Hello! My Name is Anna Bernstein and I will be assisting Coach Clay in kicking off the West Youth Lacrosse Club - Middle School Girls Program! 

We welcome all middle school girls (6th-8th) to join us, no matter thier expereince level! We are a club team (not a school team) so all may participate regardless of the school attended. We will be operating under the same administration umbrella as the already established "West" boys lax team, so we will be the "West" girls lax team. Our team is being established to primarly feed into West and Bearden high schools, but we have relatiohsips established with all area high school coaches so we can help our families along thier lax journey! We plan to have some fun events mixing with West and Bearden high school girls teams so your girls get to know coaches and as well as older players who may be future teammates!

Clay Alders will lead us as the Head Coach of our West girls lax team. He will be joined by some some wonderfaul assitants that you will be introduced to as the season begins. Clay has coached middle school girls for many years, and his daughter Emery is a Sophmore and plays for Catholic. He coached the KYS girls middle school program (where my oldest daughter played for him) before it transitioned to the Irish Club program. I am immensely greatful that he agreed to join us as we expand opportunities for our girls in East TN! Lacrosse is the fastest growing sport in the nation, and I couldn't be more excited to be part of the growth. I have 2 girls that play lax. Greta, who is in 4th grade and plays for KYS, and Margaux who is a Junior and plays for West High, TNLax Club out of Nashville, and Team Tennessee! So, I am not technically a team parent yet but I am very passionate about the sport and can help answer any questions you have about lacrosse (lax) in TN and beyond! 

Player equipment needs:

• GIRLS lacrosse stick (NOT boys. We have a few sticks we can loan out for getting started and are happy to make some reccomendations for purchase. Let us know via text if you need to borrow a stick.)
• Lacrosse goggles
• Mouth guard (a color, NOT clear or white)
• Cleats - occer or lacrosse cleats

Our home field will be at Bearden Middle School! YAY!!! The administration at BMS has been VERY helpful and suportive as we established this team so please tell them thank you!! We will practice on Mondays and Thursdays from 4:00-5:45. 

Fall Season will run Thursday, August 22nd - Monday, October 28 2024. We plan to wrap up the fall season participating in the Battle of the Burg Tournamament October 26th-27th in Gatlinburg, TN. We will also announce scrimages or games for the fall season but haven't nailed down any dates yet. Spring is the primary lacrosse season, and we plan to practice on the same days (Monday and Thursday) at Bearden Middle School. Spring season is tentativly set for January 23, 2025 - April 28th, 2025. We also welcome muti-sport athletes so if you can only participate in one season, not a probem! 

To register please click on the registration link on the right side of the homepage and fill out the form. Fall season team fee is $175, and we will ask everyone to join USA lacrosse (I believe that will be $35, no action requied on USA Lacrosse registration at this time, more info to come.) If you would prefer to pay your team fee via venmo or check please text me at the number below.  If you would like to break your team fee into smaller payments, please reach out about that as well. PLEASE do not let cost prohibit particiaption! There are members of the lacrosse community that are willing to suport sponsorships. 

Please feel free to text or call me with any questions. Please also bear with us as we learn some interim tools to administrate signups, etc. We will be migrating to the USA Lacrosse platform in the future, but it is currently "under construction" as they update thier system. So we are using League Lineup for now. This process may come along with some growing pains. Coach Clay will also be inviting all teammates and designated family members to join his TeamSnap to manage regular communcations and schedule. 

Please join Coach Clay at a parents meeting following the first practice on Thursday, August 22nd. 

Thank you all for your particiaption and I look forward to meeting you and your girls! 

Anna Bernsein, West Youth Lacrosse Board Girls Liason - 865-307-0149

Clay Alders, Head Coach - West Youth Lacrosse: Middle School Girls - 865-964-6403