I’ve known Renee Ensor Pope for a long time. I’ve been covering lacrosse for about as long as she’s run the Laxtoberfest tournament. It was one of the first fall lacrosse events I ever covered and I love going back every year that I can. This past weekend was a blast as usual with 60 teams playing 132 games on six fields in a two-day stretch -- that’s a lot of lacrosse!

Renee has been the Laxtoberfest tournament coordinator since those days when necessity demanded its founding. She runs the Hero’s women’s team, easily the most traveled team in post-collegiate women’s lacrosse. They needed a fall event to play in and there were no women’s fall events, so they invented one. There were only four teams the first year, but it quickly outgrew the old downtown Annapolis location and has been played at Anne Arundel Community College since. Along the way they've added men’s teams and then Masters (over 35) and Grand Masters (over 45) play. About four years ago they added high school teams and the thing exploded. There’s just a great lax vibe at the tournament that is contagious. I love being there.

And the tournament supports the Hero’s summer leagues, which host some 4,000 kids and adults every summer as well as providing four scholarships for lacrosse players at Anne Arundel Community College. The original Hero’s women’s team that just needed a place to play in the fall way back when, ironically, does not play in the tournament now. They work and staff the extravaganza to raise money to offset the costs of their trips abroad to help spread the women’s game and represent the U.S. around the world. They have been to London, Holland, the Czech Republic and many more exotic locales over the years, and head off to sunny Hawaii Oct. 23 to participate in this year’s Hawaii Invitational.

This year's Laxtoberfest winners were:

Women’s elite: Top Shelf/Capital beat Annaplax in the final
Women’s college: University of Delaware beat Penn State in the final
Women’s high school: CC Lax Brass beat CC Lax Bronze in the final
Men’s grand masters: Piv’s Pub beat Geezers/Toyota in the final
Men’s masters: Toyota beat Kooper’s Tavern in the final
Men’s elite: Black Banana beat Six Shooters in the final
Men’s high school: Jags lax beat Team Langley in the final

Congratulations to all! Check out video from the tourney: