The Vail Shootout started in Aspen in 1973 and was founded by Flip Naumburg and Jim Soran. After making its permanent move to Vail in 1979, the tournament has enjoyed steady growth and become a fixture on the lacrosse landscape. More than just a lacrosse tournament, the Shootout is almost a spiritual gathering. It has become a place for lacrosse "people" of all ages to come together and celebrate their sport in a tribal manner, much in the same way their Native American forefathers did.

With players competing in seven different divisions, the Vail Shootout has enough lacrosse to satiate any fan's appetite. The Men's Elite division is the headliner, taking place from July 1st - July 4th and coinciding with the Women's Elite tournament. The Boy's and Girl's U-19 tournaments kick off the tournament on June 27th, along with the popular Men's Supermasters (ages 40 +). Men's Masters (33 +) takes the field on June 30th and Grandmasters (50 +) gets going on June 28th.

Over the years, some of the world's best lacrosse players have played in the Vail Shootout. Gary and Paul Gait (Syracuse), Jen Adams (Maryland), Casey, Ryan and Mike Powell (Syracuse), Kyle Harrison (Johns Hopkins) and Michele DeJuliis (Penn State), some of the most recognized names in the sport, have all graced the Vail Valley at some point in their lacrosse careers.

With a compact schedule that will allow for plenty of overlap between age divisions, lacrosse fans will be able to catch their favorite stars of young and old.

Just because Vail is one of the longest running tournaments in all of lacrosse does not mean that it has stopped being progressive. Several new features have been added to the 2007 version to ensure that it continues to be on the cutting edge.

First of note is the condensed schedule. After last year's tournament sprawled over eleven days, 2007 has been cut significantly down to eight. The effect of this will give fans of the tournament plenty of options when looking for lacrosse in the Vail Valley. Men's Masters sees the biggest change. Instead of its traditional place alongside Men's Supermasters, the Masters tournament will take place from June 30th - July 2nd.

The Grandmasters Division (ages 50 +) is back for a second consecutive year, as is the youth Chumash tournament. Both features were new last year and were extremely popular. Chumash is a form of lacrosse created by Vail co-founder Flip Naumburg that allows for a "portable" lacrosse game to break out wherever you might be. With no goalies and a long, skinny goal that two teams of three players each attack, it is similar to half-court basketball and is a great way to teach younger players the game. The Chumash tournament is a friendly, non-competitive event that will take place on June 30th and July 1st.