UMass to Host 2019 NLF National Championships

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The inaugural National Lacrosse Federation national championships crowned the best team in the country in six age groups in the most loaded tournament fields in club lacrosse history. Next summer, they’ll once again be the crown jewel of the summer circuit, but this time, the champions will be crowned at the University of Massachusetts.

The NLF championships will be held Friday-Sunday, July 19-21 at UMass’ beautiful campus in Amherst. The best 24 teams in the country in the 2020 through 2027 graduation classes, chosen using results from TourneyMachine, coach recommendations and NLF staff feedback, will square off in the tournament. There are AA and A brackets, and teams that won in last year’s A divisions move up to AA in 2019. More than 160 college coaches attended the 2018 championships.

Team 91 Long Island (2020), Long Island Express (2024 and 2025), Team 91 Maryland (2022), DC Express (2021), West Coast Starz (2019) and True Illinois (2023) earned titles in the first year of the NLF national championships at Lehigh University.

“We’re excited to bring the NLF national championships to UMass,” NLF co-founder Sean Chamberlain said. “It’s an unbelievable, top-of-the-line venue that serves as a perfect backdrop for the country’s elite lacrosse players as they compete in the nation’s toughest tournament for the biggest prize.

“We had an unbelievable experience last summer at Lehigh, but UMass offers us the chance to have 26 fields going at one location, which is hard to beat,” NLF co-founder and Laxachusetts director Sean Morris said. “There are multiple airports nearby for teams to fly into, and UMass is also centrally located for a lot of our clubs. We think it’ll add to everything that the NLF national championships have to offer.”