Photo by Kamp Fender.
Will Brooks (16) looks to pass during a Vestavia Hills High varsity lacrosse match against Jesuit on Feb. 2 at the Sicard Hollow athletic complex. The boys’ team, coached by Randy Nace, has reached the state finals six times since 2011 and won the title in 2017.
Since it started at the high-school level in 2005, the sport of lacrosse has spread quickly and gained popularity throughout Vestavia Hills.
While lacrosse isn’t a sanctioned sport by the Alabama High School Athletic Association, a high school boys and a high school girls’ team both compete and have won numerous state championships since they have formed.
But now, the sport’s leaders are looking toward the future, investing time in youth teams to help get more young people involved in the game.
“We’ve grown exponentially,” said Jim Bates, who coaches youth boys’ teams.
Bates and Lawrence Bear, who serves as president of the Vestavia Lacrosse Organization, help teach young athletes how to play through school demonstrations and scheduled new player clinics in the fall, where interested players will receive loaner equipment and learn the rules and basics, deciding if they’d like to continue the sport.
Dennis Lipford, the high school girls’ coach, said one of the practices that has continued since the sport’s inception is demonstrations at city schools. For the last 10 years, coaches have traveled around the city and told students about lacrosse. However, while students 10 years ago did not recognize the sport, that has now changed as a result of the youth teams that have popped up all around Vestavia Hills.
Eleven youth teams exist for boys and girls ages 14 and under, and the hope is the under-12 team will grow into the future, Bear said.
“[Lacrosse] has grown by word of mouth,” Bear said.
When the sport began, coaches were all volunteer dads, but now, nine coaches have received level 1 certification by U.S. Lacrosse, Bear said.
The speed of the sport is popular, providing a welcome break from the slower pace of baseball for young children, Bates said.
“It’s very fast-paced,” Bates said. “... It’s just a fun, exhilarating, fast-paced game. You can be down two goals with 30 seconds left and come back and win.”
“Everybody’s the quarterback,” Bear said. “You’re not stuck in a position.”
The retention rate is very high, as most players who switch over from another sport tend to stick to lacrosse, Bear said.
Bear and Bates both got into coaching after their sons were looking for a new sport to play. They settled on lacrosse, decided to coach and have been doing so ever since.
The youth teams operate out of the Greater Birmingham Youth Lacrosse Association, which has about 1,500 kids playing in it. Bates actually met the leader of the GBYLA while he was in jury duty, creating a relationship that had a lasting impact. The GBYLA includes other teams from the over-the-mountain area.
Playing time has a key role in the youth game, as there is a minimum requirement of every athlete playing half of the game until the player is older than 12.
As participants have grown, the ability to recruit good coaches has also grown, Bear said.
The high school teams have been successful since they began. The boys’ team, coached by Randy Nace, has reached the state finals six times since 2011 and won the title in 2017. The girls’ team won the championship from 2009 to 2012 and again in 2018, and were recently ranked 24th in the nation according to Max Preps.
Several boys’ players have gone to Division 1 schools, with several others committing to smaller schools like Birmingham-Southern College.
The connection between the high school game and the youth game is strengthened by high school coaches coming to youth practices and helping teach younger players.
The hope is that more and more young people will continue to join and help expand lacrosse even more, Bates said.
“I just love to see the success and the growth of [lacrosse],” Bates said. “It’s very rewarding.”
