Is Lacrosse Growing in Memphis?
It’s a question that draws mixed responses depending on who you ask in Shelby County. Many of you shared your thoughts in the poll I posted last week. With just under 200 votes cast, the results were clear: 73% said “Yes, super fast,” 24% said “Yes, a little,” and just 2% said “Not at all.”
Based on those numbers, I expected an overwhelming “yes” when I started digging deeper but what I found wasn’t so simple. I set out channeling my inner Walter Cronkite, lacrosse-style, to uncover the full story.
Let’s start with the numbers. To avoid the pandemic-skewed data from 2020 and earlier, I focused on statistics from 2021 onward. According to USA Lacrosse, there were 1,274 registered players (boys and girls combined) in Shelby County and surrounding areas like Oakland and Atoka in 2021. By 2024, that number had grown to 1,471, an increase of 204 players over three years.
On paper, that’s solid growth. But then comes the curveball.
As of now, the number of registered players in the Shelby County and surrounding areas stands at 1,450 a slight decrease from the previous year. I discovered that just under 800 of those registered this year are youth boys involved in one specific program. This means the remaining, approximately 700 players include: all girl players and the remaining boy players that are not involved in that program.
Here’s the catch, once lacrosse became a sanctioned sport, student-athletes playing solely for their high school teams were no longer obligated to register with USA Lacrosse. Even before the change, there was inconsistency. Some school programs required membership, while others did not. This ambiguity makes it difficult to measure true growth or decline based solely on USA Lacrosse registration numbers. However, these numbers still offer valuable insight, particularly when it comes to participation in summer club lacrosse.
This makes direct comparisons tricky. It’s entirely possible that the apparent drop in registration numbers reflects the new TSSAA structure more than any decline in interest or participation.
What I know for sure is that over the past year, there has been a noticeable trend of more programs offering lacrosse to younger girls. Many youth organizations now introduce the sport as early as kindergarten and some club teams are creating opportunities for incoming first graders. This points to a coordinated effort to get girls involved at a younger age, an approach that will undoubtedly help grow the game in the long run.
So, is lacrosse growing in Memphis?
If you go by raw numbers, there’s been growth since 2021. But if you consider structural changes in the sport’s organization, the picture becomes murkier. What I can say is this: lacrosse is gaining legitimacy, visibility, and infrastructure in the Mid-South. And that alone suggests momentum.
But there’s another storyline developing. One I hadn’t even considered until recently.
Could the rise of another girls’ spring sport threaten the momentum of girls’ lacrosse?
According to a source, one prominent Shelby County high school recently surveyed female athletes about their preferred spring sport: flag football or lacrosse. Flag football reportedly won the vote. And it’s not just a local trend.
In an August 2024 article published by the TSSAA, it was reported that participation in girls’ flag football more than doubled from 2022–23 to 2023–24. A total of 42,955 girls played flag football in 2023–24, up from 20,875 the previous year, a 105% increase.
As of now, 12 state associations have officially sanctioned girls flag football, while 19 additional states are participating in pilot programs to some extent. The states where the sport has been sanctioned for girls under NFHS member associations include Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New York, and Tennessee.
I haven’t yet seen the 2025 participation numbers, but if the growth trend continues, it could start pulling athletes away from lacrosse. This competition for players, resources, and field space may become a key issue for program directors and athletic departments in the near future.
The bottom line. The game is evolving, and the story of lacrosse in Memphis is still being written. For now, there’s reason to believe in its growth but the coming seasons will tell us whether that growth continues or gets outpaced by other emerging sports.
Source: Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association. (2024, Aug 19). NFHS to write playing rules for high school flag football. TSSAA. https://tssaa.org/article/nfhs-to-write-playing-rules-for-high-school-flag-football
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