Here we go.
This past weekend marked the start of the 2026 Summer Tournament Season. We had 17 different teams playing, and playing very well.
The marquee event this weekend was Project South in Charlotte, NC. We had 11 different teams playing at Matthews Sportsplex in what’s become widely considered the best event in the South every Summer. We partner with a number of the top clubs in the South to put the event on and it’s become one of our favorite events of the year. We’ll play more competitive games at Project South than we will when we travel to the mid-Atlantic or Northeast and we don’t have to get on a plane.
The event starts with youth games on Saturday morning from 2030-2032. While the weather impacted games this year, the goal is your standard 3 games on Saturday then 2-3 on Sunday in a playoff. Youth teams will play to a championship bracket.
On Saturday afternoon, we host the Project South Showcase. This year featured over 275 players from around the region in the 2027-2029 classes working with close to 70 college coaches.
On Sunday, we host the high school team event. Each team plays 3 high quality games throughout the day. The Saturday afternoon showcase helps to draw in college coaches, and they all stay for the team event on Sunday.
To be clear, every club in the region is invited to Project South. No one gets blocked out and we go out of our way to invite local teams. If your club isn’t there, there are usually only 2 explanations since it makes sense geographically. 1. They didn’t want to compete. It’s a really competitive event and you’re going to play good teams. Some clubs are concerned with losing games and would rather find a B-level event. 2. Your club doesn’t really care about your exposure. Again, there were ~70 college coaches in attendance including Duke, UNC, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Army, Harvard, Loyola, Colby, W&L, Queens, Lander, Anderson, Bellarmine, Maryville, Lynchburg, Christopher Newport, etc. There is usually something for everyone. I don’t know how you explain to your families that you want to get your guys exposure and could have played at Project South but didn’t.
Our teams put up a really impressive performance at Project South! Our youth teams swept the event winning the championships at 2030, 2031 and 2032. That’s the first time any club has ever done that!
Our 2030 Blue team had a humbling first game of the summer losing to a very good 3D Georgia team. They would roll through the rest of the weekend and avenge that loss in the championship game. The best thing about Project South is that the high level of competition means you better be ready to go as soon as you step on the field and our team learned that.
Our 2032 Blue team has built a nice little rivalry with 3D Georgia over the last year. They dropped the championship game to them at the Inside Lacrosse Invitational this Fall. They lost again in overtime of pool play at Project South before topping them in the championship game on Sunday night in what was a great game!
Our 2031 Blue team looks like they may be a bit of a problem for other teams this summer. They opened the weekend with a 13-2 win over a good Sweetlax team then ROLLED the rest of the way. Outside of a tight game with 3D Georgia on Saturday, they won every other game against really good competition by 7 goals or more. It was a ton of fun to watch for a team that keeps getting better.
Their reward for playing well at Project South is that all 3 teams will now play up an age bracket at this weekend’s Summer Champions Cup.
The real highlight of the weekend was our teams playing at the Carolina Show in Fort Mill, SC. Our youth teams took him the championship at 4 different ages!
Our 2031 White, 2034 Blue and 2035 Blue teams all went undefeated on the weekend on the way to tournament championships while our 2032 White team had one of the most impressive performances I have ever seen coming back from a tough Saturday to go undefeated on Sunday and win the 2032 division championship!
We have an army of talent in the 2035 and 2036 classes which was on full display at the Carolina Show. While our 2035 Blue team won the trophy, their toughest game was against our 2035 white team in the championship. Those two groups will come back together next year as they progress from 7v7 play to 10v10 play. The future is very bright there!
Our 2036s will spend most of the summer playing up and showed they are more than capable of it! They took home 3rdplace at the Carolina Show tournament finishing just behind our 2035 teams.
Our girls program also keeps growing! We held our first Summer Impact Training program on Monday night with 65 girls! Our coaches have been crushing it there. They are setting a culture of working hard and having fun. We’re already starting to see girls buy in to working harder and they are rapidly improving. We’ll host our next training session on June 8th. For just $25, come out and get better.
This weekend we’ll have 5 high school teams headed up to Delaware for Adrenaline Platinum Cup. It’s the second recruiting event of the summer for our high school teams and we’re expecting another 75-100 college coaches in attendance.
We’ll have another 12 teams in Charlotte for the Premier Lacrosse League Charlotte stop. You can get your discounted tickets here. Our teams will be playing at the Summer Champions Cup on Saturday and Sunday.
The challenge for our teams in week 2 will be handling all the distractions that come with traveling to Delaware for a recruiting event or having the PLL in your backyard all weekend while still playing well in your own games.
I can’t wait to see how our players do in week 2.
Ryan
P.S.Tryout season is coming. We have a really good thing going. Come check it out!
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