Mandeville, LA— With Thunderstorms looming on June 16th and 17th, the fifth annual Big Easy Classic was held at Pelican Park. The weekend was filled with high flying action across 7 divisions ranging from college kids and above, to a 12U division. This tournament brought in teams from all over the east coast and even a few teams from Texas!

    FTK (For the Kids) lead all programs bringing 10 teams to participate. While all were very competitive within their respective divisions, the high school A team was the only one able to bring home a championship.

    Although Birmingham Lacrosse United (BLU) did not bring the large numbers that the other programs did, they brought the skill for sure. BLU took home 4 of the 7 trophies taking home the 10U, 12U A, 14U B, and the high school B divisions. The Oklahoma Outbreak and the Houston hounds took the remainder of the 2 divisions winning the 14U A and the 12 U B divisions respectively.

    Between games, players, parents, coaches, siblings, and others enjoyed refreshing food and drinks from the Pelican Park concessions and shopped at the vendors. There was all kinds of lacrosse equipment and T-shirts able to be bought or tried on which kept the kids occupied in the down time.

    “We consider this our home tournament” says FTK Director Shane Koppens on their mindset and attitude towards the Big Easy Classic. When asked about how his teams did Koppens responded, “I was happy to see that our guys could compete at the highest level and bring home a championship.” He then went on to say, “I think we should’ve been more competitive in other divisions but I’m happy with our guys and they had fun playing which is what really matters”. Shane and FTK are excited for next year when they get to defend their home state again in the next Big Easy Classic.

    Congratulations to all winners and participants on a great weekend and a special thank you to all of those who helped make it a special weekend for these boys. Get ready to do it all over next year! We’ll see you then!