PLL Play’s Opening Weekend Classic Draws 70 Teams to Capital Region

Youth rec and club teams from across the Northeast compete as the PLL launches Year 7

ALBANY, N.Y. — Seventy youth lacrosse teams, including youth recreational programs and travel clubs, descended upon University at Albany’s Tom & Mary Casey Stadium on May 30 and 31 for the PLL Play Opening Weekend Classic (OWC), a tournament powered by Dude Wipes and coinciding with the start of the Premier Lacrosse League’s seventh season.

Featuring two separate boys divisions, OWC saw 40 youth rec squads and 30 club teams take the fields adjacent to the UAlbany Great Danes’ home venue on Friday and Saturday for two days of competition and team development.

After the final whistles, participants — along with the growing pool of PLL fans worldwide — turned their attention to Casey Stadium, where each day two games were broadcasted live and showcased eye-popping action to kick off the 2025 PLL schedule.

Young athletes, coaches and parents packed the state-of-the-art facility Friday night and cheered on as the host squad New York Atlas overcame the Carolina Chaos 10-8 and then the California Redwoods outlasted the Denver Outlaws 15-12.

On Saturday, fans shrugged off pouring rain to enjoy two more electrifying matchups as the Utah Archers edged the Maryland Whipsnakes 8-7 and the Boston Cannons downed the Atlas 16-12.

OWC welcomed participating athletes and their families to put on their favorite PLL jerseys and step into the Premier Zone, an interactive fan experience that brought surprise guests and offered exciting amenities for young athletes. Special entrances to Casey Stadium allowed participating programs to bump fists with the PLL stars on their way to the turf Friday and Saturday.

But customary for any PLL weekend, fan engagement was boundless. Whether it was inside the stadium or on the playing fields, some of the PLL’s very best could be seen signing autographs and posing for photographs with fans of all ages over the course of the weekend.

“PLL Play is the league’s path to fostering love for the game and helping it grow for years to come, and you can already see it’s having a tremendous impact,” said Troy Reh, a warrior of a longstick midfielder for the PLL’s Carolina Chaos and, before that, an All-American at UAlbany.

Reh wears two hats with the league, also working as a Sales Account Executive for PLL Play. He connects teams and players to opportunities nationwide, including PLL pro-led trainings, overnight camps and festive tournaments, like OWC.

“To see all these kids totally fired up, screaming for their favorite players and doing it all with their teammates and families — this is really what the league and PLL Play are all about,” Reh said. “The OWC experience will live with these kids forever and help them cherish the game.”

A longtime attendee of PLL Play’s iconic Lake Placid Summit Classic, Jason Gifford brought four Shenendehowa youth teams to this year’s OWC. His son, Easton, played on a 3rd-4th grade team. Much like his annual trips to Lake Placid, Gifford said it was a weekend “immersed in lacrosse” for his son and his teammates.

“You go up (to Lake Placid) and just dive in and it’s a whole lot of lacrosse in a weekend,” he said.

“What I loved about (OWC) is we spend all spring playing against a certain amount of teams and then the PLL Play tournament brings in teams from all over the state. … Just seeing different programs, getting to use all the skills you’ve worked on, all the team concepts, throwing it against teams you haven’t seen, I think is great for the game.”

But what his son enjoyed most was obvious: meeting some of his favorite players. Among others with household names in the sport, he was greeted by the Atlas’ Jeff Teat and Connor Shellenberger and the Archers’ Dyson Williams, who dazzled Easton and many other youngsters with a highlight-reel behind-the-back goal.

“From the PLL perspective, I think that’s one of the great things about our game, is the access to its stars,” said Gifford, who played Division I lacrosse at the University of Hartford.

Despite the rain, Gifford said the weekend was a fulfilling one.

“I know it’s not easy,” he said. “Sometimes the weather deals you a short hand. But they made it work. They made the best of it, and that’s what’s great about lacrosse.”

Kevin Leveille, PLL Play’s VP of Youth Sales Strategy, is confident OWC has already become an important tradition to end the spring and an exciting pre-summer kickoff for nearby community programs and clubs.

“OWC began only three years ago, and we can see how much excitement has built for it each spring,” said Leveille, who grew up just outside of Albany. One of the professional game’s all-time leading scorers, he was recently announced as part of the Pro Lacrosse Hall of Fame Class of 2025.

“It’s uncommon for young players to actually compete and then engage with and watch pros on the field all in the same day, all at the same location,” Leveille said. “We’ve created something special here for kids, their teams and families. It’s a winning model for how the PLL and its youth opportunities can bring more people together to celebrate lacrosse.”

Mark your calendar for next year’s Opening Weekend Classic, tentatively scheduled for May 30 and 31, 2026.

Check the full PLL Play schedule for pro-led training and development opportunities in the Northeast and all throughout the country. And be sure to follow the PLL, PLL Play and Summit Lacrosse Society on Instagram to keep up with us this summer.