We might still be waiting on an official 2021 PLL schedule, but the No. 1 opponent is pretty clear at this point: COVID-19.
This week, the Premier Lacrosse League announced a return to the tour format that was the league’s signature (critics, though I’m not one of them, would say gimmicky) format before the pandemic forced the league into a bubble for 2020. Beginning on June 4, the PLL plans to hit 11 cities as part of its 2021 43-game schedule.
That seems … aggressive. As I’m writing this out in Oregon, my gym remains closed. There were just fewer than 200,000 new COVID-19 cases in the United States yesterday. Granted, the vaccine is starting to get rolled out, but the league assuming that it’ll not only be able to hit 11 cities nationwide by June, especially with fans in attendance, seems unlikely given the current situation nationally. We’ll have to wait and see how it goes.
“Our team is monitoring the evolution of COVID-19 and ongoing access to vaccinations, and we remain steadfast in working closely with our medical committee to deliver a safe path forward to our 2021 season,” PLL CEO and co-founder Mike Rabil said of the schedule in a press release. “The ability to travel and perform in markets across North America is core to the foundation of the PLL, which emphasizes growth of lacrosse through access to the world’s best players.”
As someone who was hyped to be attending their Portland weekend in 2020 before it got scrapped for the bubble, I’m eager to be able to go watch pro lacrosse in my home state, something I’ve never been able to do before. I’m also eager to not risk death to do so. We’ll see which is more likely by June.
Last Week in Lacrosse
-Athletes Unlimited announced another wave of players in their player pool for the 2021 women’s pro field season, including Sam Apuzzo and Katrina Dowd. This league is going to be crazy stacked for 2021.
-In a sad turn of events, there won’t be a spring season for the Onondaga CC Lazers after the school cancelled all spring sports earlier this week. The elite community college program will have to wait for 2022 to resume play.
-Cannons LC, formerly the Boston Cannons, made its new branding and logos official as it continues to work out how the PLL-MLL merger will go down. Cannons LC will be the first MLL franchise in the PLL, although the PLL retained the rights to the other MLL franchises for future expansion.
-Albany coach Scott Marr hopes that the Great Danes will begin the 2021 season on Feb. 27. Final approval is still in the works, but we could finally see a schedule from one of our top 20 teams soon.
-Meanwhile, we do have a schedule from one of the best women’s programs in the nation, as No. 1 UNC has dropped its 2021 schedule. The Tar Heels are set to begin play on Feb. 13 against James Madison.
-Across the pond, the British women’s national team is trying to get their status as a “recreational sport” changed so it can resume training for the 2022 women’s world games.
-Bellarmine men’s lacrosse also released its 2021 schedule, giving us a look at how others might appear when released. With multiple ACC teams listed, it appears that the ACC will not be following the same modifications as the Patriot League.
Get Caught Up on LAS Content!
Miss out on what we did last week? Here’s a recap of some of our top content from the last seven days:
#Shots4Stew Campaign Aims to Make a Difference for Stew Curran
Stew Curran is a big deal in the Massachusetts lacrosse world, so PrimeTime Lacrosse rallied to fight brain cancer with #Shots4Stew after the coach was diagnosed with partially methylated glioblastoma.
What Is the Best Lacrosse Game Ever?
It started with a tweet, and the replies led Ryan Conwell to dig deeper into what was the best lacrosse game ever played. While he did narrow it down to one, he also compiled plenty of others than deserve recognition. These are the results.
Player Profile: Spain’s Fernando Martinez Sierra
If not for a couple of James Harden free throws, Fernando Martinez Sierra wouldn’t have picked up a lacrosse stick. This is how the Spanish national team player won a lost bet.
Anish Shroff – A Driving Voice
Last week, Going Offsides welcomes Anish Shroff in as its guest, with the broadcaster discussing his lacrosse story and the other elements of his life that define him.
Duke vs Syracuse Lacrosse 2021: You Decide
Duke and Syracuse appear to be the two strongest teams heading into the 2021 men’s college lacrosse season. Vote on which team has the better attack, midfield, defense and more and see who Ryder Cochrane thinks has the edge.