Beach Blast lax tournament crowns 15 champions
The Beach Blast lacrosse tournament for middle and high school club teams closed down its eighth season June 23 after 100 teams each played four games. The competition was spread out over three days and 10 fields.
There are seven fields at Cape Henlopen High School – two turf, two bermuda and three grass fields – and three additional fields down Savannah Road behind Shields Elementary and the Lewes School.
“Just great weather this year,” said Sue Murphy, former head coach at Richmond University, co-director of the tournament with Courntey Vaughn, former head coach of Winters Mill High School in Maryland.
All games consisted of two 25-minute halves with common horns, running clock, no timeouts and no overtime.
Most games had three officials and there were trainers on site. Doc Roger Hunter has worked all eight tournaments and basically never leaves his station in front of the field house.
Fifteen Beach Blast champions were crowned for 2019. The Lady Blue Crabs, centered in Salisbury, produced champions for 2027/28, 2026 and 2024 teams. Dates reflect year of high school graduation.
The Eastern Shore Lacrosse Club 2021 was tournament champion. The team featured players from Cape Henlopen, Sussex Tech, Sussex Academy, Middletown, Polytech, Caesar Rodney, Indian River and Dover.
Club teams in the tournament represented the states of Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Connecticut.
Eastern Shore Lacrosse Club had six teams, which included the 2021 champions as well as the 2022 team (3-1), 2023 (1-3), 2024 (2-2), 2025 (0-4) and 2026 (1-2-1).
Some age groups had multiple subdivisions grouped by strength of previous performances, but a few were in over their heads and some games got ugly early.
“The schedule is released early, and we rely on club officials to tell us if their teams are misplaced,” Murphy said.
The Cape girls’ lacrosse boosters had total control of the concession stand for the three days of the tournament.
The Cape custodial staff worked all three days and were paid by the Beach Blast tournament.
