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LAKE PLACID, Adirondacks USA – After celebrating its’ silver anniversary a year ago, the Lake Placid Summit Lacrosse Tournament embarks on its 26th year with a week of action this summer in the Adirondack resort village of Lake Placid.

The 2015 edition is set for Aug. 3-9, with over 250 teams, fans and officials converging on Lake Placid’s North Elba Athletic Fields off Route 73. With several thousand people directly involved in the tournament, the Lake Placid Summit Lacrosse Tournament takes its’ position as one of the community’s top economic drivers.

“Our beginning was modest,” said tournament founder and organizer George Leveille, whose event was named Lake Placid’s Business of the Year in 2012. “We had seven teams in 1990, looking for an environment to continue playing a sport they love. Now with 250 plus teams - men and women, boys and girls, and all ages – we’ve gone beyond expectations, and created an event that fills hotels, restaurants and shops, while giving the participants a memorable experience.”

The tournament’s theme of breaking new ground is already looking ahead to a youth summit in 2016. This new event, slated for the mid-week dates of June 27-29, 2016, will feature elementary and middle school competition. Organizers intend to partner with local interests to expand the overall visitor experience of the attendees beyond the games.

There will be four divisions for boys and girls, ranging from first through eighth grades. The contests will take place at Northwood School as well as the town-owned North Elba fields. It’s projected that some 1,500 players and 3,700 participants will attend, with hotel occupancy to exceed 1,000 rooms per night.

“We designed and scheduled this new event to accommodate the local hospitality industry’s objective of increasing weekday occupancy,” continued Leveille.

“We’ll be out looking to secure special offers and incentives to encourage mid-week visitation, as well as finding partners to offer additional value to enhance the experience of those in attendance.

"We are working with ROOST on planning, projecting and contracting a group of rooms for the new event, which would include a sports medicine seminar. This will act as an ancillary activity to compliment this new sports convention concept.”

“Lake Placid is fortunate to have Summit Lacrosse Ventures as a sports and business partner,” added James McKenna, President of the Lake Placid-based Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism (ROOST). “George and his staff have always been willing to work with us. They understand that when all partners work together and understand the needs of others, that’s when everyone succeeds. This youth addition in 2016, during the middle of the week, illustrates that.”

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