The Vail Lacrosse Shootout is an annual summer tournament in Vail, Colo. Fresh off winning the NCAA championship, Josh Hawkins played in the tournament in 2012, the summer prior to his senior season at Loyola. The tournament concluded, and Hawkins headed into Denver to stay with friends.

From the apartment of 2012 MLL draftees and University of Denver graduates Mark Matthews and Alex Demopoulos, who were playing in the MLL game between Denver and Ohio that night, Hawkins saw fireworks in the distance but said he had no idea where they were coming from.

Now a veteran in his sixth season and a current member of the Denver Outlaws, Hawkins knows those fireworks came from the Outlaws’ annual Fourth of July game, and he has the opportunity to make even more memories on one of the biggest stages in lacrosse.

“It’s just awesome,” he said. “You could easily miss the fireworks. Everyone tries to see them wherever they are in the world. To have a game not stop you from seeing fireworks but to have the game celebrate it, I’m pretty sure it’s the biggest set of fireworks in proximity to the city … It’s probably 30 minutes. It goes to a music video set. It’s really well done. They plan it a year in advance. To be right on the field, too, is pretty sweet. Right on the field, you feel they’re going off right on top of you. It’s a cool experience.”

Since the team’s inaugural season in 2006, the Denver Outlaws have hosted Mile High Fourth of July, a show produced by Zambelli Fireworks. According to the team’s website, “more than 10,000 fireworks rounds will be ignited and paired with a music video tribute on the stadium’s 220-foot-long by 40-foot-high ThunderVision screen.”

The game is one of the most attended lacrosse events each year, drawing an average of 25,531 fans. The event has brought in at least 20,000 fans every year since 2008 and has drawn 30,000 fans on three separate occasions, including a record 31,664 people in 2015.

“It’s incredible,” said Eric Law, a Colorado native, University of Denver graduate and member of the Outlaws since 2013. “I went when I was in high school and a youth player. It was fun to watch the highest level of lacrosse there is. With the buzz and how many people are in the stands and the fireworks and Fourth of July, it is a unique and incredible event the Outlaws have done for the past decade. It’s tough to put it into words. It’s almost unexplainable. You have to be there to get the full experience.”

Not only do the Outlaws dominate the Fourth of July in the stands, they do so on the field as well. The team is 8-4 in Fourth of July games, winning with an average margin of more than six goals. Twice, including the 2017 victory over the Atlanta Blaze, the Outlaws have won by double digits.

The only team ever to beat the Outlaws on the Fourth of July is the Boston Cannons, who will play in the 2018 version of the game. Boston, the only team to play Denver more than once on July 4, is a perfect 4-0 going into the game Wednesday (7 p.m. MT).

Despite the home team’s usual advantage, visiting players still hope to be playing in Denver for the holiday.

“Every year, when the schedule comes out, it’s the first thing I look at, if I’m in that game,” said Atlanta long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff, who has played in the game as a member of both the Blaze and the Cannons. “It’s one of the coolest lacrosse environments I’ve played, and I’d include the final four.”

“The crowd in Denver, on top of the number of people, they love lacrosse there. There’s no doubt who they’re cheering for. It makes it an exciting environment,” Ratliff added. “The final four is the biggest audience you’ll play in front of, but the majority is watching at home. It’s bigger than just a regular season game, but the atmosphere as far as the crowd goes is not as good as the Fourth of July game. The final four weekend, you have all sorts of lacrosse fans there. They don’t have extreme loyalty to any team. In Denver, everyone is cheering for the Outlaws.”

Despite the universal appreciation for the event, Hawkins said he looks forward to playing in the game as member of the home team instead of getting booed as a visiting player.

“I’m not the type of player that goes to an away stadium and is really well received, especially when I’m getting penalties and being a crazy d-middie on the field,” he said. “It will be great to be on the Denver side and run out of the fire and smoke and have an awesome celebration after the game.”

While the fans are treated to an aerial show thanks to the incredible fireworks display, the game creates special moments for those playing in it.

“I think playing in my very first one my rookie year, walking out to the field and having 35,000 people cheering for the Outlaws and experience being on that field after being a fan for so long, it was one of the most [cherished] memories I have. Each time you step on the field is a special moment,” Law said. “Being able to play where the Broncos play, who are my favorite team, on the Fourth of July, it’s an incredible moment.”

Ratliff’s favorite memory came courtesy of one of MLL’s greatest players.

“The moment for me was the 2014 season, and we were with the Cannons. It was Ryan Boyle’s last year playing. He was the captain and myself and Will Manny [were] second-year players,” he said. “He came in that game, and the second we showed up, he was going crazy, which is not his personality. He gave a good pregame speech, which set the tone. We had been struggling that year, but we played well and won [17-13]. It was cool to see a legend like that, that I admired, step up. He knew it was a big game and a big stage.”

Just like Ratliff was an up-and coming player for Boston when he made his Mile High Fourth of July debut, a Cannons rookie will try to make his mark on the game in 2018.

No. 1 overall draft pick Trevor Baptiste, who played his collegiate career and graduated from the University of Denver, said he has been excited about his chance to play in the game since he went to it as a spectator last summer.

“I’m jacked up about that game. I’m pumped,” he said. “I got the chance to go to that game last year. Being from the Denver area, you can tell it’s huge. It’s a huge game. There’s tons of fans, the fireworks show is amazing. It’s probably one of the top 10 lacrosse games of the year aside from the final four. I’ve got a couple friends on the Outlaws. It’ll be good not to travel. I’m in Denver, so I can just drive down to the game.”

While the MLL attendance numbers have slipped in recent years, and the league tries new ways to get fans to the games, Denver routinely is No. 1 in the league in average attendance. The Mile High Fourth of July game plays a large role in that statistic.

The players that have been a part of the game credit the Outlaws organization for putting on the event, and they hope other markets adopt it. The game and event is memorable for the fans, encouraging them to come to more games after they’ve seen the spectacle of the Mile High Fourth of July.

Hawkins said it’s not just the fans that leave with incredible memories, however.

“In our league, we take it for granted sometimes,” he said. “We take it for granted, but when you take a step back and reflect, those moments are unreal. You dream about them. They’ll always be memories. You’ll remember the ground ball you missed, the goal your buddy scored, whatever it may be, you have it for the rest of your life. It’s one of those things nobody will ever forget.”