By Anna Skinner
Lacrosse will be added amongst the list of sports visiting Grand Park as of the upcoming summer months.
Two events, The Grail and the US Lacrosse National Championship, will pass through Westfield when they have never before. Both are lacrosse events.
“The Grail is a new event for the area, it’s not a national tournament but it is an invitational event to invite lacrosse teams from all over the nation,” said William Knox, director of the Hamilton Co. Sports Authority. “This is the first year for us and we are expecting 50 to 60 teams for the event.”
The Grail will take place July 9-10.
“Lacrosse teams travel very well in dynamics of how they travel, there are 20 plus players to a team and families travel healthily with the lacrosse groups,” Knox said. “This particular event will have a larger per person per team party than other events we have. That all boils down to more money, more hotel rooms and more community spending while they’re here.”
The US Lacrosse National Championship will take place July 19-24, and have a slightly different aspect. The tournament is for U13, U14 and U15 age groups. This is the first year the championship is including U13 and U14 groups, so Hamilton Co. will be home to the first championship including the younger age groups.
Knox said that for the US Lacrosse National Championship, teams must qualify through local and regional tournaments throughout the year.
“We’ve had to do a lot of work in relation to securing hotel rooms, making sure vendors know these organizations are coming to town,” Knox said. “We want to showcase local attractions, and we will definitely work with restaurants and other attractions so they are aware of the increase of visitors in the area. We will also go about working with the event owners so they understand what the community has to offer and how they go about securing hotel rooms and all those type of things.”
For more on Grand Park, visit www.grandpark.org.
