On April 5-6, New York City Sports Commissioner Kenneth J. Podziba and New York City Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe will welcome the Mayor's Cup Lacrosse Jamboree to Randall's Island. The Jamboree -- created in partnership with CityLax, the New York City Sports Commission, the Public School Athletic League (PSAL) and the Randall's Island Sports Foundation -- will offer boys' and girls' lacrosse programs from New York City's public, private and parochial high schools an opportunity to test their skills against the top talent in the five boroughs.

"New York City has a storied lacrosse history that dates back to 1877 when Manhattan College played New York University in the first intercollegiate lacrosse match," said Commissioner Podziba. "In recent years, CityLax has made a sincere effort to raise the profile of lacrosse in our city and has succeeded in doing so by fostering the development of new programs within our city's public schools. It is our hope that events such as the Mayor's Cup Lacrosse Jamboree will help raise the level of lacrosse throughout the five boroughs so that one day in the near future our local students will fill the rosters of perennial college lacrosse powers."

The Jamboree will be split into separate boys' and girls' events, with the boys playing on April 5 and the girls playing on April 6. Games will be played on Randall's Island's Premier Field and will begin at 9:00am on both days. Upon the completion of each day's events at approximately 5:00pm, an All-Tournament Team will be selected by participating coaches and members of the selection committee. Each member of the Girls' All-Tournament Team will receive a pair of Vantage Goggles provided by Brine Lacrosse and each member of the Boys' All-Tournament Team will receive a canvas equipment bag provided by Lacrosse Unlimited.

"With the growing popularity of lacrosse, we are happy to provide young athletes the opportunity to showcase their talent and participate in events like the Mayor's Cup Lacrosse Jamboree on Randall's Island," said Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe. "The Randall's Island Sports Foundation has partnered with the City to create world-class facilities for young athletes from across the city to compete and develop lifetime habits of fitness and health."

The 2008 Mayor's Cup Lacrosse Jamboree will feature 33 teams including defending PSAL Lacrosse Champions Midwood HS (boys) and Tottenville HS (girls). Other schools competing include: A.P. Randolph HS (boys & girls), Beach Channel HS (girls), Benjamin Cardozo HS (boys & girls), Brearley School (girls) Christopher Columbus HS (boys), Collegiate HS (boys), Curtis HS (boys & girls), Fieldston School (girls), Frederick Douglass Academy (boys & girls), Herbert Lehman HS (boys), Horace Mann School (boys & girls), Marymount (girls), Midwood HS (boys & girls), Monsignor Farrell HS (boys), Mount St. Michael Academy (boys), New Dorp HS (boys), Nightingale-Bamford School (girls), Port Richmond HS (boys), Queens HS of Teaching (girls), Sacred Heart HS (girls), Sports Professions HS (boys), Staten Island Academy (girls), Stuyvesant HS (boys), Tottenville HS (girls), Trinity School (boys) and Xaverian HS (boys).

"The 2008 Mayor's Cup Lacrosse Jamboree represents a major step in the development of lacrosse in New York City," said CityLax President Mathew Levine. "It is the largest jamboree style lacrosse tournament ever to be held in the City and its participants are all teams from schools in the five boroughs. Not only does it showcase the New York City lacrosse talent, but it serves to bring together a community of high school student-athletes around the sport for a great day of competition and to honor a game first invented by Native American Indians hundreds of years ago."

In 2005, CityLax established a public-private partnership with the Department of Education and the PSAL to introduce character-based lacrosse programming in New York City public schools. The goal of the partnership is to develop high school varsity programs, especially in boroughs that historically had little or no access to lacrosse. Prior to the 2005-06 season, the PSAL boys' league was comprised of six teams and the girls' league included only two teams. During the 2005-06 season, CityLax started both boys' and girls' teams at A. Philip Randolph HS (Manhattan), making it the first-ever public high school in Harlem to offer lacrosse. In the 2006-07 season, CityLax introduced public high school lacrosse for the first time in the Bronx, helping to create boys' teams at Herbert Lehman and Christopher Columbus high schools. In less than two years, CityLax has helped to double the size of the boys' PSAL lacrosse league and to triple the size of the girls' league. Today, the PSAL and CityLax preside over a 12 team boys' league and an eight team girls' league. The PSAL Lacrosse Championships will be held June 1, at Aviator Sports Complex in Brooklyn.

In the last ten years, the number of U.S. high school boys and girls playing lacrosse has increased from about 39,000 to 108,000. With the addition of the National Lacrosse League's NY Titans to the Big Apple, as well as the growth of various programs within the five boroughs, lacrosse continues to grow in popularity and attract our City's youth to become involved in the sport.

For more information and a schedule of events, please visit www.allprosoftware.net/mayorscup.

CityLax, a not-for-profit organization, seeks to increase/enhance educational opportunities, fitness levels, and life skills for boys and girls at the youth, middle school, and high school ages living in New York City through participation in quality organized lacrosse programs. CityLax has created a strategic plan calling for further city-wide lacrosse growth in schools and community organizations, character-based coaching methods, and linking lacrosse with academic enrichment initiatives.

Randall's Island Sports Foundation, founded in 1992, is a public-private partnership with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation that seeks to realize the unique potential of 480 waterfront parkland acres anchoring Manhattan, the Bronx and Queens. RISF strives to empower under-resourced children through sports and recreation with an investment of over $300 million over the next five years in world class facilities, playing fields and programming.

Parks & Recreation is the steward of more than 29,000 acres of land - 14 percent of New York City - including more than 4,000 individual properties ranging from Yankee Stadium and Central Park to community gardens and Greenstreets. We operate more than 800 athletic fields and nearly 1,000 playgrounds; we manage four major stadia, 550 tennis courts, 54 public pools, 48 recreational facilities, 17 nature centers, 13 golf courses, and 14 miles of beaches; we care for 1,200 monuments and 22 historic house museums; we look after 600,000 street trees, and two million more in parks. We are New York City's principal provider of athletic facilities. We are home to free concerts, world-class sports events, and cultural festivals.

The New York City Sports Commission is the mayoral agency charged with attracting, facilitating and promoting professional, amateur and scholastic sports events in New York City. In recent years, the Sports Commission has played a role in creating or developing many new sporting events, including the NFL Kickoff Live from Times Square, NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series™ Champions Week, the BMC Software NYC Cycling Championship, the AVP Brooklyn Open, the NAUTICA NYC Triathlon, the NYC Half-Marathon, the Union Square Street Sessions presented by Jeep®, the Wild Onion Urban Adventure Race and the Men's Health Urbanathlon.