This weekend the Maryland State of Lacrosse Games will be held in Howard County.

The tournament, held at Patterson Park in previous years, will host men's and woman's elite teams, men's masters and grand masters teams. Even though it's a Maryland tournament, teams from as far as New York and Charlottesville will be playing. The level of play is typically very high with former college All-Americans dotting the landscape along with many all-club and all-pros, as well.

Games will be played at Cedar Lane East grass fields, Cedar Lane West field turf stadiums, Western Regional field turf stadiums and Rockburn Park field turf complex. Saturday will feature round-robin play and Sunday will culminate with afternoon championships. The event is sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield and CareFirst of Maryland and DC.

There will be a lacrosse village at Cedar Lane West, featuring food venders, lax vendors,
hardest shot contests and a tournament bull roast. The champions and MVPs will be presented Saturday evening at the lacrosse village.

The tournament has been run for years by Jim Huelskamp, a friend of mine and author of the 1992 book Indoor Lacrosse, The Story of the Major Indoor Lacrosse League -- a great history of the professional indoor game. He played in the league after starring at Salisbury.

For more information and directions to all the fields go to LaxClassic.com.