong. We're very happy to have Mount Greylock as a host."
And the Western Mass chapter of U.S. Lacrosse, of which Stripp is vice president, is happy to have the financial backing of Pittsfield's Reynolds Team Sales and Dick's Sporting Goods. Both retailers have donated items to be used as fund-raisers for youth lacrosse during the two-day tournament. Reynolds did the T-shirts for the event and will have a mobile vending booth on site with sticks and other gear.
"We're excited because hopefully we're going to get more exposure for lacrosse," Stripp said. "I think it's positive all the way around for the county. We're focusing on the growth of the sport and getting collectively together on one day and supporting the sport."