My Lacrosse Weekend: the Santa Barbara Shootout

A few weeks ago I said that I would write about my lacrosse tournament in Santa Barbara – so here it is!

Every Presidents’ Day weekend the entire USC Women’s Lacrosse Club team goes to UC Santa Barbara for the Santa Barbara Shootout tournament. There are 60 teams in the tournament across four divisions. We usually play 4-5 games Friday through Sunday. I love going to this tournament every year because we get to play many games and its also great bonding time with our teammates. It’s also our Parent’s Weekend, so many families come to the tournament, including my parents!

This year we drove up on Friday afternoon just in time to play against UC Santa Barbara later that day. Saturday we played against UC Davis, and on Sunday we played 2 games, one against an alumni team and then against Cal Poly SLO. The games were all really tough, close games. The weather was gorgeous all weekend, which was great because last year at the tournament it poured every day, and hailed one night during our game! The team stays at a hotel close to UCSB, which is really convenient. When we weren’t playing lacrosse, we would hang out, rest our sore muscles, do homework, or catch up on sleep.

Santa Barbara is one of my favorite places to visit, and I love that I get to go here once a year for lacrosse. On Saturday I went into Santa Barbara with my parents to walk State Street and the beach. For lunch, we stopped at Mac’s Fish & Chip Shop on State St., which we knew would be delicious because it was featured on Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-ins and Dives show on the Food Network. Needless to say it definitely lived up to our expectations. Unfortunately I couldn’t spend too much time walking around Santa Barbara because I had to go get ready for my next lacrosse game!

I had such a great time in Santa Barbara, spending time with my teammates, family, and playing great lacrosse! It was an exhausting weekend, but I loved it. Can’t wait to go back next year!