The Bitter Lacrosse tournament, which normally draws thousands of visitors to the Stowe area, has been canceled this year after organizers say they were sent threats regarding their plans to hold the event amid the coronavirus crisis.
Bitter Lacrosse President E.W. Bitter said he is reconsidering holding the popular tournament in Vermont in the future following the response. He had previously planned to hold the tournament during the last two weekends in July in a “far-reduced format,” with just 30 teams and games held outside of Stowe.
“In the reduced format that it was being run in, it, for us, wasn’t financially sound anyway,” Bitter said Tuesday. “We wanted to do it for the kids and people that were excited to participate. But given the hostile environment that’s been brewing here, it didn’t feel it would be the right thing to invite families into that.”
Bitter, who also owns the Town & Country resort in Stowe, still plans to hold lacrosse camps in late July, which he said take around 50 kids, most of whom are local.
Bitter told VTDigger last week that most teams coming for the tournament would be from Vermont, and the out-of-staters would be from areas not required to quarantine upon entry to the state. The plan to carry on amid the coronavirus, though, was met with opposition from many community members and area health practitioners.
“I think the cancellation was a good idea,” said Devon Heath Williams, who co-owns In Company Clothing in Stowe. “Our first priority should be the health of our community.”
Williams said many community members were caught by surprise that the event — which is normally large enough to clog up traffic in Waterbury and Stowe — was still being held, even in a reduced format.
“Not having all the information, I don’t think that Bitter did a good job of getting out all of their precautions and information beforehand,” Williams said.
An online petition to postpone the event received more than 350 signatures. Bitter, though, said the response turned into “growing anger, threats and vitriol” expressed in public and private.
Williams said she didn’t see anything of the sort in social media discussions.
“I don’t think that’s what our community is about,” she said. “Our community is very welcoming. I think that those comments and those actions are based on fear. I can only speak for myself when I say that having an extra couple thousand people come into town right now isn’t the best idea given the current circumstances of the ongoing pandemic.”
