Youth lacrosse on the rise in Middle Tennessee

High school lacrosse isn't as popular as football, basketball or baseball. With about three dozen high school teams across the state, it is still considered a somewhat exotic sport. But in Williamson County and other areas, it's exploding in popularity.

"I'd say there are more than double, at least, middle school and upper elementary school teams than high school teams throughout the state," said Tyler Hirsch, the chief financial officer of Rise Lacrosse in Williamson County.

In Williamson and parts of Davidson County, there are dozens of youth lacrosse programs ranging from developmental programs such as Rise Lacrosse, which introduces athletes to the sport, to elite middle school travel programs such as Tri-Star Lacrosse.

"Williamson County has some of the largest interest levels in the sport," said Tri-Star head coach Brandon Choate. "They get interested in the game because it's an eye-catching and exciting sport."

Tri-Star Lacrosse is one of the only nonprofit travel lacrosse teams in Middle Tennessee. The middle school travel team recently played in its final summer tournament against four teams.

Hayden White, Tri-Star's 13-year-old starting attacker, said the high-performance level and pace of the sport are what captured his interest.

"I love lacrosse because while it is fast paced, but there is also plenty of hitting allowed," White said. "It is like an art form. Kids my age ... should be involved because it is great exercise, it doesn't get boring, and it's a very physical sport, which is what I find that most boys in my grade like."

White said he also used to play football, but going into eighth grade this past year, he decided to quit football so he could focus on lacrosse.

"We learn leadership in games and practices," White said. "Whether it is hyping the team up, leading a drill or communicating ways to make a play go smoother. We also embrace discipline early on in the season. If we are playing sloppy, making a bad decision or just being too disruptive, we'll run. That's how we get better though."

"We're training them to compete against higher-level teams than what they may be used to in their high schools," Choate said.

In 2013, Brian Masterson, 33, moved to Tennessee and started Rise Lacrosse when he saw the demand for the sport growing from the East Coast to the South.

"The popularity of lacrosse is exploding, especially for the youth," Masterson said. "Our phone is constantly ringing with parents who want to know how they can get their child involved."

With an average startup cost of $500 for equipment, lacrosse is dominated by kids who come from white, upper-middle-class backgrounds.

"It consists of a certain demographic, for sure," Masterson said. "So we make sure that we expose them to a different world outside of the field. We have a service-learning program throughout the year, where we will take our players to volunteer at the Nashville Rescue Mission. And eventually, we want to take our kids and our equipment out to some schools in Davidson County, so those kids can get a chance to experience the sport."

Despite the sport's rise in popularity, it is still having issues with recognition from the state. Lacrosse is governed by the Tennessee Scholastic Lacrosse Association, an organization independent of the typical governing body for state athletics, the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association. TSLA has lobbied the state on several occasions to be adopted but with no success.

But Hirsch said with the way it's growing, it may be only a matter of time.

"Nashville and Middle Tennessee is booming," Hirsch said. "As people move here from all over the country, they're going to bring the interest for the sport with them. It's only going to go up."

Reach Thomas Novelly on Twitter @TomNovelly.