Last weekend I had the opportunity to shoot the U15 National Championships for US Lacrosse. The tournament was held at River City Sportsplex, a massive turf field complex located in Midlotian, VA. The land was initially developed by the now defunct SportsQuest group as an Olympic-style village and spa with very high aspirations. I had shot here in the past when I was the team photographer for SportsQuest’s Indoor Football League Team, the Richmond Revolution. As odd as it was, they set up the walls and played their games outdoors on the turf fields while plans for the arenas were still being hashed out. Growing up I played lacrosse from middle school through high school and in to my first semester of college, so shooting the tournament was a blast even with the heat- which was only exacerbated by the synthetic field surfaces. A lot of athletes I got to watch already have commitments to play at the Division I level, which is pretty impressive. There’s no way I could hang with these teams when I was at my best, which is a testament to both their skill level and the development of the sport at the youth level.