The Ultimate Lacrosse Journey: Must-Stops on Your Bucket List

What’s on your lacrosse bucket list? Whether you’re seeking the highest level of play, experiences or adventures, or a historic connection, these suggestions will have you on the ultimate lacrosse journey.

GAMES

World Lacrosse Championships

Held every four years, the best of the best face off with national pride on the line. Fans reflect each country’s culture as they come together to celebrate the game. “Not only does it showcase the talent around the world but the energy and excitement for the sport of lacrosse reaches far beyond the United States and Canada,” said Rob Pannell, the U.S. Men’s National Team’s all-time leading scorer who has played in three world championships. And the countdown is on for the biggest international showcase the sport has ever seen, the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

Premier Lacrosse League Weekend

Featuring games in a different city each weekend, the PLL and the new Women’s Lacrosse League feature the chance to bring the family to see the game’s top players up close and personal. “Packed stands, drums, chants, jerseys everywhere,” PLL president Paul Rabil said. “The energy is contagious — part college rivalry, part pro-sports spectacle, all lacrosse soul. You can feel the speed, the contact and the precision.”

NCAA Championship Weekend

Held Memorial Day weekend every year, college alumni, friends and family and lacrosse aficionados meet in the final countdown to title time. “The stands are packed with emotion, energy and anticipation,” said Jenny Levy, a three-time NCAA women’s lacrosse champion coach at North Carolina. “Everyone in the stadium hangs on every play, from the opening to the final whistle.”

National Lacrosse League Game

The indoor environment ramps up the volume to levels unheard anywhere. Visit Buffalo, aka Banditland, or Colorado, aka The Loud House, and you’ll be joining some of the rowdiest crowds in the game. “From consistent highlight reel goals and sprawling saves to the game’s unrivaled pace, crushing hits and fierce action, the NLL features elite athletes in a one-of-a-kind entertainment setting anyone can enjoy, all game and every game,” NLL commissioner Brett Frood said.

DESTINATIONS

Vail » Lake Placid » Hawaii

Young and old compete, reconnect and celebrate all things lacrosse before some of the most breathtaking backdrops. The 37th Lake Placid Summit Classic that features elementary school players to octogenarians opens in late July. “Lake Placid lacrosse has evolved into a community of lacrosse families doing what they love to do in a place they love to be,” founder George Leveille said.

JMA Wireless Dome

Coined the Carrier Dome for 42 years, Syracuse’s home is college lacrosse’s mecca. Generations of legends have heard cheers reverberating for them inside the indoor atmosphere. There’s no place like Dome, where 11,268 fans witnessed a Notre Dame-Syracuse men’s lacrosse game this year.

Homewood Field

As big, loud and fervent as the cavernous indoor Dome environment is, Johns Hopkins’ home turf counters with intimate, tangible history and crowds that often exceed its capacity of 8,500. “To sit in the stands at Homewood Field is to feel the magic of lacrosse at its very core,” said Janine Tucker, who coached the Johns Hopkins women’s lacrosse for 29 years. “It’s where passion meets tradition and where every fan becomes part of the story.”

Shove Park and Sherwood Forest

Legendary pick-up spots, Shove Park in Central New York and Sherwood Forest in Maryland are where thousands of youth have honed BTB shots, split dodges and can openers in fun, informal games.

EXPERIENCES

Haudenosaunee Nation

Check when sites are open to visit the heart of the sport’s start, but events like the Haudenosaunee Wooden Stick Festival held annually in Onondaga, N.Y., connect to the game at its spiritual and cultural roots, celebrate the origins, feature wooden stick makers and can even offer a chance to witness a stickball game. “An event like this gives everyone an opportunity to see and hear of lacrosse as it was intended to be, as more than a sport,” wooden stick craftsman Travis Gabriel said. “A true medicine of the soul.”

National Lacrosse Hall of Fame & Museum

Housed at USA Lacrosse headquarters in Sparks, Md., trace the history of lacrosse from its Indigenous roots to its rise as a global sport and recognize the best of the game.  “If you want to know the game,” said USA Lacrosse archivist Joe Finn, “know its history.”

First Time a Child Picks Up a Stick

Feed the curiosity and watch the joy as your child takes up the game. Searching for that opportunity? Look for Pick Up & Play clinics during National Celebrate Lacrosse Week Nov. 1-9.