|
DATE: February 21, 2002
Lacrosse Welcomed At The
National Cherry Blossom Festival
Alexandria, Va. – The Potomac Chapter of US Lacrosse
is proud to announce that lacrosse has been added to the list of
sporting events held in conjunction with the National Cherry Blossom
Festival each spring on the Mall in Washington, DC.
On April 13-14, 2002, from 10 am to 3 pm, please come enjoy some
of the best post-collegiate and collegiate club players in the country
as they do battle in a 16-team women's and 10-team men's
tournament. Games will be played alongside the reflecting pool in
front of the Lincoln Memorial. The women's bracket will be
made up of teams from the Mid-Atlantic Women's Lacrosse League
and a host of collegiate club teams. The men's bracket will
consist of teams from the Southern Division of the American Lacrosse
League. In addition to this inaugural tournament, a clinic for the
inner-city WINNERS lacrosse program will be conducted by some of
the member of the Women's US National team and top senior players
from the American Lacrosse League.
Lacrosse, considered to be America's first sport, was born of the
North American Indian, christened by the French, and adapted and
raised by the Canadians. Modern lacrosse has been embraced by athletes
and enthusiasts of the United States, Japan and the British Commonwealth,
for over a century. International lacrosse has recently grown to
include Sweden, Germany, and the Czech Republic as competing nations.
Development efforts are now underway in more than a dozen other
nations, including China, Korea, Argentina and Italy.
National participation in lacrosse, considered one of the fastest-growing
team sports in the country, is increasing at a rate of 15 to 20
percent per year. Fan attendance at the Men's NCAA Lacrosse Championships
has nearly tripled in the last 10 years, with over 120,000 lacrosse
enthusiasts attending the men's Division I, II and III championship
tournaments in 2001. Only the men's NCAA Basketball Final Four championship
game outdrew lacrosse as the largest attended NCAA championship
recently. In 1998, more than 230,000 men, women and children played
lacrosse... male participation was estimated to be over 180,000
players, while female participation was estimated to be over 51,000
players.
US Lacrosse was founded on January 1, 1998, as the national governing
body of men's and women's lacrosse. Although US Lacrosse has only
recently emerged within the national lacrosse community, a closer
look reveals an organization, which represents the past and the
future of the sport.
The American Lacrosse League was founded in 2000 with teams from
the Central Atlantic Lacrosse League. The ALL is a member of US
Lacrosse and has 36 member teams along the East Coast from Hartford,
CT to Raleigh, NC.
The Mid-Atlantic Women's Lacrosse League, was founded in 1997.
MAWLL is a member of US Lacrosse whose 9 member teams come from
the Baltimore-Annapolis-Washington region. Universities sending
club teams include the Naval Academy and other teams from the tri-state
area.
In the near future, the Potomac Chapter of US Lacrosse intends to
expand the lacrosse program of the National Cherry Blossom Festival
to include international teams from Britain and Japan, as well as
collegiate, high school and youth teams and activities. For more
information contact John Breheny at john_breheny@msn.com
or Elaine Knobloch at knobloch@erols.com.
For schedules and information on the 2002 National Cherry Blossom
Festival® visit, www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org
or phone 202-547-1500.
US Lacrosse, a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization, is the national
governing body of men's and women's lacrosse.
# # #
|
