More than 1,100 of the nation’s top high school girls’ lacrosse players will descend on Raleigh, N.C., this weekend for the USA Lacrosse Women’s National Tournament. This historic event dates to 1933 and has evolved over the years into one of the top recruiting events for college coaches each year.
Play will be held on Saturday and Sunday at the WRAL Soccer Park. Full event schedules can be found on Tourney Machine.
Players from 30 states are represented and will be competing on 56 teams — 54 regional all-star teams that were selected following a tryout process this spring and two teams from Nation United, a club program aimed at creating more opportunities for girls of color to play the sport at a high level.
The teams are broken up into seven divisions and will compete in round-robin play on Saturday to set up the final placement games on Sunday. The Massachusetts/Rhode Island regional team has won the championship in the top division at each of the last three events (2019, 2021 and 2022).
Originally an event for college-aged players and older to represent their regions, the event added a high school division in the 1980s and has flourished in the new format. Coaches from more than 100 colleges have registered to attend the event.
The NCAA is in a recruiting blackout period due to the Division I Women’s Lacrosse Championships taking place in nearby Cary, N.C., but due to the history and stature of the event, the NCAA allows a waiver for coaches to evaluate players during the USA Lacrosse National Tournament. Many of the participants will attend the NCAA semifinal games on Friday before continuing their own pursuit of playing college lacrosse with this event serving as the kickoff to the 2023 recruiting season.
The event partners for this year’s USA Lacrosse Women's National Tournament include First Scout Productions, Enovis, Next College Student Athlete (NCSA), Gait Lacrosse, Gatorade, N&D Sports, Lacrosse Specialties, Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance and Visit Raleigh.
