The 11th annual Reindeer Games hosted by Thunder Lacrosse and Atlanta Storm was a huge success. This holiday event presented by New Balance brought together players from across Georgia's lacrosse scene to celebrate the holidays - dressed head-to-toe in their best holiday garb for a weekend of lacrosse fun.
View our Cinematic Recap of the Event Below!
A Tradition of Fun in Georgia's Club Lacrosse Community
Thunder Lacrosse - the Southeast's most dominant lacrosse program, sure knows how to throw a party. The 2021 Reindeer Games was exactly that!
Boys and girls lacrosse teams throughout Georgia came together for a 7v7 weekend tournament. Players were able to come up with their holiday themed team name and then dress the part.
Taking a step into Franklin Gateway Park in Marietta, you're surrounded by lacrosse players rocking their custom-made jerseys, Christmas onesies, and antlers with team names like "Top Shelf," "Candy Crushers," and "Sleigh All Day" strewn across their chests.
Teams are made up of athletes across the Georgia club & high school lacrosse landscape - including players from Thunder Lacrosse, 3D Georgia, Team 91, Atlanta Storm, and Eagle Stix to name a few.
A Southeast Lacrosse Tradition
This event bring hundreds of lacrosse players together to compete for Reindeer embossed gold medals and it's a time for the Georgia lacrosse community to have fun after coming off of a series of tough summer and fall lacrosse tournaments. This event creates an opportunity to truly enjoy the game of lacrosse in a fun environment. The 2021 Reindeer Games marks 11 years of awesome Georgia lacrosse hosted by Thunder Lacrosse.
This event also consistently draws in Thunder Lacrosse Alumni looking to join in the fun, participating as coaches and even referees. College players that are home for winter break love this event - bringing them back to the roots of the game and providing an opportunity to give back to the program that has been such an integral part in their lives.
Our Interview with Top Elf and Tournament Director, Alex Haskins
GAS: Hey Alex, can you introduce yourself to our readers and tell us what your role is at Thunder Lacrosse and with the Reindeer Games?
Alex Haskins: Yeah, absolutely. My name is Alex Haskins. I'm our director of training & events at Thunder Lacrosse and I am the tournament director here at the Reindeer Games.
GAS: Can you describe what the Reindeer Games are? What makes this lacrosse event so special?
Alex Haskins: Reindeer Games is our 7 on 7 boys and girls lacrosse event to cap off our winter time and holiday season. We have all of our teams from Thunder and Storm along with the Georgia lacrosse community. There are recreational programs, club programs, and other high schools. They all create their own 7 on 7 team, about 12 to 14 players on each. Everybody wears holiday festive outfits and we do team competitions for holiday team names and the outfits that they created.
GAS: How does this event unite the lacrosse community? You have players from different programs all intermixed and playing together. Can you tell us a bit about that?
Alex Haskins: I think fun is number one. It's fun. The 7 on 7 - anybody can play. We have teams that play together all the time and we have kids that come out with a bunch of buddies and put together holiday uniforms and come out here to play. Of course it's competitive. The kids want to compete and have fun but it's definitely not over the top and the Toys for Tots really helps us out also.
GAS: Why does Thunder Lacrosse make it a point to hold this event every year? How long have you been hosting this event?
Alex Haskins: This is our eleventh year doing this. It's fun to bring everyone together. It allows everyone to come in, bring their teams, and unite the community. It's around Christmas time so kids are just about to get out of school. Everybody has gone through their fall season. It's able to cap that off and get everyone together before they leave for holiday break and the New Year. It's the perfect event leading into everyone's spring sports and their spring lacrosse teams coming up.
GAS: Our final questions... what's your favorite thing about the Thunder Lacrosse Reindeer Games? How do you feel once this event is wrapped up?
My favorite thing is the people. It's a relationship built community.
Alex Haskins: My favorite thing is the people. It's a relationship built community. My personal favorite thing is seeing all of the boys. We have some of the young guys that we coach - third, fourth, and fifth graders all the way up to alumni of the program - players that I used to coach back when they were in high school and middle school. They come out working as referees or on staff at tables. All of the teams that I coached, all of the boys that I coached, getting them in one spot is my favorite part of it.
The Role of GAS Digital Productions in the Thunder Lacrosse/Atlanta Storm Reindeer Games
This 11th annual Reindeer Games... and perhaps the most exciting Reindeer Games to date, is our third consecutive year producing the cinematic recap of the event for Thunder. We love coming out to this event to capture cinematic lacrosse game footage, detail shots of the players' uniforms, and all of the fun festivities surrounding the event. With every video, it's about recreating the overall experience and bringing the viewers into the action.
We've been longtime partners of Thunder Lacrosse, producing their Reindeer Games cinematic recaps, video specials highlighting their Great 88 Senior All-Star Game, and multiple events held throughout the year. We also produce highlight reels for college recruiting for many of their lacrosse players.
One of our favorite parts of the Georgia lacrosse community is how tight-knit it is. It's an everyone knows everyone community where everyone supports each other through the game of lacrosse and shares a passion for the sport. We're thankful to Thunder Lacrosse for their great partnership and for another excellent event that we can bring to the viewers to enjoy.
And That's a Wrap!
As we wrap up 2021, we want to wish the entire Georgia sports community a happy holiday and a wonderful new year. Stay tuned for many great things to come in the new year. In 2022, GAS Digital productions will be providing sports videography services for multiple high school lacrosse programs. These services include season documentaries, game film videography, and highlight reels for college recruiting featuring lacrosse players from across the southeast. Thank you all for a great 2021 and we will see you in 2022!
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