LYNN – After a one-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the Agganis All-Star Games will be played in 2021.
“We are very pleased to get the games back on the schedule,” said Agganis Games Director Paul Halloran. “Cancelling them last year was unavoidable, but it was our strong desire to not miss a second year.”
The Agganis Foundation board of trustees approved moving forward and Halloran worked with Rich Avery, who oversees Manning and Fraser fields, and Lynn Classical Athletic Director Bill Devin, to put together the schedule.
Agganis Week will begin on Sunday, June 20, with the opening ceremony at Manning Field, followed by the softball/baseball doubleheader at Fraser and the girls and boys soccer and girls and boys lacrosse games at Manning. The girls and boys basketball games will be held at Classical on Monday, June 21, with the football game set for Manning Field on Wednesday, June 23.
“We have always wanted to experiment with playing multiple games on the same day and this seemed like the logical year to try it,” Halloran said. “Limiting the number of days we bring people in is probably not a bad idea and we will see how the concept is received. What better way to spend part of Father’s Day than watching your daughter or son compete against the top players in the area.”
The Agganis All-Star Games and the opening ceremony will follow all local, state and federal guidelines with regard to COVID protocols.
“We are very fortunate to work with Rich Avery and his crew,” Halloran said. “They have been staging events at the facilities for a while now and they are the best at what they do. We are extremely confident we can run our events in a manner that is safe for players, coaches, officials and fans.”
Agganis Foundation President Andrew Demakes said bringing back the games this year was a priority for trustees.
“We believe the Agganis All-Star events play an important role in Lynn and the region,” Demakes said. “As we watched high schools work extremely hard this year to provide opportunities for student-athletes to complete, we wanted to do everything possible to stage our games. We are grateful for the cooperation of the City in these efforts.”
Because the final decision to play was confirmed only last week, the timeline to put together the games is extremely tight. Halloran is reaching to athletic directors and coaches to nominate seniors for the various games. A selection process that usually covers a few months will have to be completed in a few weeks.
“We need the cooperation of the ADs and coaches in order to pull this off,” Halloran said. “We want to make sure that no deserving player is left out.”
Nominations of senior all-stars can be sent to agganisfoundation1955@gmail.com by May 23. It is important that the sport is included in the subject line of the email. Only nominations from coaches and athletic directors will be considered.
2021 Agganis All-Star Games
Sunday, June 20 Opening Ceremony Manning Field 9 a.m.
Sunday, June 20 All-Star Girls Lacrosse Game Manning Field 11 a.m.
Sunday, June 20 All-Star Softball Game Fraser Field Noon
Sunday, June 20 All-Star Boys Lacrosse Game Manning Field 1 p.m.
Sunday, June 20 All-Star Baseball Game Fraser Field 2 p.m.
Sunday, June 20 All-Star Girls Soccer Game Manning Field 3:30 p.m.
Sunday, June 20 All-Star Boys Soccer Game Manning Field 5:30 p.m.
Monday, June 21 All-Star Girls Basketball Game Lynn Classical 5:30 p.m.
Monday, June 21 All-Star Boys Basketball Game Lynn Classical 7 p.m.
Wednesday, June 23 All-Star Football Game Manning Field 6:30 p.m.
