A player from Beast Lacrosse, center, fights for the ball with a Movement Lax player during a 14U Silver contest on Wednesday, June 28 at the North Elba Athletic Fields. (News photo — Parker O'Brien)

LAKE PLACID — For Lake Placid Summit Youth Classic Event Director Kevin Leveille, the annual lacrosse tournament has become a family affair.

Before Leveille took over as the event’s director in 2016, his father held the position and even founded the tournament in 1990. Back then Leveille was playing in the tournament.

This year, however, it was Leveille’s son who played in the Summit Youth Classic, making him the third of his family’s generation to play lacrosse at the Lake Placid tournament.

His son played for the Skaneateles Lakers 10U team, which fell in the third-place game. But after all the games were finished on Tuesday, the Leveilles shared a special moment on the North Elba Athletic Fields.

“We had a parents and kids tennis ball game with about 60 kids on the field, my father played, I played and my son played,” Leveille said.

Massena Red Raiders players celebrate after scoring a goal during a game against Mountain Valley. (News photo — Parker O'Brien)

The Lake Placid Summit Youth Classic wrapped up its three-day annual lacrosse tournament on Wednesday, June 28.

The tournament showcased boys lacrosse teams aged from eight and under up to 16 and under. There were a total of 42 teams this year, which is around the same as last year’s numbers, according to Leveille.

“That’s kind of our max capacity,” he said. We had a lot of different states representing from New Jersey, Maryland, a good handful from Canada and we had some nationwide teams mixed from Florida. It’s a wide range of teams and a lot of different champions which is nice.”

Leveille said that with lacrosse being considered a growing sport in the U.S., he thinks that’s why there has been interest in the tournament from all over the place.

“A lot of people know Lake Placid in general, but some know it kind of as a lacrosse town if you will,” Leveille said.

In past years, the tournament drew in around 60 teams but once the coronavirus pandemic hit, the number of teams was reduced. Leveille said in 2021 that the organization wanted to lower the numbers to keep things more organized and under control.

“Generally, we kind of don’t want to have more people here for this one,” he said. “It’s the right amount. So we turn people away, which is tough, but I think it sort of creates a demand. So if a team can’t make it for whatever reason we are able to call the next one and they are ready to go and they enjoy it and are ready to behave, which is good.”

Many of the teams that compete in the youth lacrosse tournament are returners, according to Leveille.

“Some groups have been here and have just been adding more age levels in,” he said. “There are no teams vacating. I think the interest has grown quite a bit. We’re always trying to pull in new people to the area that haven’t been here because they end up falling in love with it and coming back for our event if there is space. Or just a different time of year to enjoy everything up here.”

The Summit Lacrosse Society will return to Lake Placid for its second and final tournament in this village, with the Lake Placid Summit Classic being held from July 31 to Aug. 6. The tournament will hold two different divisions — a scholastic division for youngsters and an adult division.

Much like the youth tournament, many of the teams are coming back from previous years. Leveille guessed that about 98% of the teams are returners.

“Everyone is kind of in that one-month range where they are super excited and we look forward to them as well,” he said.

Levielle said that there will be an influx on the women’s side of the Lake Placid Summit Classic.

“That kind of just dropped over the last few years, but they are coming back in stronger numbers which is cool,” he said. “Women’s games have been growing in popularity at the collegiate level. A lot more women are playing, especially at the older level too. We’ve had a little bit of growth there, but other than that it’s pretty much the same.”

The Summit Lacrosse Society hosted tournaments in Albany, Saratoga, Denver, Colorado and in California earlier in the year. The organization will also host tournaments in Youngstown, St. George, Utah and Glenview, Illinois later this year.