Georgia colleges picking up lacrosse

Of all the hopes that Mary Childs had for her marriage, none of them had to do with returning to Georgia.

That was the price of marrying a college lacrosse coach, which in 2003 was not exactly a job holding vast promise in the state.

"She was pretty much saying good-bye to her family, that we were going to see them on holidays," said her husband Jason, who had coached briefly at Darlington School in Rome before taking a college job at Limestone College in Gaffney, S.C.

Seven years later, Childs has returned to Georgia with his wife for, of all things, a college lacrosse coaching job. It is testament to the continued growth of the game in the state. Childs will head the first Division I men's lacrosse team in the state, starting next spring at Mercer. A women's team will begin play in the 2012 season.

"It's come [on] a tremendous amount," Childs said of the level of play in Georgia. "I'm not sure I could put into terms."

Agnes Scott and LaGrange colleges are fielding the first NCAA lacrosse teams in the state this year. Agnes Scott and LaGrange will play Thursday in Decatur in the first-ever collegiate varsity game between two Georgia teams.

As the game's popularity at the youth and high school levels continues to grow – there were 18 boys and girls high school teams 10 years ago, 63 five years ago and 117 this year – the next phase appears to be at the college level.

Oglethorpe University and Berry, Piedmont and Shorter colleges are also adding teams in the coming years. Reinhardt College and Savannah College of Art and Design field lacrosse teams that compete in club leagues. Georgia and Georgia Tech both field club teams but do not have plans for establishing NCAA programs. Georgia State is considering a women's team.

The schools' decisions to add lacrosse have been a response to the game's growing popularity in Georgia and the Southeast. According to a 2009 U.S. Lacrosse survey, there were 9,700 players in Georgia from youth to adult levels. That was second most in the Southeast behind Virginia and 11th highest in the country.

Mercer's reasoning to add lacrosse is common. It's another way to boost enrollment. What better way to attract students than to recruit them to play for the school?

"Our scholarships are going to be limited," said Mercer athletics director Bobby Pope. "If you've got 27, 28 kids that are paying their way, it more than pays for itself and it gives kids an opportunity to play, as well."

At Agnes Scott, admissions officers looked into lacrosse when several prospective students asked if the school had a team. Further, the school has been trying to draw more students from the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states, which so happen to be traditional lacrosse hotbeds.