Lacrosse season ends fast. One week you are juggling playoff brackets and carpool schedules, and the next you are staring at a banquet date wondering where the trophies are coming from. If you run a club program or coach a school team, you already know the awards table sets the tone for the whole night. Kids remember what they carried home. Parents photograph it. And a cheap, generic trophy with a peeling plate tells everyone exactly how late you ordered.
This guide covers what actually matters when buying lacrosse trophies and awards, the formats that work best for clubs and school programs, and the providers worth calling before your banquet sneaks up on you.
What to Look for Before You Order
Start with the engraving, not the trophy. A well built award with sloppy or outsourced engraving still looks like an afterthought. Ask any provider who does the engraving work. Companies that run their own equipment in house can fix a misspelled name in hours. Companies that ship engraving out to a third party will quote you days, sometimes weeks, and playoff season does not wait.
Quantity pricing matters more in lacrosse than in most sports. Rosters run 20 to 30 players, and club programs often order for four or five teams at once. A provider that offers real bulk pricing, not a token discount, can cut hundreds of dollars off a season end order. Get the per piece price in writing at your actual quantity before comparing vendors.
Then look at turnaround. Lacrosse banquets cluster into a narrow window in late spring, which means every trophy shop in the country is slammed at the same time. Providers who are honest about lead times are worth more than providers who promise everything. If your date is tight, ask specifically about rush capability and what it costs.
Finally, think about who is receiving each award. A participation medal for a U9 player, a most valuable player trophy for a varsity attackman, and a retirement plaque for a coach who gave the program fifteen years are three different purchases. The best providers can handle all three in one order.
Types of Lacrosse Awards That Work
Medals for Full Rosters
Medals are the workhorse of youth lacrosse. They are affordable at roster scale, kids wear them around their necks for the rest of the day, and they ship light. Laser engravable medals are the smart pick here because the face can be customized with your program name, season, and lacrosse artwork rather than a generic design. Viking Awards runs laserable lines like the Bright Gold Victory Cup Flame Medal and its bright silver counterpart that get personalized in house, so every medal in the box matches and every name is spelled right. Classic torch designs like the Silver Superstar Torch Medal and Bronze Superstar Torch Medal give you a clean gold, silver, and bronze structure for tournament placement.
Cup Trophies for Championships
Nothing photographs like a cup. For league championships and season titles, a completed metal cup on a weighted base reads as a real achievement, not a participation nod. Viking’s 11 inch Silver and Gold Star Metal Cup Trophy works for single team honors, while the 17 3/4 inch version has the size to become a program’s traveling championship cup. If you want something teams can hoist year after year with winner plates added each season, a large cup like the Gold Winged Easy Cup doubles as a perpetual award, and you can read more about how perpetual formats work on Viking’s trophies page.
Acrylic and Crystal Awards for Coaches and Volunteers
Coach and volunteer recognition deserves a step up from the player hardware. An engraved acrylic piece like the Gold and Blue Victory SunRay Acrylic sits on a desk or shelf for years, which is exactly where you want your program’s name living. For milestone recognition, a senior night gift, or a retiring coach, crystal awards and engraved plaques carry the weight the moment calls for.
Letter Insignias for School Programs
High school programs handing out varsity letters can finish them properly with sport insignias. A small touch like the Gold Band Metal Chenille Letter Insignia style pin, customized for your sport, makes the letter jacket complete. It is a small line item that athletes genuinely keep.
Top Providers for Lacrosse Trophies and Awards
1. Viking Awards
Viking Awards has been building and engraving awards since 1973, and that half century shows in how they handle team orders. Everything is engraved in house at their Westchester, Illinois shop, which means tight quality control, fast corrections, and rush capability when a banquet date is bearing down on you. The catalog runs from roster scale medals through cup trophies, acrylic awards, crystal, and plaques, so a club can outfit players, coaches, and volunteers in a single order instead of juggling three vendors. They handle bulk club orders as comfortably as a single retirement plaque. Website: viking-awards.com. Phone: (630) 833-1733.
2. Crown Awards
Crown Awards is one of the largest trophy manufacturers in the country and carries a deep lacrosse specific catalog covering trophies, medals, plaques, and crystal. Free engraving up to 40 characters is included on trophies, and in stock items can ship same day when ordered by late afternoon. For programs that want a lacrosse figure on a column trophy at a low per unit price, their volume is hard to beat. Website: crownawards.com. Phone: 800-227-1557.
3. Dinn Trophy
Dinn Trophy is a family business that has been in the awards trade since 1956, now run by the second generation of the Dinn family. Their lacrosse section includes trophies, medals, plaques, and pins, with 40 free letters of personalization per trophy and free ground shipping on qualifying orders. A solid pick for schools that value dealing with a long established supplier. Website: dinntrophy.com. Phone: 800-828-3466.
4. K2 Awards
K2 Awards, based in Richmond, Virginia, stocks a focused lineup of lacrosse trophies, medals, and plaques with free engraving and no order minimum, which helps smaller clubs that only need a handful of pieces. They back orders with a money back satisfaction guarantee and offer free shipping over $200. Website: k2awards.com. Phone: 804-784-7298.
5. Express Medals
Express Medals is a medals first operation with a couple dozen lacrosse specific designs in sizes from 1 3/4 inches to 3 inches, sold with no minimum quantity and free shipping on US orders. If your entire order is neck medals for a tournament, their single piece pricing model is convenient. Website: expressmedals.com. Phone: (855) 633-2570.
6. Trophy Outlet
Trophy Outlet is a third generation family shop in Keokuk, Iowa that has been operating for close to four decades. Their lacrosse range includes male and female player figures, tiered trophies, and medals, all with free custom engraving and volume discounts for schools and leagues. Most orders leave their shop within two business days. Website: trophyoutlet.com. Phone: 866-282-0847.
The companies listed above reflect editorial opinion only and are not ranked in any particular order of preference or quality beyond the first position. This list is independent and should not be taken as an official endorsement or paid ranking. Contact details are accurate at the time of publication but are subject to change.
Mistakes That Ruin Banquet Night
The most common mistake is ordering late. Trophy shops hit capacity in May and June, and rush fees stack up quickly. Book your order when the playoff schedule comes out, not after the final whistle.
The second is submitting names without a second reader. Every engraver works from the list you provide, and a misspelled kid’s name is the one error parents never forget. Have a team parent proof the roster against registration records before it goes to the shop.
Third, buying purely on price. A two dollar difference per medal disappears against the cost of awards that arrive with crooked plates or inconsistent engraving. Ask to see a sample or product photos of the actual engraved output, not just the blank.
Last, forgetting the adults. Programs run on volunteer coaches, team managers, and board members. A modest engraved plaque for the people who gave up their weekends costs little and pays back in retention next season.
How to Choose for Your Program
Match the provider to the shape of your order. A tournament handing out 300 placement medals has different needs than a varsity program buying eight individual awards and a coach’s plaque. If your order mixes both, and most club orders do, favor a full service shop with in house engraving over a niche vendor, because one point of contact means one deadline to manage.
Then call, do not just click. Five minutes on the phone tells you whether a provider understands lacrosse orders, whether they will flag problems with your engraving list, and whether your banquet date is realistic. The shops that ask good questions are the shops that deliver clean orders.
Lacrosse players earn their hardware over a long, physical season. Order early, proof your names, and buy from a shop that engraves its own work, and the awards table will hold up its end of the banquet. If you want a single provider that can cover everything from roster medals to a championship cup, Viking Awards has been doing exactly that for programs since 1973.
Phone: (630) 833-1733
Website: viking-awards.com