By Ryan Rohde

Many folks know by now that lacrosse is the fastest growing sport in the nation. But perhaps one little-known fact is that the game is spreading across the south like wildfire as new programs are popping up in non-traditional lacrosse states like Kentucky, South Carolina and Georgia. And there's one program in particular that has been at the forefront of the Southern Region's lacrosse movement -- McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The McCallie School is not your typical lacrosse community. The lacrosse program got started as a club sport in 1989 by David Hughes with just two coaches and 25 boys.

With McCallie being a boarding school and hindered by the transfer rule (if a student transfers schools, they must sit out one year in order to become eligible for athletics), lacrosse was started as an option for those students deemed ineligible for other sports like football or soccer. Today, the program boasts more than 120 players at five different skill levels.

While Hughes got the wheels turning, a lot of credit also goes to current head coach Troy Kemp for taking it to the next level. In his 17 seasons at the school, the Blue Tornado have won five state titles and posted a 147-53 overall record during his tenure.

Kemp, a native of Riverhead, New York, understood that in order to build a great program, you needed to start from the bottom up. Soon after his arrival at McCallie in the 1992, Kemp initiated the middle school program.

"At first, they [middle school players] would run track for three days, then play lacrosse for two days," said Kemp of the schedule early on. "Then the following week, they would run two days of track and three days of lacrosse."

By using the middle school program as a springboard, Kemp was now obtaining players at the high school level with a couple years of experience and not just first-year players. Along with skilled players came better coaches, and Kemp insisted that both be students of the game.

"At the 1995 national coaches convention, I picked up [Salisbury head coach] Jim Berkman's 'Wall Drills,'" Kemp said. "The following year we won the championship."

This "student of the game" mentality has been a big reason for McCallie's success and the program's influential role in the southern lacrosse movement. When other schools from across the state saw how lacrosse exploded at McCallie, they, too, used the school as a blueprint for building their own programs.

"Our strength and conditioning program is top-notch; we have 30 racks in our weight room and all top-of-the-line equipment," said Kemp of the school's facilities. "We are the model for how it works."

This model has been very successful for the Blue Tornado. So far in 2009, they are off to a 3-0 start, which included an impressive 12-6 win over defending champ Memphis University School. The rematch of last season's state championship was slated as one of the games of the year in the state and Kemp was impressed with his team after their recent performance.

Said Kemp, "It's good to see what your players can do so early in the season and how they emotionally handle such a big game."

The head coach will now take his team outside of Tennessee to face national powers St. Albans (DC) on March 20 and Haverford School (PA) on March 22.

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2009-03-20