Two sanctioned tournament partners of US Lacrosse hosted qualifying events Jan. 6-7 for the US Lacrosse Nationals in picturesque locations, offering a chance for teams to forget the grasp of winter. The 10th annual US Lacrosse Nationals is set for Aug. 2-5, 2018, at DE Turf Sports Complex in Frederica, Del.

A summary of each qualifier:

The Challenge (Adrenaline Lacrosse)

The Del Mar Polo fields saw 180 teams in attendance for the 12th annual sold-out Adrenaline Challenge tournament. A stone’s throw away from the Pacific Ocean, teams from all over the country fled winter for a fun, competitive weekend in Southern California. Nine club programs took home a championship title, including Mad Dog (Calif.), OC United Girls (Calif.), and OC Crush Girls (Calif.), who claimed multiple trophies.

Eight of the 13 divisions were for boys, who played three pool-play games on Saturday, Jan. 6, and rallied for playoffs the next day. Girls’ championship opponents were determined by rankings after four games. Despite the regional diversity of opponents at the middle school level, the strength of talent on the West Coast prevailed, as all champions at the younger level were California-based programs. The event feature nearly constant action on 24 fields.

Congratulations to these division champions on their performances and on earning points on the #RoadToDelaware:

Boys’ Impact 2022 Division Champions: SoCal Express 2022 Black (Calif.)

Boys’ Darth 2023 Division Champions: Mad Dog West (Calif.) (above)

Boys’ Verge 2024 Division Champions: ADVNC SF 2024 (Calif.)

Girls’ Sunshine Middle School Division Champions (2022): OC Crush 2022/23 (Calif.)

Girls’ Swell Middle School Division Champions (2023): NOC/OC United MS (Calif.)

Check out images and scores from #Challenge18.

Florida Lax Festival (Bitter Lacrosse)

The inaugural Florida Lax Festival took place in Palm Beach County Jan. 6-7 at the recently opened Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. The competition was balanced across all of the divisions, particularly in the 14U and 12U qualifying divisions for the US Lacrosse Nationals.

Ninja Lacrosse (Fla.) entered the 14U championship game as the two seed and came away with a convincing win over Black Lab Lacrosse (Fla.). After an earlier loss to Sweetlax Florida in pool play, Team 91 Florida found redemption in the 12U championship game with a solid team effort victory.

That brings to a close the brief winter season of qualifying tournaments. Now is a great time to check out the qualifications standings for the US Lacrosse Nationals, automated through Tourney Machine by SI Play, and updated as scores from qualifying events are entered into the Tourney Machine platform. Get your team on the #RoadToDelaware by participating in a spring/summer qualifying tournament (link to schedule below).

Clubs wanting to start earning points towards their bid for the US Lacrosse Nationals should register for a Tourney Team account.