2015 Hawaii Lacrosse Tournament: DAY 1
ALOHA!
Although the 25th Annual 2015 Hawaii Lacrosse Tournament starts Friday, Thursday may as well be the event’s Unofficial-official Kickoff. Most of the players trickle in throughout Thursday, and it’s so cool to witness the lacrosse community take over Waikiki Beach for the long weekend. If you get in early enough, you can see the beach transform from no lacrosse to plenty of lacrosse, in only 24 short hours.
Friends, old and new, travel from all over the World to be a part of this amazing event. Now that I’ve been here a couple of times, and seen how this event unfolds, I completely understand why.
This year’s championship weekend is extra special, as it marks the 25th anniversary of the tournament and the tournament is actually scheduled on Halloween weekend… and Halloween is a huge deal on Oahu! People will start dressing up almost a week early. The tournament party at Lulu’s, whether on Halloween or not, always produces some impressive, and sometimes disturbing, costumes. I have high expectations for some crazy costumes this year. Like, Chucky, Freddy Krueger, and Jason all had a baby crazy.
Oh, I am also pretty sure that we are going to play some stellar lacrosse this weekend as well!
My team, my family for the weekend every year, Wimmer Solutions, will be defending both the men’s Elite title for the 4th year, and Master’s title for the 5th year, in a row! On both sides. That’s nine total years of winning title to defend. No pressure.
It looks like there are 5 Japanese teams in the elite division, and our oft-opponent in the finals, Dirty Lax, is back. This is a Canadian/Iroquois all-star squad that has battled us hard in the championship for three of the last four years. It’s intense, high level lacrosse with big names and grinders all doing their best for both teams. Here are some highlights from the second time Wimmer and Dirty squared off, back in 2012:
[fvplayer src=”https://youtube.com/watch?v=_a4JL_szAIs” splash=”https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_a4JL_szAIs/hqdefault.jpg” caption=”Hawaii Lacrosse Invitational: Men’s Open Finals 2012 Wimmer Solutions vs. Dirty Lax”]
Like I said, intense! (Check out LaxSchool and LaxAllStars on YouTube for more great video!)
We will have to play smart and together to get to the final and achieve our goal of another repeat year in both divisions. One game at a time, together, and always as a family.
Stay tuned for more fun from paradise. For now, please enjoy these photos. Here we go!
Mahalo!