Tourney brings 1,000 players to Sisters

Some 44 teams from all over the Northwest - Reno, Nevada, to Washington state - gathered in Sisters Friday to Sunday, May 8-10 for the SALI tournament (Sisters Annual Lacrosse Invitational).

There were easily more than 1,500 in attendance, including approximately 1,000 athletes and 500 spectators.

"This is like the biggest lacrosse thing in Oregon by far," Assistant Coach Andrew Gorayeb said. "It's a referee training opportunity state-wide, where the refs are peer evaluated. The tournament brings a bunch of people to Sisters and also helps the referees."

Teams from second grade through high school varsity participated, but the majority of the tournament was centered around the 16 top-notch junior varsity (JV) teams.

Sisters' JV proved they could play with the best, including some powerful 6A teams from the Valley. The Outlaws started the tournament with an 8-5 win over Sunset's JV 2 team and went on to beat Wilson in a tight 8-7 match up. Sisters then fell 5-1 to West Linn, a 6A powerhouse who went on to take first in the tourney. West Linn had an incredible team with a bench 25 deep.

The Outlaws lost 8-7 to the Reno Miners in the final game of the tournament to finish fourth overall out of 16.

JV Coach Cailen McNair said, "The level of the tournament was above and beyond what we've seen this season. Our guys showed up to every game and never once let down. They were up against good competition and amazing lacrosse players and weren't intimidated. This tournament showed that the youth of Sisters lacrosse have really come about in their game and are playing at a much higher level than in the past."

McNair added, "This tournament wasn't just about Sisters lacrosse. It was about bringing a lot of people to Sisters in a time of economic need. We had more teams here than we had last year, and next year we'll have even more. We had such good responses from all the coaches stating that they were impressed with the area and the hospitality."

Sisters' varsity team played a jamboree format, and the five High Desert teams played five varsity teams from the Valley.

Coach Bill Rexford told The Nugget that everywhere he looked the fields were full of players, and at every venue there were nine games going on simultaneously.

"What I loved about the tournament was that kids as young as seven and eight to as old as 18 participated and experienced lacrosse together," said Rexford. "To a lot of kids this was an introduction to lacrosse. I had to turn teams away. I could easily have had another dozen teams if we'd had more fields. We'll definitely do it again. As a club, our parents now know what we're doing, and there's no limit to what we can do if we all pull the same direction."

Gorayeb told The Nugget what he and Rexford were trying to accomplish through the tournament:

"We wanted them (teams and fans) to come for the weekend, support our local businesses, enjoy a great lacrosse experience and have everybody win in one way or another. This year was about proving we could deliver 1,500 people to Sisters for a weekend of lacrosse. We didn't ask any local businesses for anything, except for the hotels, which gave us favorable rates."

Gorayeb added, "I think Bill (Rexford) and I have proven we can draw the bodies. Now, we have to advance the quality of this tournament by improving our connection with local businesses, bringing famous lacrosse stars to speak to the youth, creating a stage and sound system from which to present awards and overall up the quality of the event."

Two days before the tournament, the Outlaws slugged it out with Thurston but lost the battle 10-9.

"We stood toe to toe with them and never backed down," said Rexford. "We forced them into one overtime and then another, and finally lost the game with six seconds left to go in the second overtime."

Five days later the Outlaws notched a 14-13 win over Hermiston.

Sisters has two games left for the season: at Summit on Friday, May 15, and Bend the following Tuesday, May 19.

"If we win both, we will make the playoffs," said Rexford, "and if we lose one, it looks like the season will be over."